Concert

I went a music gig at a small venue in Dublin where my nephew was playing as part of the band for Lights (the name of the Canadian female singer/artist) on her European tour.

It is strange, even in this internet age, that a young Canadian singer can have a loyal fan base in Europe. It is so easy to disseminate music online these days, and for an singer/musician to have a meaningful interaction with people listening to her music through various social networks. But she still felt it desirable to pack up all the equipment and for her and her band and crew to fly to Europe to preform live. Obviously her fans loved it.

This photograph was taken in a dark room with low ceilings and no stage to speak of. I held my camera above my head, on a long exposure with no flash. The multiple overlaid images were captured by successive flashes from other cameras in the crowd, and show both my hand moving, and the movement of the musicians (including my nephew on base), without the excessive blurring that would normally come with long exposures.

With everyone having some form of camera these days, and with many phone cameras having a flash, I find it fascinating that you can take a photo that is lit almost entirely from other people photographing the same event. For me this is not so much a photo of performing musicians, but a photo of the merging of the widespread photographic culture and the enduring phenomenon of the musician/fan relationship. A few decades ago this photo would have been lit by lighters.