We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again and again; the skill of a great live music photographer is in capturing the spirit of the musician within a single potent image, securing those fleeting moments of energy into a picture that often tells far more than just a thousand words.
That’s the craft that’s at the heart of The Accredited, a new rock photography exhibition that gathers together more than 200 images from 20 of Sydney’s hardest working and well-regarded shutterbugs, including four regular contributors to Town Deaf’s own galleries: Brandon Voight, Liam Cameron, Alicia Stephenson, and Peter Coates.
Their indelible live music imagery will appear alongside fellow lens slingers in a public exhibition at Sydney’s 10×8 Gallery, viewable from 30th July until the 10th August.
Among the musical subjects snapped from local gigs, touring concerts, and festivals from around the country – often under some very tough conditions – are blockbuster rockers (Kiss, Rob Zombie, Steel Panther), hip hop heroes (Public Enemy, Pez) maverick matriarchs (Lorde, Amanda Palmer) and many more in-between.
Brandon Voight – who runs one half of the award-winning Voight Photography and Design with his wife Allison – has photographed the likes of Aerosmith, Prince, Muse, Coldplay, Van Halen, Motley Crue, and Pink – to name a few. His recent photos of 2014 Australian tours from Rihanna and Beyoncé have been selected for The Accredited.
(Rihanna & KISS. Photos: Brandon Voight.)
Circular Quay snapper Onur Karaozbek, who is co-curating the exhibition alongside Rohan Anderson and Kierra Thorn, says that The Accredited is about showcasing the skill and professionalism of some of the country’s best and hopes the gallery will create unity within Sydney’s photographic community.
“The idea is to bring photographers together and create unity because we all know each other and bump into each other at festivals and bars and we want to make our names better known to people and show them who we really are,” Mr Karaozbek tells The Daily Telegraph.
“It’s about giving ourselves that ego boost to reinforce that what we do is a good thing and matters. We love showing to people how passionate we are.”
View a sample of what to expect at The Accredited following the event details below, courtesy of the photographers themselves.
The Accredited Photo Exhibition
Where: 10X8 Gallery – Level 3 , Central, Central Park, 28 Broadway, Chippendale
Viewing Dates: 30 July – 10 August
Viewing Hours: 11am to 5pm
Launch Night/Drinks : JULY 31 – 6pm to 8pm
Aerosmith. Photo: Brandon Voight
Tame Impala. Photo: Alicia Stephenson
The Hives. Photo: Peter Coates
Freddie Gibbs. Photo: Liam Cameron
Ozzy Osbourne. Photo: Peter Coates
