Art school wanna-be rockstar photographer for
Rolling Stone magazine
Weeklies, Zines and
Backstage Passes 1990-1996
While I was an undergrad at Mass Art I started freelancing for weekly newspapers like The Phoenix, Boston Globe magazine and smaller music 'zines. The pay was bad but I loved shooting live music shows and scoring a coveted press pass for the event. We were allowed in the front row for only the first three songs, sometimes in very dark venues and no flash photography was allowed. Plus, we had to develop the film and make prints that night in the darkroom to deliver to the editor the next day. (Geez I sound like grandma talking about how we used to use the telegraph to text and had to walk six miles each way in the snow to get our milk...)
Digital disrupted photojournalism and made photography easier, much cheaper, faster, organized and automated. Today, nearly everyone on the planet has camera in their pocket at all times. But, digital also killed the rockstar photojournalist. I'm glad I was around to enjoy the last days of expensive temperamental film and the waiting-in-anticipation to see if I actually nailed what I tried to capture.