PALMA VIOLETS
On the 30th of October 2012 I travelled to Southampton to document the nights event at a music venue called 'The Joiners Arms'. Using a Canon EOS 650D I photographed small, up and coming indie bands that were playing to sold out venue. Here i was able to capture local and support band 'Dolomite Minor' warming up the crowd for the headline band involving 4 young and talented men 'Palma Violets'. Below you will see a slideshow of my favourite 11 photographs taken from the night, ranging from the merchandise stand of a small support band to a sweaty bassist crowd surfing 150 keen fans.
Here i have built up a story based on the life of rising musicians. With low and high shutter speeds ranging from 2 seconds to 1/200 seconds, there is a lot of contrast between photos. Through low shutter speed and 'Above' shots audiences see such raw emotion and power portrayed through highly energetic, spontaneous and colourful shots. Furthermore audiences realise how much music is a part of their life and how much the audiences reaction is a part of a musicians life. Faster shutter speeds shown also in black and white, however contrast this. Here I have portrayed how mundane performing is for musicians like this whom must play the same songs thousands of times. The disappearance of colour, high shutter speeds and a shallow depth of field focusing on only the musician furthermore intensifies the action, portraying the performed raw power even more.
With shots of the audiences, i was able to interact and portray reaction with the people that so much carry small indie bands like Palma Violets. Intensifying with colour corrections and a low apature I was able to focus on audiences hands rather than faces to create a 'Breaking the edge' feel, in which emphasising the importance of the musicians and how the audience literally and physically carry the band.
