Announcing FromThePit 2023 Music Photography 5th Anniversary Exhibition.

FromThePit 2023 Banner
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Voted New Zealand’s best outdoor photographic exhibition in 2022 (as judged by D-Photo Magazine), FromThePit New Zealand Music Photography Exhibition is back in 2023, bigger and better than ever!

With the introduction of the FromThePit Podcast, FromThePit 2023 is quickly gaining momentum. Stay tuned for more secrets to be revealed during Te Marama Puoro o Aotearoa | NZ Music Month (May 2023).

FromThePit is an annual curated exhibition of music photography, featuring images of New Zealand musicians performing live, captured by some of the best music photographers across Aotearoa.

2023 marks the fifth anniversary of FromThePit and features recent work from over 50 photographers. The exhibition is open to photographers who take images at live music events in an official capacity. Entries are limited to shots of local artists and local venues to promote our homegrown industry.

This year the annual Audio-Visual exhibition is made up of around 100 images carefully selected from the hundreds submitted each year. The aim is to celebrate the breadth and diversity of talent both on and off the stage, showcasing images from established photographers alongside relative newcomers.

FromThePit also has an educational element. Workshops are run throughout the year, and the FromThePit Podcast series focuses on the art of live music photography giving insights and advice for those interested in the genre.

As musicians, venues and the whole creative ecosystem have struggled over the last few years, our images are an important reflection of the power of live music events and a document of our vibrant nation music scene.

FromThePit can be viewed online and in screens across the country during Te
Marama Puoro o Aotearoa | NZ Music Month (May 2023).

See FromThePit.co.nz for more details of this year’s exhibition and events, and
to view our archives.

FromThePit is provided in partnership with Auckland UNESCO City of Music, NZ Music Month, Independent Music NZ (IMNZ), New Zealand Music Commission, Auckland Council, Sony, The Attention Seeker, Epsom, Rock Shop and AgentX.

FromThePit 2023 is designed and curated by New Zealand live music photographers Dave Simpson, Chontalle Musson, Stella Gardiner, Chris Morgan and Maeve O’Connell.

www.facebook.com/FromThePitNZ
www.instagram.com/fromthepitnz
www.youtube.com/@FromThePitNZ
www.vimeo.com/fromthepit

Artist Profile: Liam Photography

Liam Photography by Jechtography
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 Welcome to Will Not Fade’s Artist Profile series, where we take a look into the people in the music scene who aren’t necessarily musicians.

Liam Photography

Who are you?

Hi I’m Liam (He/Him), a 20 year old Queer Trans man who loves to ride his motorcycle and take photos here in Pōneke Aotearoa!

How did you start off doing photography?

Back in 2019 my mum got me a Canon 800d for Christmas as I had been talking about wanting a camera non stop by that point. I was pretty natural at photography and started doing photography for people ASAP

Why do you photograph musicians?

Music runs in my family, Mum played guitar as a kid, Dad was a music lover, Sister is a music lover as well, Brother does guitar, drums, and vocals, my other brother plays drums and piano, and I myself play guitar, bass, drums, keyboard and do some vocals. So I have a passion for music and when I started doing photography it was pretty obvious I was gonna do music photography and also the photographer who I have been obsessed with for years and inspires me is a touring photographer for bands (Bryce Hall) so he’s another reason why I do music photography…

Also photographers in music are very important, A lot of people don’t realise it but we are the reason you see photos or promos of your favourite bands. Our photos are everywhere on social media pages of bands that we photograph. I basically also accepted there’s not a high chance I’d be good at my own music as I have severe stage fright and commitment issues, but I still wanted to do sometime in the music industry and turns out I’m somewhat good at photography so yeah… that’s another reason why photograph gigs!

Saving Grace at San Fran_Liam Photography

Saving Grace at San Fran

Film or Digital?

Mirrorless! Haha, nah jk I haven’t used a mirrorless yet unfortunately but hope so soon tbh. Digital! No reason, but I’ve been wanting to get a film camera like a Canon AE1 just to experiment and play around with, I sometimes like doing moody landscapes and would love to try it out with a film camera.

Colour or black & white?

I’m gonna have to say colour as I also do automotive photography and love Cinematic and dramatic looks, but I do love myself a good B&W photo especially when I’m photographing a gig!

What has been your highlight as a photographer so far?

Oh man, there’s been so many highlights so far in my career… I wanna say the people I meet cause I meet some awesome and talented people! But also again going back to the automotive side of things working with motorcycle brands has been something I never thought I would do… like it feels unreal to go on DucatiAusNZ Instagram or The official Ducati club here in NZ and see my photos up there like what the hell!? That’s my photo I’m pretty sure they hired the wrong guy, cause there’s no way my favourite motorcycle brand should use my photos haha but they have… Sorry I’m having another Fanboy moment writing this haha

Ducati Lamborghini Diavel Transmission gully_Liam Photography

Ducati Lamborghini Diavel Transmission gully

What band would you most love to photograph?

