Big Day Out : the crowd

When shooting a music festival it's sometimes more fun capturing the atmosphere and punters of the event rather than the acts on stage.

I love shooting people who are unselfconsciously wrapped up in their own emotions, much like the folks above enjoying Arcade Fire.

At the Big Day Out there's also the flag waving displays of nationalism which the festival has unfortunately become synonymous with.

But it's mainly good natured fun.

One thing us photographers contend with at festivals is the drunk shirtless yobs yelling "take my photo!" Much like the gentleman above with Ashley.

I used to stop and do it just to avoid causing offence. Now i just shake my head and keep walking while they hurl abuse at my back. I've no time for appeasing dickheads.

Rage Against The Machine in Sydney

Here's some photos of Rage Against The Machine at the Big Day Out on Friday. So good. Even if they do inspire such ugly macho aggression in the crowd. It was quite an ordeal trying to leave the arena and dodging the fist fights.

Lots more photos to come from the Big Day Out and various side shows this week.

Girl Talk at Becks Bar

After a flurry of blogging activity while on holidays i've gone into hibernation now i'm back at work. My leisure time being better spent at leisure, rather than blogging. Plus i haven't been shooting much personal stuff, just the work stuff which i can't post till the mag is on sale next week.

But here's a few shots i snapped at Girl Talk at Becks Bar last week. It was as wild as i'd been lead to believe. The mashed up party songs sending the crowd into a bit of a frenzy.

Youth Group recording a new album

A few weeks back i ventured to Youth Group's recording studio with Time Out writer and ex Youth Group band member Jason Walker.

The bearded band have created a home made studio in a disused dockworkers mess hall by the harbour in Waverton. When i visited they were about half way through recording and when i returned a few weeks later and they'd almost wrapped up.

Anchored next to the studio is a decrepit old lighthouse supply vessel that the band took us on a tour of. They've done some recording on board and it was also the scene of their Skeleton Jar video clip some years back.

The as yet untitled album is due out in the first half of this year.

Rockstar Taste of Chaos

Here's some photos i never posted several months back of the Rockstar Taste of Chaos concert at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

I primarily went to shoot Gallows because i'd heard rave reviews and seen great photos of them by Danny North. Unfortunately on the large arena stage and with a crowd who didn't know them the band weren't performing at their peak.

Apart from Gallows i wasn't really familiar with the other acts which included Rise Against, Aiden and The Used. The stage light was also pretty rubbish, so i turned my camera round and started photographing the audience. So young and excited, they made a better spectacle than the acts on stage.

Operator Please in the studio

Here's some photos from the archives, Operator Please recording their album Yes Yes Vindictive back in July.

It was a rather lush studio set up at The Grove Studios in the countryside near Gosford.

Yes Yes Vindictive is out now and the band have several shows before and after they join the Big Day Out tour. Details on their myspace.

Kings of Leon and me

On March 12th 2005 i bought my first ever SLR camera, a Canon 350D, and that night photographed my first gig as an accredited photographer in the photo pit. It was in Austin, Texas and the band was Kings of Leon.

I'd been shooting live shows for over a year before that, but always from the crowd on my point-and-shoot pocket camera - such as the time i squeezed my way to the front at the Big Day Out 2004 to snap Kings of Leon.

That night in Austin I wasn't expecting to photograph the show from the pit, i just chanced on a sympathetic tour manager who gave me a photo pass after security wouldn't let me in the venue with my new camera.

I shot Kings of Leon again last night in Sydney and it made me reflect on how much has changed in that relatively short time.

From being a complete amateur snapper never published in print, to having my work in music press across the globe, speaking at conferences and now working as Chief Photographer for an internationally recognised magazine is pretty wild.

I don’t really know how it happened; it wasn’t a conscious goal, just a series of fortunate events.

Like a band writing songs and touring hard to new audiences i think with photography it's about taking lots of photos, honing your craft and getting published wherever you can. For a band it might be a thrill having a song on the radio, for me it's having a photo in a magazine.

Once that happens regularly enough you can start to make a living out of your passion, and that's really quite satisfying.

Hanging with the Bondi Caveman

Since Time Out Sydney started it's been a goal to profile Sydney's colourful identities, the characters that define the city, our folk heroes and villains. One we've always been fascinated by is the "Bondi Caveman", the apparently homeless man who lives on the cliff face of Bondi.

Anyone who's ever made the walk from Bondi around to Coogee would've spotted his mess of tarpaulins off the edge of the footpath, right on the cliff face. To the casual observer he'd be easy to write off as a crazy, probably drunken, antisocial recluse, but it couldn't be further from the truth.

When a writer and i ventured off the path and into his precarious waterfront home he couldn't have been more charming or accommodating. Offering coffee and a seat he introduced himself as Jhyim Mhiyles, later explaining the odd spelling is due to a fondness for the letter Y in the middle of his name and a theory about it representing the trinity. He's certainly an eccentric but he's far from crazy.

We chatted for almost two hours about his life, sharing tales from his 8 years living on the cliff face and primarily transient life before that. He's not a fan of the 'homeless' label, preferring to think of himself in the Australian tradition of the 'Jolly Swagman'. He's proud of the way he maintains the place, feeding all the local birds and making a point of being friendly to the curious gawkers who walk by.

Meeting people like Jhyim and being let into their lives for a brief moment to take some photographs is an incredible privilege.

The double page story, written by Stephanie Goldberg, is in the "Summer Holiday" issue of Time Out Sydney out now.