One of the many great things about being a professional fankid (aka publicist) is having the opportunity to talk to (and occasionally share funny cat videos with) artists you truly admire. Such was the case with my recent online chat with Melbourne-based freelance photographer and artist Lauren Bamford during which, she answered our patented (patent pending) five questions.
Since moving to Melbourne from the industrial wilds of Newcastle eight years ago, Lauren’s craft has centred on music and documentary photography. Having seen the likes of Love of Diagrams, Amaya Laucirica, Beaches and Witch Hats through her lens, Bamford has garnered a unique and, at times, intimate perspective (if you excuse the lame photography pun there) on Australian music.
1. How did you get your start in music photography?
L: It all started back in Newcastle. We did Photography in our Year 9 Art Class, and worked in the darkroom. I really took to it and set up a darkroom at home in the laundry where I developed shots I’d taken at local all ages gigs, and parties and the local skate park. These were places I was hanging out anyway, and through photography I found my place in it all. At the time I was always reading magazines like Juice and Rolling Stone, and shooting for those magazines became the ultimate for me. (Funny how things change).
Jump forward 10 years and I was living in Melbourne, doing something entirely unrelated to photography, (in fact I had literally stopped shooting – for years). Via an unusual chain of events, I was introduced to Trish Shoesmith, who had been the band booker at The Espy for 15 years. She had just started booking The Greyhound down the road, and took me under her wing. She introduced me to people, put me on the door and was just generally very encouraging. So I started heading there and shooting bands like The Exotics, Ian Rilen, Six Ft Hick, Spencer P Jones, CW Stoneking etc etc – that crowd at that time. One night I met another photographer named Paul, who was shooting for Beat. He suggested I shoot for Beat as well and so I did. The rest is history I guess…
2. What advice would you give anyone wanting to become a music photographer?
L: Only do it if you love music, and love taking photos, anyway. It’s not really a field cut out for a ‘careerist’, even though there may be some of them around. Be prepared to shoot for free, and just enjoy the experience. I started out shooting for nothing or very little for years, but what I got in return was lots of great music for free, and exposure for my photographs. It works both ways. And socialise! You know the old saying ‘It’s not what you know, but who you know’.
3. What are the golden rules bands should abide by when working with a photographer?
L: Something that frustrates me when a band contacts me for press shots, or an album cover etc – is when they offer no creative input whatsoever. Not even a vague suggestion of what they want, where they want to shoot etc. Surely, as a band, you have an idea of how you want to be portrayed in a photograph. And if you don’t, you really should figure that out before hiring a stranger on the internet to try and interpret it for you.
4. Who has been your favourite/band artist to shoot and why?
L: This is quite a difficult question to answer, but I would have to say Love of Diagrams. Now this is tricky because they are all quite shy in front of the camera, but as we are friends it is quite an amusing and drawn out experience when trying to shoot a press shot with them. However, I have gained an enormous amount of amazing experiences as a photographer, through them as a band. Firstly, I got to hang out backstage with Sonic Youth when they supported them in Sydney. Having Thurston Moore tower over you with a video camera in hand, filming you in his home movie was quite a surreal experience. Not to mention crawling around under the stage of the Enmore Theatre while Sonic Youth played above. It was the ultimate ‘Access All Areas’ experience. I also had the opportunity to travel across America with Love of Diagrams, for 6 weeks and 40 gigs when they were signed to Matador records. They were the support on a National tour, which was an incredibly fun, inspiring and eye opening experience of America. I will always be grateful to the those guys.
5. Bands in front of walls – your thoughts?
Hey I don’t mind that at all! If anything is done well, no matter how simple or complex, it can look great. You can apply that to art in general.
Enjoy Lauren’s work at www.laurenbamford.com
