Description

The overhead lights dim as the band makes their way onto the stage, each silhouette picking up an instrument. In a frenetic, sudden burst, the stage lights and music explode simultaneously as the audience roars and applauds in unison. Photographing musicians in their “natural habitat” is a delicate game of obstacles and opportunity and it is one that James St Laurent is intent on playing.

Despite the cramped space, zero control over the lighting and the inability to communicate with the subjects around him, each challenge is par for the course and to James; it’s a piece of what makes this genre of photography so alluring. After years of shows, the draw is still about capturing those fleeting peak moments regardless of the inevitable constraints and restrictions.

Watching a show unfold through a series of images is much more than just a two dimensional representation of bright lights and a night out. It is the determined pursuit of lightning in a bottle; it’s capturing the electric atmosphere and the synergy between the music, the artists and the crowd. The ultimate goal is to visually evoke what seen, felt and heard at each concert.

St Laurent names Henri Cartier-Bresson, the great street photographer, photojournalist, and Magnum co-founder as a major influence. His admiration stems from Bresson’s remarkable foresight and natural instinct when it came to all the elements of observing, composing, and shooting at exactly the right instant.

“Good concert photography is much the same; the capturing of the exact moment that is ephemeral and spontaneous, the moment that represents the essence of that song or even a single note: a visual reflection of the sound that comes alive.” he states.

He also credits Bresson with arming him with the constant reminder of two crucial skills that a concert photographer needs to perfectly capture the moment: knowing and intuiting.

According to James, knowing requires conscious attention. It’s deliberate and intentional. Intuition, on the other hand is immediate. It transcends conscious reasoning. While conscious awareness transpires alongside unconscious processing, it’s the photographer’s job to blend the two seamlessly. Both are essential: to release the shutter at the right place and time to capture that decisive moment.

When looking at his photographs, James wants people to hear the music, feel the crowd and bask under the stage lights, even if it’s just for a fleeting moment in their mind’s eye. At every concert and with every artist, his goal is to sense and encapsulate that one remarkable instance; piecing together a visual vignette of that relays the emotive essence of an entire show in just a fraction of a second.