Photographer Jon Beckley took photos for:
All Together Now #7 on 9/30/2017
All Together Now #5 on 5/27/2017
Artist Q&A:
Q: What do you try to achieve with your photographs?
A: I try to capture the emotion and feel of a performance which can be really hard as it needs to be single moment that not only shows the feeling of the performance, but ideally it’s also a good photograph which could stand on its’ own just for anyone looking at it.
Q: What’s the hardest part of shooting a live event?
A: Getting to know the performers and having everything click for that perfect moment. I try to line up my compositions and then watch them for a little bit, even in the space of a song you can get an idea of what they’ll do during the chorus or another major moment. But this also can change a lot during the course of a set and things can come back quickly so knowing when to shoot becomes almost a reflex.
Q: What’s your earliest memory with a camera?
A: It’s not actually with a physical camera, I started on this path via 3D modeling and animation when I was 12 and through those programs I had to control the camera position, settings, and lighting for the scene so it actually gave me a lot of skills that I’d later use in my photography. It wasn’t until I was 19 that I got my first camera and started experimenting with it.
Q: What drew you to photography?
A: Initially it was to create texture maps for my 3D work, but I quickly found that I could capture a scene almost instantly with the camera VS spending large amounts of time building it from scratch. Soon after I brought it to a Dresden Dolls show and I was hooked, concert photography is what really propelled me early on. I also had the benefit of being in art school at the time so I was able to dive in head first into it and had the help of some great professors.