Part of the impetus for this site was to give myself a more sensible platform for sharing the (hundreds if not thousands of) concert photos and videos I've amassed over the course of my show-attending career beginning circa 2012. Mostly, I regard this collection as reference material, maybe helping the reader to gauge my own music tastes, venue preferences, and aesthetic sensibilities in determining whether or not you wish to give a damn about anything I write. From a music discovery standpoint, I helpfully include links to band pages, album reviews, and venue sites throughout the collection as is relevant. Lastly, it serves as a nice diary for me, giving me an excuse to sift through my experiences for the best shots, arrange them under a reasonable theme, and list them chronologically for my own memory-jogging and enjoyment.
Make no mistake--these are not particularly great photos, resolution wise. I'm not oblivious to that. These were almost all taken via iPhone camera (models ranging between the iPhone 4 and iPhone 6S, depending on the year); a few from larger festivals were shot with a little point-and-click Panasonic digital camera. Aside from it being prohibited in most venues, I've never had any desire to lug around a heavier-duty camera for artisan-grade shots. I'd much rather focus on the show.
I want to stress that, unless one is lucky enough to be a professional concert photographer or videographer, the emphasis of attending a show (for the ethical music consumer) should NEVER be for the photos. Not for videos, not for Boomerangs, not for anything to be shared as a simulacrum of a simulacrum for social currency on any of the social media platforms. If you're reading this blog, I don't need to explain to you why. I'll only go on to say that, yes, I have shared an awful lot of both concert photos and videos to Facebook and Instagram in my day. I have also been lonely and socially isolated at times--particularly in my early college years--and have undoubtedly yielded to that irrepressible, generational pull to share something to connect with someone over the internet. I'm proud to say all of that has largely fallen away in recent memory: these days, I mostly snap only a handful of shots per show, with my phone blissfully tucked away in my pocket for the majority of the performance. But I digress.
Check out the Gallery here or at either of the links in the header and sidebar (which are navigable from any page on the blog). I've posted shots from my 10 most recent shows at time of writing, and will steadily be adding to the collection as I see fit.
The Lean-Forward Listener
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