festnoise | Music & Festivals

Musicians get all the flashlights, but in the music industry there is a wide variety of people whose work is fundamental to keep the wheel turning. Photographers for example. Although the vast majority go unnoticed, their work today is more necessary than ever to give visibility to live music. And if good ideas come from experience, it was after many nights photographing concerts in Berlin that Charlotte realized how hard it is for musicians to find music photographers and decided to found SHOWGRAPHERS, a platform and community to connect musicians and music photographers and videographers. Some days before Christmas, Charlotte took some time to respond some questions about her project, the live music in this unusual time and much more. Don't miss her answers below!

How are you and how are you holding up this unexpected year for you, a music lover and a very active photographer?

Charlotte: “I’m doing surprisingly good! To be honest, I expected the absence of live music would affect me more. It’s such a huge and important part of my life and meeting all these great people along the way is always so inspiring. But I think it doesn‘t feel too bad for me because nobody is able to go to shows so it’s not like I’m missing out on something. But don’t get me wrong, I miss shows. Especially the festivals! And I’m heartbroken about all the trips in March & May that got cancelled. But this break has opened up other possibilities for me and I’m really grateful for that.”

During these long abstinence times, there have been some moments where there were concerts with a lot of restrictions though. Could you photograph any of those rare shows with limited capacity and audience seated? And if so, beyond the obvious questions, how do you think that affected the general vibe of both the audience and the musicians?

Charlotte: “I have to admit, I avoided ‘Corona gigs’ for a very long time. For various reasons. One being the fact that mostly only local singer-songwriter were playing and that wasn‘t the kind of music I was looking for at that moment. Another reason was the distance and seating. I like to be close to the artists and the thought of being placed in the back wasn’t appealing at all. But when Beverly Kills announced a gig with Skuldpadda and Orkan at Plan B in Malmö, I knew I had to give it a try. It was the first proper gig in over 5 months and as soon as the music and lights started I felt at home. It was loud and so good I almost forgot about the fact we were seated. But it was a bittersweet moment as I knew we couldn‘t do it again. And the bands felt the same. They were so happy to finally play in front of an audience again but were also sad because they would have rather gone on tour after that show instead of going home. Luckily I was able to go to a few gigs in September & October and I kinda almost got used to the restrictions and the seating. The music felt the same, but the experience wasn’t. Sitting down and being cramped in a small venue just isn’t the same. And from a photographer perspective, I didn’t feel so comfortable standing directly in front of the stage, knowing I’m standing in everyone’s way. I’m a music lover first and foremost, so I really don’t want to disturb the audience.”

I have the feeling that lots of people expect that from one day to another everything will disappear and things will get to normal. Now that we know that it's probably not gonna be like this, and many learnt behaviours might stay for years (for example the use of masks in crowded places), do you think we will experience concerts as we always did?

Charlotte: “Yeah, I actually thought ‘it’ll be all over in a month’ back in March as well and that everything opens as suddenly as everything got shut down. But look at us now, it’s 2021 and we’re still/again in lockdown. To be honest, I constantly switch between being very optimistic and being very pessimistic depending on my mood and on who I talk to. I don’t see how we can get out of this mess in a blink of an eye. On the other hand I like to think we will reach a point where it (almost) feels like the good old days. Because, there is no other way. We can’t let this whole industry die or change that drastically and I just can’t imagine a world without live music. So yes, I believe concerts and festivals will return as we know them. Because they just have to.”

However, in the absence of music, you seem to have kept yourself very active and during Summer you launched SHOWGRAPHERS. For those not familiar with it yet, tell me what it is.

Charlotte: “Yes, without gigs I obviously had much time on my hands and decided to launch a platform to connect musicians and music photographers. From my own experience I know how hard it is for musicians to find music photographers and I wanted to give them a tool so they can search for photographers more effectively. At the same time I want to showcase all the incredible music photographers out there. So right now, SHOWGRAPHERS is basically a directory of freelance music photographers. Until today more than 350 photographers from around the globe have signed up. It’s free and super easy to use. You just sign up with your email and a password and fill out the profile to let everyone know who you are and what you’re offering. Musicians can go to our website and browse, search and filter these profiles and contact the photographers via email or on their socials.”

