PHOTOGRAPHERS GET TOO MUCH CREDIT

In the late 90’s I photographed a few shows in my East Village / Lower East Side days following around my talented musician friends to gigs at reliable venues like Izzy Bar and Arlene’s Grocery. Then, getting a great photo was a crap shoot. 35mm film, minimum lighting, and many many blurred pics. But sometimes a mystical creature with a guitar would emerge from the stacked of developed pics (please don’t ask me where these pictures are, for I do not know).

Flash forward to June 2021 and the first live concert in Fort Worth on a main stage since Covid-19 stripped the live music experience away from so many music lovers and music makers. I began to edit my photos, now from a digital camera, and became mesmerized by the imagery frozen in a 800th of a second. It really was a collection of little magical moments that reminded me of why I love live music - and why I want to photograph more of it.

I sent my photos to the musicians to use at will, and they were all so complimentary and grateful. But all I did was make sure the camera’s exposure was setup right, point, focus, click, offload, edit. I’d say that accounts for about a third of it. Another third was the performer giving it all onstage. The last third? A mix of stage lighting, western skies, and a music mix that was creating an energy worthy of capturing.

You can take this argument and apply it to many other scenarios, i.e., the sun was setting and the longhorn turned quickly to swat a fly with his tail, then glanced back at me before returning to chew his cud. 1/3 photographer, 1/3 bovine, 1/3 biting fly. See? We really can’t get too much credit.