Appassionato: The Instruments Project
This work is about exploring the relationship between a musician, their instrument and their music. The ability to make an inanimate object create a sound that both expresses feeling and evokes emotion in a listener is incredibly powerful.
Along with obvious technical skill, a musician needs to be acutely aware of an instruments range and limitations, and be able to tap into their own emotional range to use it as a form of expression. This is gained from hours of time familiarising with the anatomy of the instrument to understand its response to each caress.
This body of work is a ‘work in progress’ which will feature instruments on their own and being played by a musician. This work aims to capture the closeness between musician and their instrument. The tight, intimate close ups in the imagery is not dissimilar to what a curious inamorata would see when playfully exploring her lovers body.
What adds depth to this project is the inherent belief that the camera is also an instrument and the imagery is an emotional response to the music. There is a seductive dynamic between musician, instrument, photographer and camera that it is almost as complicated as a love triangle.
No Script For Photographer
I recently got to see upcoming Dublin band, The Script, who won Best Irish Band in the 2009 Meteor Awards, play in Belfast. The gig was organised by a local bank interested in raising its profile to a younger target market by running a competition through a local radio station to win free tickets to see the band.
I didn’t want to pass the opportunity of doing more music photography and took my camera along. I painstakingly worked through the surging crowd and made my way to the front of the stage and hadn’t anticipated that when I got there I’d be told to ‘put the camera away official photographers only’ by security.
As I retreated into the crowd I noticed how a third of the crowd were holding up mobile phones and digital compact cameras, yes they too were photographing the band! Why weren’t they told to stop? Well for starters there would have been a riot! And secondly, because it was obvious they were taking photos for their own personal use. However so was I, but I was discriminated against because of the type of gear I use.
If only I was a given a script before going to the gig, I would have known about the different rules for different camera users…
Kila
“Kíla are right there at the cusp of it. Somehow you get the feeling they lit the fuse for the big bang.” Bono
Kila formed in 1987 at the ages of 17 at Coláiste Eoin Dublin, where a rich Irish cultural ethos is encouraged amongst students in football, traditional music and the Irish language. Kila came out with a talent fostered, and were one of the first groups to hit the traditional music scene with their alternative ‘trad meets dance’ music, shifting them into a whole new genre of contemporary traditional Irish music.
The 7 strong Kila line-up is enviably multi instrumentalists, which inlcudes indigenous instruments, giving their music a rich sound and combined with their high energy playing it’s an amazing dynamic to watch on stage. Tables and chairs are empty at their gigs as the dance floor bursts at the seams with crowds hopping mad.
Kila is photogrpahed playing at the Féile an Earraigh festival in Belfast February 2009.
Rossa Ó Snodaigh – Tin Whistle, Low Whistle, Clarinet, Bones, Bodhrán, Bongos, Congas, Djembe, Didgeridoo, Bandooria, Darabuka, Percussion, Vocals Rónán Ó Snodaigh – Bodhrán, Djembe, Congas, Bongos, Guitar, Vocals Colm Ó Snodaigh – Flute, Tin Whistle, Guitar, Djembe, Vocals, Percussion Dee Armstrong – Fiddle, Viola, Hammered Dulcimer, Accordion, Bodhrán Eoin Dillon – Uileann Pipes, Tin Whistle, Low Whistle, Shakers, Vocals Brian Hogan – Bass, Double Bass, Guitar, Mandolin, Drums, Vocals Lance Hogan – Percussion, guitar, bass and vocals
