SPOTLIGHT!
I’ve been in love with music for as long as I can remember. Music pushed me to pick up a camera for the first time. Spotlight! is my ode to music. With my lens, I move through concert spaces trying to grasp the feeling of experience. The overwhelming sounds of music blasting through your ears, laughter, chatter, the warmth of bodies surrounding you, the bass you can feel in your stomach, the smell of drinks and sweat dancing through the crowds. I am chasing these moments.
My journey started in San Marcos Texas. where I came across the bands Maddie and the Deadnames and Soma Jerome, two San Marcos locals with completely different styles. My relationship with both groups grew and opened my world to many incredible experiences. These relationships brought me to the Austin area and granted me entry to a new world of culture. San Marcos and Austin have their own unique live music styles. Even so, there was always a comforting and familiar feeling no matter what city I was creating in. I have seen both bands through the smallest and largest crowds at house parties and music festivals. The energy was always high. I found that my camera allowed me to participate in these spaces in a deeper way than I ever had before. I found a kind of magic in manifesting vibes in a visual form.
There are a million different moments to experience at a concert. When everything seems to fade into the background and you zero in on the artist. The quiet moment in the chaos between you, the musician, and their instrument as you feel their heart and soul rushing out of their bodies for you to behold. The portraits I have created allow me to relive those experiences. The expressions and vibrancies of the photographs give me the same feeling removed from the location of the actual moment. My goal was to complement the organized chaos of a concert in my display process. The three main framed photos provide a grounding for the other smaller moments that float around freely on the wall. My use of the square in this show is a reference to vinyl, especially with the book whose shape and cover resemble a seven-inch vinyl record. Everything had to be loud, colorful, vibrant, and most importantly fun.