What led you to start a project like SHOWGRAPHERS?

Charlotte: “In the beginning I didn’t plan to actually realize it. I just wanted to get all the ideas I had out of my head. But then I reached a point where I wanted to see it, feel it and not just write the concept. So I did. And the response was overwhelming and everything was so much fun. I quickly realized that there was no turning back. This project also combines a lot of my passions. What drives me is that it helps people. Musicians should do music (write, record, perform) and not spend an immense time on finding a photographer for a gig or for their next album cover photo shoot. And for the freelance photographers it’s a good opportunity to get found and connect with other photographers.”

Sometimes it is difficult to understand that for instance, photographers should simply be paid more often than they unfortunately are, but what other things should change in both parties (musicians and photographers) so that the collaboration between them improves.

Charlotte: “Tough question. The first thing that comes to mind is that more musicians should bring photographers to their shows. I’ve been to so many gigs (as a regular guest) where not a single photographer was. And yet concerts are so important for musicians. I think they need to show their fans and booker or promoter what they can expect from going to their concerts. Live music is an experience and people need to see it and think ‘gosh, this looks like so much fun, I would have loved to be there’ because then they might be going the next time.”

“But it’s not only the relationship between musicians and photographers that need to improve but also the partnership between photographers and venues, promoters and labels. When we look to the UK for example, we see that quite a few photographers work as in-house photographers for venues, which is not really common here in Germany. Though it makes so much sense to me.”

“And there are already good examples out there: a really cool project I recently discovered is coLAB from Universal Music. They share job opportunities on their Instagram account @colab_universal. So content creatives who are not in the ‘Universal Music bubble’ get the chance to apply for freelance jobs. This can be photographers, videographers, graphic designers, stylists, etc. and I just love the fact they open up like that. It not only gives creatives the chance to work with amazing artists from the Universal roster, but also Universal benefits from the new talents and can build a more diverse network.”

Right now SHOWGRAPHERS is a directory of photographers. The next step seems to be being able to search by cities and other parameters, but what other things do you plan for the platform? (for example, it could also be interesting to provide with legal aspects).

Charlotte: “Yes, I have a lot of ideas to extend the platform or let’s say ideas for the project. Besides the obvious things like more search options and adding a gallery to each profile, we’re going to launch a Discord Community Server to connect the photographers so they can exchange knowledge for example. I don’t wanna give away too much yet, but we want to feature photographers and musicians more and I’m currently looking into possible collaborations with other platforms and companies.”

“What I don't plan to do is charge money for the registration or for accessing the profiles. The main goal is to help both musicians and photographers and that’s why I don’t want SHOWGRAPHERS to become a closed directory. But what I could imagine would be a subscription model with which you get access to additional features or get a better ranking as a photographer. Because at the end of the day we do need to find a way to fund SHOWGRAPHERS so we can continue and especially grow.”

Have you considered SHOWGRAPHERS going from a passive platform to an active one, getting involved for example in promoting the collaboration between photographers and musicians during specific gigs?

Charlotte: “Yes, definitely. We want to find partners and musicians who are looking for photographers and circulate these opportunities within the community. We also did one online networking event with Live.Room (a streaming service from the US) and femily (a community to empower womxn) where musicians and photographers could get in touch with each other. And I think this could be something we will do again in the future.”

To finish, with 2020 almost finished, what do you expect from next year?

Charlotte: “I always try to not expect too much. It has worked pretty well for me since school, haha. Though I hope things will slowly go back to normal. Meaning no more lockdowns, regular live music and people from the creative industries being able to work again. For me personally I hope I’ll be able to do more portrait shoots and to go to (small) festivals. And I can’t wait to see SHOWGRAPHERS grow and look forward to great collaborations and (digital) networking events in 2021.”

For more information please visit SHOWGRAPHERS website

Cover photograph by Chux On Tour Photography