Solid Sound 2024 photos

[chaslor]

Here are some of my photos from SS24. Enjoy!

 

Solid Sound Gallery

 

charles

[Albert Tatlock]

Ta.

[coornelius]

Great shots! The dinosaurs were so charming. 

[tinnitus photography]

I love having you document SSF!

[!goose!]

astonishing the complete lack of diversity

[Albert Tatlock]

I was browsing a couple of rock photo books in a bookshop yesterday from "renowned" photographers. It seemed to me that 99% of them were very ordinary shots and where they showed contact sheets you could see that they just banged out a load of snaps and just happened to get a few that were OK. It just so happened that the artist in the picture was extraordinary and that was what made them interesting e.g. Beatles (which I admit I spent most of my time looking at).

 

I didn't see anything more special in terms of photography than what I see here. A lot were not even good technically - blurred/grainy etc. 

I would be interested to hear from actual rock photographers what they think about this opinion: once you reach a certain level of technical competence it is just all about access (which might come from luck or who you know) - to the great artists, and that is what makes a "renowned" rock photographer rather than any intrinsic better talent. As an example - Linda McCartney comes to mind. You might reply that I know nothing and am talking nonsense. That is a perfectly acceptable response. Just interested about what rock photographers actually think. 

 

As an aside, one thing that annoys me (on behalf of photographers - but maybe you disagree) is that these days the staged photo calls, read carpet parades and political photo opportunities at meetings etc mean that any photographer there can take a decent photo. There is no concept of a journalistic photographer these days more skilled than others - one who would manage through timing or best location to capture the fleeting great moment as some famous person just walks by or has a normal handshake rather than a lingering all angles pose. Even sports photography that has finite instants to be captured is covered by auto-click bursts of digital shots to get one good one rather than the photographer having to sense when the exact right moment comes - that was the skill it seems to me and it is gone?  

 

I've attached a couple of my 'snaps' so that you can rubbish me - but given that I had a terrible cheap camera and no flash so that quality-wise they are not very good, I think they compare with a lot of what I was seeing in those books. (Devotchka and Neko Case).

 

Hoping for a reply that I would find really interesting.

 

[chaslor]

As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The sheer volume of photography available for us to see, both good and bad, probably dilutes the casual viewer’s ability to discern which is which. It is true that there is a lot of pedestrian music photographers who simply have good access and/ or good schmoozing skills. I disagree that once access is achieved all you need is ‘a certain level of technical competence’. You need to have the eye. Some have it, others do not. How you attain notoriety, I wouldn’t know. I do know that by simply showing up usually won’t get you there.

 

Banging out snaps, as you say, is actually part of the process. It goes beyond just bursting through frames though. Generally, one must work the scene to figure it out. You are searching, hunting, tweaking, anticipating and maneuvering while looking for that perfect combo of composition and timing (very hard to achieve). I’ve always said that photography is a numbers game. Yes, the more those numbers add up the more likely you get a winner. I learned photography using the notoriously difficult Kodachrome film while dirt poor and working in a mobile home factory. Each and every frame was considered with great care. That fundamental process has guided my career. I often shoot with an all manual Leica camera that is very slow by comparison to my Canon. This really forces you to slow down.

 

For what it’s worth, I do not consider myself a concert photographer (though I am a full time professional photographer). Wilco is the only band that I shoot. That came about not through access or schmoozing, nor motor drive photography. Instead it was one roll of film capturing 36 well timed emotional moments with care and thoughtfulness put in front of someone who recognized style. Nowadays, I do often have extraordinary access but without dedication to craft would probably produce rather pedestrian work. Some probably think that anyway, which is fine. It’s a lot harder than you might think. My longevity with the band goes way beyond access and competency. Not being an asshole helps too.

 

I too am bored by a lot of what I see on the music scene. With attention being paid, the cream does rise to the top and you can begin to sort out individual styles. It took me decades to realize that my entire body of work, no matter the subject, has a definitive style (love it or hate it). Take a look at the 2024 photo gallery at the Solid Sound site and see if you can spot the three unique styles.

 

Check out the documentary Show Me the Picture chronicling the iconic Jim Marshall. His larger than life personality got him through doors, but his work speaks for itself. Blurry and grainy can be used to great effect. Look at Mick Rock. It also used to be unavoidable due to slow film and dim lights. Sharpness is highly overrated.

 

For more of my Wilco work, check this out. Hopefully, you can see a style there that rises above pedestrian.

[Albert Tatlock]

Very interesting. Thanks for the reply. Good luck for the future!