Chris is a fantastic live performance photographer from Brisbane, Australia who has captured the performances of many notable artists such as Pearl Jam. He is not only a Fujifilm shooter like myself, but also has a soft spot for the Nocty-Nonikkor. You will often see his images featured on ArtraLab’s Instagram. Alongside regularly covering events in his local area, Chris is currently working on a zine where he will be putting together his best imagery from his time photographing live artists.
To keep up to date with Chris, you can follow him on Instagram.
David - This is a question I have asked on every interview so far and a concept that forever fascinates me. This year I think that I have finally found a way to articulate the question properly. How would you describe your relationship (as the creator – of sorts) with the viewer, and do you consider this relationship when photographing - be it in the moment or later during its presentation?
Chris - Over the last couple of years, I have focused intentionally on building my live music photography portfolio. It started off very much out of frustration, seeing friends’ bands using phone photos to promote themselves, so I just started to show up to gigs with my camera to see what I could do. What I didn’t realise at the time was that the dozens of coffee table photography books I’d been collecting for years by the greats like Ethan Russell shooting The Stones in the late 60’s, or Anton Corbijn shooting Joy Division in the late 70’s, has been hardwired in my brain. Without specific intention, I quickly discovered the direction I would naturally take my photography.
I absolutely consider my relationship with the viewer with every single shutter release. Being invited to shoot live music and being so close to these incredible touring artists that fans have spent their hard-earned money to see, is such a privilege. And rather than set a $20k camera to ‘auto everything’ and simply capture a glossier, sharper version of what the audience can take with their phone, I’m always searching for interesting angles and compositions that adds to their experience of that special night rather than just ‘remind’ them of it.
David - How would you describe your genre of photography and what elements do you believe make it identifiable as such?
Chris - As mentioned, live music is where I am most active as a photographer. The elements I believe that make my work identifiable are my composition choices, my (predominantly) black and white high contrast images, and the grain and motion blur I apply to give my work a timeless feel, plus my use of vintage manual lenses with modern camera bodies.
The greatest compliment I receive is that my photography is instantly recognisable amongst the local live music photographers. As challenging as it is to shoot the way I do, I believe the results are worth it.
David - If you could choose one photographer past or present to spend a week with and learn from who would it be and what skill of theirs would you most like to learn?
Chris - Whilst I absolutely love shooting live music, and spending a week with Ethan or Anton would be incredible, a photographer I admire the most and constantly look at their work is Lucy Laucht, from Cornwall, England.
Lucy has recently published a coffee table book titled “Il Dolce Far Niente”, which is a gorgeous collection of coastal images throughout Southern Italy. The locations, the colours, and the compositions tell a story in every image – these are the skills I’d love to learn more about. In one of the most overly photographed holiday destinations on the planet, Lucy has managed to create something unique and fresh. A week shooting Southern Italy alongside Lucy would be an absolute dream for me.
David - What event made your pursue photography? A loaded question but I find that we all initially get into photography for the same basic reasons but there comes a tipping point into which we choose to place our efforts into photography. I would also be keen to know how long ago that was for you.
Chris - Not so much a specific event, but more a youthful fascination with the photography on vinyl album sleeves that were in my family record collection as a young teen, was where I imagine my visual aesthetic started to form.
And after many years of sneaking my camera into shows and shooting from the audience, I decided to approach the tour promoter for RIDE (UK Indie shoe-gazers) to see if I could get a photo pass for their Brisbane tour stop on December 2nd, 2022.
Much to my surprise I was approved, and as nervous as I was (I cringe when I look at those photos today), that opportunity kicked off two years of constant shoots, quickly building to being invited to photograph some incredible global artists.
However, in September 2024 I had a heart attack, and on September 30 I had open heart surgery, bypassing 5 coronary arteries that were blocked beyond repair (thanks genetics!). Being the youngest patient in the coronary care ward by literally decades, I honestly didn’t know if I’d have the energy, the will or the passion to photograph a live show again.
Then out of the blue I got invited to shoot Pearl Jam just 6 weeks after surgery. So, on a steamy sub-tropical evening in an outdoor stadium, there I am, barely able to walk up a set of stairs, standing 10 feet in front of Eddie Vedder with 40,000 people behind me screaming his name. The photos turned out better than ever, I felt more in the zone than I could ever remember, and from that moment on I was re-inspired to pursue photography all over again, with more focus and purpose than ever.
David - Following on from the previous question - if photography was not an option to you, what do you think you would have pursued instead? If you had to pursue something else now, would it be the same thing or something totally different?
Chris - I have always worked in a creative field through my long career in advertising and marketing, so I have had incredible experiences working with many highly creative people. Therefore photography has been a slow burn for me. I’d say I have been ‘photography adjacent’ my entire career - but finally feeling confident enough to put myself out there in a field where I know and respect so many talented people has been highly rewarding.
If I had to pursue something else, it would be architecture. In many ways the visual aesthetics, the appreciation for design, the way architects look at a space as something to connect with people on an unspoken level is similar to photography in my opinion.
David - Recently there has been a trend amongst photographers to forgo editing, even with film they see the scan presented to them by the lab as a finished product. Whilst this itself is quite possibly a reactionary movement to the over processed “photoshopped” images of the 2010’s and the current crop of uncanny valley AI images, I still struggle to see why one would limit themselves. What are your thoughts on this?
Chris - I find this debate around un-edited images being superior and “purer” quite ridiculous to be honest. Songwriters never release their first attempt at a song for commercial release. Artists are constantly reworking and crafting their art. Writers are constantly editing their words. Why can’t photographers use the tools that are available to them to do the same and craft the image they have in their mind?
If you watch countless YouTube videos of masterful photographers like Andre Wagner from Brooklyn for instance, who shoots predominantly black and white and develops at a home studio, the chemicals, equipment and processing skills are his editing tools – and it’s been the same since way before film labs and Lightroom came along. That said, reviewing my 900 photos at midnight on a Tuesday to choose 25 finals to edit for the artist to publish the next morning, makes me question my decision sometimes!
To sum things up, if you’ve read this far, thank you and I can’t wait to see your photos and share in this endless wonder we pursue called photography.