Ian Witlen
I’ve been extremely fortunate to be able to call this my career for more than 25 years. Photographing musicians of all sorts for music magazines, newspapers, record labels, brands, radio networks, streaming platforms, and event producers is pretty incredible. My assignments have given me the opportunity to photograph everything from Top 40 acts in arenas, to music festivals across the country, to music cruises, to standing room only venues, to small invite-only performances and interviews with music legends. However, my favorite shows to capture are at the smaller venues that I grew up frequenting here in South Florida. One such standout show was at Respectable Street with cumgirl8, a provocative collective of feminist post-punk rockers. Their shows are as colorful as their fashion, pushing boundaries with their lyrics and looks alike.
I definitely struggled to settle on a single photo to discuss, and couldn’t pick just one. Instead, I found myself gravitating toward these three photos. The general rule in music photography is, “three songs, no flash.” This show was no exception to that. It’s just me, my camera, the music, and the ambient stage light. If you’ve ever been to Respectables, then you know the ambience is a bit on the darker side. In low-light settings like this, it is crucial to have fast lenses with a wide aperture. I’m a bit of a gearhead and like to be prepared for any type of lighting situation. I always have two camera bodies on me with a prime lens on one and a telephoto zoom lens on the other. I also keep a camera bag at my side with an assortment of prime lenses. You’ll often catch me quickly swapping lenses in order to get the shot. For this show in particular, I stuck to using four Canon lenses: 14mm f/2.8 L, 35mm f/2, 50mm f/1.2 L, and 70-200mm f/2.8 IS L. On one camera body I was rotating between the wide and mid lenses, while keeping the 70-200mm on the other camera body.
Positioning myself in front against the stage, I watched as the band’s members constantly roamed around: jumping, kicking, pushing each other, and even crawling across the stage. Waiting to capture each moment, I think to myself, “what would the band’s fans want to see in the pages of their favorite magazine?” I’m always scanning the stage so I don’t miss any action. There is often only a split second between documenting an incredible moment and missing it completely. I always have to be at the ready.
The first photo of the band’s guitarist, Veronika Vilim, whipping her hair around while rocking out is probably my favorite of the night. For me, it’s the motion of her hair that transforms the photo into a decisive moment. The second photo of the band’s bassist, Lida Fox, leaning on guitarist Avishag Rodrigues, captures a bit of the frenetic energy that they put into their performance. I shot the first two photos with a 35mm f/2 lens with the aperture wide open at f/2, shutter speed at 1/160, and ISO 4000.
Shooting with a wide-open aperture allows for as much light as possible to enter the lens and uses a faster shutter speed to freeze motion without a flash. It also creates the shallow depth of field, as you can see in parts of Vilim’s hair. Shooting at an aperture of f/2 enables the subject to be sharp while the background fades into a creamy blur of colorful stage lights. The third photo of Vilim lying on the stage was shot with a 70-200mm f2.8 lens with a focal length of 70mm, an aperture of f/2.8, and at ISO 6400.
With my background in photojournalism, I approach my concert work in the same way. That means that my editing is kept to a minimum. I don’t increase the saturation, add or remove anything from the photo, nor manipulate the photos in any way that would change the reality of what took place at the show. I always make sure to adhere to the strict rules and ethical standards of photojournalism. That way the fans get to experience what I document as though they were actually at the show.
Julia Rose
Between 2017 and 2021, I served as the house concert photographer for Old School Square. I’d arrive early for each concert, giving me time just with the space, looking for new ways to shoot the same venue. These extra minutes would also give me the chance to digest how different artists taking the stage ensured the experience was dynamic, even when the setting was a constant.
On this day, I came into the theatre, ready to photograph a Badfish concert on the outside pavilion. Pulling a wagon of gear through the backstage door, ready for anything, I could hear the piano on stage being played. Immediately, not knowing the player, I recognized this could be an opportunity. I stashed my gear in a nearby office and peeked around the corner. Center stage, I see Badfish frontman Pat Downes focused on a piano. Just to his right, there is a single lightbulb under a cage. He is alone. I don’t watch for long, fearing he might realize he isn’t alone and stop playing.
I grab my Canon R5 with 24-70mm already attached. No time to grab my flash or change the lens. I figured, “Get the shot and grab different gear if necessary and if he has the time.” I take a few shots from afar but start inching closer. I’m spotted, and I ask permission to continue. Luckily, he’s excited to keep going, and a private concert of his new project at the time, Zenith Volt, begins. He then performed a new song, “Universe,” for the first time in a beautifully restored theatre, first built in 1925, without another soul in attendance. I loved the moody setting and the empty house in front of him.
It was a unique moment for both of us and a good way to switch up the scenery of my usual pavilion concert-day shots. It was a moment I’d have missed if I hadn’t valued the minutes before the show. On this day, it happened to be that the real show took place during these minutes.
Years after this intimate moment, having spoken with Downes about his memory of playing “Universe” on a stage for the first time, he made it clear it’s a morsel in his own larger story. And those are the moments I’m always looking to capture, whether a performer is under the spotlight or just sitting beside a single caged bulb.
