Music photography is a strange, beautiful, fickle beast. At the end of the day it is impossible to get around the fact that you can not capture the music in a photograph, and it is the music that is the very essence of the event that you are trying to portray in pictures.

Instead we must capture something of the energy and passion of the musicians, some of the intensity that they bring to the stage. Sometimes you find it is a stolen glance between band members, other times they might connect with you personally. Sometimes it’s just the opposite and the musician will lose themself in the music completely: Duende.

Other times it will be something as simple and pure as capturing a moment of rhythm or movement.

However it works, a good music photograph will take the viewer right back to the gig. Just as everyone at a concert will come away with their favorite tune from the night, or perhaps because of this, different photographs will resonate with different people. I’ve put together a collection of some of my personal favorites from my years covering live music. They are not all necessarily the most technically sound that came fron the night, they just captured the music for me.