Motionless In White or Bring Me The Horizon! That Bryce Hall guy I was talking about earlier is their touring photographer and when I was obsessed with Motionless in White back in my teenage years I would see his photos and be blown away and it would be my honour to take photos of MIW (cause I still love them) and hopefully take photos alongside Bryce!

Have you got a favourite venue?

A year ago I would have said Valhalla but today imma have to say Meow on Edward street or San Fran on Cuba street. I don’t hate Valhalla – I love Valhalla – but I’ve photographed there so many times and I don’t like how small and intimate it can get at times and I’ve had some bad experiences with my camera at Valhalla before haha.

Elidi at Valhalla_Liam Photography

Elidi at Valhalla

What do you consider your most essential piece of equipment?

Listen up photographers, the most essential piece of equipment is a Variable ND filter… done, don’t ask any questions, go get one and thank me later… On a serious note the reason I say Variable ND filter is cause I shoot outside a lot and it really helps with lighting and it gives the cinematic look that my automotive photos have! But on the gig side of things the only essential piece of equipment I can think of is a proper camera bag so you can leave your stuff somewhere or have your other lenses and camera bodies on your back!

What kind of ear protection do you use?

Next question please……… haha I don’t actually use ear protection but I’ve been meaning to buy some more ear protection recently…. But the couple of times I have used ear protection I used D’Addario ear plugs and they worked amazing!! I lost them while riding my motorcycle unfortunately haha

Ducati Multistrada V4S waiarapa_Liam Photography

Ducati Multistrada V4S waiarapa

Have you got any advice for aspiring beginner photographers?

Don’t worry about gear too much, it’s about how you use it and you don’t need to study photography to be good at it… YouTube exists and guys like Peter McKinnon or Chris Hau will teach you more important things in like 10 minutes haha.

How can people contact you if they want to use your services?

Click book now and enquire about a shoot on my website www.liamphotographynz.com

Thank you Joseph for having me!

Crooked Royals at Meow_Liam Photography

Crooked Royals at Meow

All I Seek at Meow_Liam Photography

All I Seek at Meow

Suzuki GN125 Sutherlands Hutt Waiarapa_Liam Photography

Suzuki GN125 Sutherlands Hutt Waiarapa

Claemus at Sin Bin_Liam Photography

Claemus at Sin Bin

Liam Photography links: https://linktr.ee/Liam.photographynz

Artist Profile: Jechtography

Jechtography
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Welcome to Will Not Fade’s Artist Profile series, where we take a look into the people in the music scene who aren’t necessarily musicians.

Jechtography

Jechtography

Who are you?

Hey! I’m Jecht and I run my own photography business Jechtography! I officially settled on the name while on tour with two Battle Of The Bands grand winners and since then I’ve shot seven international acts and 70 kiwi musicians and bands, most of them multiple times! If the name Jechtography seems familiar, it’ll be because of the many musicians and bands currently flaunting the photos I’ve taken of them on social media haha.

 

How did you start off doing photography?

It all started when I was taking snaps of my brother’s band Pale Lady with a cracked phone lens, at the time I very rarely took photography seriously apart from making the odd Instagram post. From there I started to go to more and more local music gigs and decided I’d need to invest in some better hardware, so I bought a brand new Sony A6000 and self-taught myself to where I am 10 months later!

 

Why do you photograph musicians?

I believe it’s mainly due to the influence of going to see my bro play live. I rarely went out to check the local scene beforehand and it think it was the exposure to seeing the raw talent oozing out of the Wellington scene lately that occupies most of my photography ventures lately. I’ve branched out and done a wedding and some photo shoots since starting Jechtography, but there’s a special active component with photographing musicians in a lively venue that you can’t get anywhere else, a special symbiosis between the performer and the photographer where you’re doing your best to capture and preserve the energy and emotions they’re expressing.

 

Film or Digital?

I would like to try out film sometime in the future, and upon thinking more on this question I do wish I tried taking up Photography as well as Art when I was at college (I remember we had a darkroom, so that implies film was taught right?)… but ultimately I’ve only ever had access to Digital hardware, and for now I want to shoot music gigs exclusively in digital. I’m a rather trigger-happy type of person and I want to be able to transfer shots to my phone within the same night for quick post-processing work.

 

Colour or Black and White?

Tough question. Easy answer is both, I love keeping shots in colour when the lighting crew or venues have a really cool setting to work with, and when the moment calls for it like when I want to draw attention to a facial emotion through a close-up or if there are great textures in the shot then I’ll pare it down to B & W. There is a hard answer though, and that’s when I really want to salvage a perfect moment like an iconic pose or an intimate crowd exchange, yet the photo is overblown with harsh red or blue light. I try to avoid those situations as much as possible on the fly with ISO/ShutterSpeed/AF settings but these moments don’t wait for you, you have to chase and make to with what you can get. For those photos, I begrudgingly almost always go to B & W.

 

What has been your highlight so far as a photographer?

