Music has followed me around the world since I was young. Whether it was a Sony Walkman in my 20s when I backpacked around America or Asia or my current Yamaha stereo paired with hand picked Monitor Audio speakers at home I would consider listening to music to be more important to me than any other form of entertainment. And despite a collection in the 90s of hundred of music CDs (for the young that is like an MP3 on a disk) I was not musically blessed. I enthusiastically joined the choir in my elementary school but was abruptly asked but the teacher to mime! And despite guitar lessons and piano I could not play well as I was effectively tone deaf. None of that dampened my love of music though and heightened my appreciation of those who could play an instrument.
I’ve long wanted to include music in my visual repertoire of imagery and with one of my daughter’s taking up music last year. But how to tackle music visually? Music is not just aural it is also a performing art and the performers offer a wide variety or personal styles to photograph, whether they are just beginners or accomplished.
Musical instruments allow me much visual texture to produce some interesting photographs. Modelled from beautiful woods with fabulous tones shaped by years of trees that have cast their personal story into the grain. And adored by metal strings and decor over centuries music instruments have reached a refinement that makes it no wonder they can cost as much as a Stravinsky or a Steinway.
The highs and lows of the notes and chords from pianos to guitars offer me as much a challenge as an opportunity to produce an effective images to recreate the lyricism in light and shadow. Music can be whimsical or moody and each subject and their instrument tells me the right approach for that portrait. It’s like the child and their instrument are playing me the instruction on how to photograph them – and this time thankfully I am not so tone deaf.
