Other Photographers: Tracey Moffatt & Glen E. Friedman

I decided to have a nosey at the 'Up in the sky' narrative by Tracey Moffatt and also, at the suggestion of my tutor, Glen E. Friedman's work.

I can understand the reasoning behind the mention of 'Up in the sky'. A narrative which is not in a specific order is actually quite interesting to view. It keeps the viewer guessing and making up their own order of each image. Whilst this was not what I was intending with my previous assignment, I can see why my tutor said that the viewer can get lost with random shots in a narrative. As for the images themselves, I cant really connect in any way to these images. The culture and location comes out through this loose narrative but the images vaguely remind me of the 2003 horror movie 'Wrong Turn', about cannibal inbreds in the outback.

Glen E. Friedman on the other hand I can connect with completely and I am really happy that my tutor has introduced me to this amazing photographer. I think my tutor and I have common ground in regards to music and music photography and feeling the music through the photography. Friedman is great at capturing the character of his subject and also the atmosphere of the performance. After looking through a collection of his images, I really get a sense of his love for music and skateboarding through his work. He is showing us the passion he feels. He also has numerous images of the sky and clouds, which I think symbolize his relaxation and escape contrasting from the high energy and fast pace of the skateboarding and gig shots.
He is also great at 'capturing the moment'. Whether it be a skateboarding 'trick' or a moment of a performance, he seems right there at the right time.
One of my personal favourite images is:

Copyright Glen E.Friedman - http://www.burningflags.com/books/

I really love this style of photography. A close up of the musicians hands or instrument with the rest of the image out of focus always grabs my attention. I love inspecting the image more. Scott Chalmers tends to use this style in his work while photographing live shows. As a comparison, here is one of my favourites of Chalmers:

Copyright Scott Chalmers - http://scottchalmersphotography.co.uk/
Stitch D of The Defiled

You can immediately see the similarity between the work of both photographers. Friedman focuses on the hand at the base of the guitar and faces towards the crowd. Chalmers focuses on the hand at the head of the guitar and focuses on the artist. I think the positioning of the photographer in regards to the artist plays a big factor here, assuming that Friedman would be on the stage and Chalmers in the press pit. But both striking pictures regardless.
I shot my own attempt at this kind of shot while attending The Defiled gig in December 2011.

My own work - Stitch D of The Defiled

I was stood off to the artists left, as they were playing at crowd level, and got this shot using a long focal length. It's not the same composition as the photographers above, mainly due to positioning, but my own attempt all the same.