typically shooting 3 rolls a night at music events, that would mean i was editing from 110 photos, give or take, on a single commission, or up to 600 or so for longer commissions.
the goal now is to take the many thousands of photos shot over the past decade and distill them down to between 75 and 100.. with a clear message.. vibe..
the rough stats
10 years of work
50-60 events per year
500-600 events in total
60 international commissions
so what do i want to show?
there is now a world-wide youth culture movement based around dance music. young people across the globe go out every weekend, attend festivals and dance to the same sounds, have similar conversations, take the same drugs and often wear the same clothes.
since i began in the mid/late 90's, many a new country's young people have gathered at festivals and events for the first time.. small steps in eastern europe have begun to grow the scene there.. estonia.. bulgaria.. the balkans.. places where money is scarce and places where recent history has been turbulent use dance music as a backdrop which people can meet in front of, exchange idea's and develop progressive relationships to their country, as well as to each other.
in countries where the scene is well established the big name cooperate money has moved in, multimillion dollar super-clubs have established and the summer is choked with festival after festival all wanting a slice of the commercial pie. in turn DJ's and electronic musicians have become rock stars at the center of a huge money motivated industry.
my edit needs to show all of these dichotomies at work.. it needs to illustrate the positive nature of dance music while also illustrating the more blurred peripheral activity.. the edit needs to show it all, unvarnished and bare, the positive and the destructive.
it needs to illustrate the fact that young people the world over are now a part of one, unified, youth culture experience. the new movement in youth culture does not center around a band or idols, on the whole, but a man playing records.. the party goers now look at each other instead of the stage.. the party goers are the party.. the stars of their own show, being played out all around them.
the places photographed;
- Norway
- bergen, stavanger x4, oslo
- Netherlands
- amsterdam x2, harleem
- Bulgaria
- sofia
- Belgium
- touhort
- Estonia
- tallin x3
- Italy
- rome, nr. venice
- Serbia
- novi sad
- United States
- new york, LA, san francisco, miami
- India
- goa, dehil, rajesthan
- Finland
- helsinki, blatic sea (cruise ships) x2
- Ireland
- waterford, derry x5, belfast,
- Argentina
- BA
- Canada
- montreal
- Portugal
- lisbon
- Spain
- barcelona x8
- Croatia
- zadar, petrcane x3
- England
- country-wide
- Scotland
- aberdeen, glasgow x3, edinborough x3
editing choices - how to?;
1 could be based chronologically
2 could be based around geography
the book will not be broken into chapters.. rather it will work as one long narrative, with the countries mixed up page to page which will illustrate the same thing happening the world over.
one big party, with the geography of the plates consigned to a list at the back.
all countries need to be represented
all aspect of dance music need to be represented
need to illustrate the country to country similarities and differences
whats missing?
would it be important to show detroit - the home of dance music in terms of 'house music'?
is there a need for me to include myself or the photos which are taken on the journeys to and from gigs.. the media excess on the road?
will there be a 'gonzo' leaning or will it be a more classic documentation?
could i get away with sticking in the occasional 'journo' photo, showing the insane plane journies.. hotel parties.. or would that be narcissistic?
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