I’ve had to reanswer this a few times sooooo honorable mentions go to Thom of Villainy saying my shot of him surrounded in gold confetti was one of this favourite shots of all time and Jon Toogood giving me a massive signal boost from an awesome acoustic show.
As for my highlight so far, I’ve got to give it to my time touring with Blue River Baby, a Wellington based Rock Soul Funk band that asked me to go on a nationwide tour as their tour photographer! I had a great time getting to know the band members, meeting new people within the industry and gaining the experience and the do’s and don’ts of touring life! It’s definitely something I’d want to do again.

Thom from Villainy, taken moments after giving me a nod to denote something BIG was gonna happen

Thom from Villainy, taken moments after giving me a nod to denote something BIG was gonna happen

What band would you most love to photograph?

My mind says Slipknot, my heart says Lacuna Coil. Both have great stage presence from what I’ve seen and I’d love to capture the grit from their makeup and costumes they proudly portray and change up every album release. This is supposed to be a single answer question so I’ll just lock in Lacuna Coil!

 

Have you got a favourite venue?

Whichever one has the better lighting!!! Jokes aside, Valhalla in Wellington is essentially my second home at this point. There’s no photographer pit so getting in close for a high profile band is tricky, especially when you’re trying to keep a steady hand with a lower shutter speed to compensate for low lighting (Korpiklanni was a cascade of dreadlock whippings for example) but it’s really great for seeing local legends in the making like PL, ELK, DSE etc.

 

What do you consider your most essential piece of equipment?

I don’t think eyes would count for a suitable answer so I’ll have to say my earplugs. I can work without my tripod, I can work with only one of my few lenses but I need to preserve my hearing when I’m forced to stick near a blaring speaker to take those magic moments. I got my own future music career to think about too!

 

What kind of ear protection do you use?

I started using monthly disposable earplugs from White Cat, then when I prematurely lost them recently I resorted to looking like a tool and used my noise-canceling bluetooth earphones for a while. It totally worked but I’m sure that’s not their intended purpose, please don’t take it as an endorsement! Then for Christmas I got a pair of Alpine PartyPlugs that are wash friendly and I’ve been using them ever since.

 

Have you got any advice for aspiring beginner photographers?

From personal experience, starting with a phone camera is totally okay if you’re testing the waters and you’re not sure, but know that you will definitely need the freedom and flexibility that modern DSLR cameras can offer over flagship phones. A great tip with shooting specific musicians is that you’ll probably need to see them live a few times before you’re both in sync, if you can identify unique quirks that band members have and when they’re most likely to showcase said quirks, you’re already on the way to becoming a fantastic photographer! It all comes back to the symbiosis between the musician and the photographer, even getting to know them off stage can lead to them becoming more comfortable and showing you sides no one else will see.

 

How can people contact you if they want to use your services?

If you’re looking for a passionate photographer with a rising portfolio, you can get in contact with me via my Facebook page Jechtography or at booking@jechtography.com. My rates are usually very affordable and work on a per-head basis, less band members = cheaper rates! I’m based in the Wellington region but I have on occasion ventured out to shows, it doesn’t hurt to inquire.

 

If you’d like to take a gander at more of my photos, I upload a small selection from each set I shoot on my Facebook page Jechtography with the full photo albums on my personal website at https://jechtography.com. I also have an instagram account where I upload musical photos from the gigs I shoot… confused about what a musical photo is? Check out @jechtmania for what I mean. I also shoot the occasional video at the gigs I shoot and upload to my YouTube account Jechtmania, there you’ll see kiwi acts like Jon Toogood, Pale Lady and Hault as well as a few high ranking videos of the international metal sensation Devin Townsend doing acoustic!

Nick of Dream State Empire

Nick of Dream State Empire during a double digit second long howl, real estate given up top to accentuate his aura

Jon Toogood belting out solo

Jon Toogood belting out solo

Jessy and the Volunteers_s Jessy getting her RnB soul on

Jessy and the Volunteers_s Jessy getting her RnB soul on

Devin Townsend during his acoustic warmup world tour, incredible musician with an unbelievable voice

Devin Townsend during his acoustic warmup world tour, incredible musician with an unbelievable voice

Coridian's Dity reaching out

Coridian’s Dity reaching out, going B_W to bring more focus to his hand

Artist Profile: Garry Thomas Photography

Garry Thomas
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Welcome to Will Not Fade’s Artist Profile series, where we take a look into the people in the music scene who aren’t necessarily musicians.

Garry Thomas

Garry Thomas

Who are you?

Garry Thomas

How did you start off doing photography?

In the last year or so I’ve discovered a passion for photography. I first borrowed a DSLR from a friend and dabbled in a bit of Astro / Night Photography, and along the way started loving Landscape Photography. It’s challenged me to get out and about when I’m not feeling like it, like when i get up in the pitch black of the morning to shoot the sunrise over the city, or being the only one on a beach at 2.a.m, to try and shoot the Milky Way. I’ve booked entire holidays around the possibility of finding something new and spectacular to take photographs of. Best of all, it’s an excuse to explore our beautiful country.
Recently, I’ve photographed a few bands. Thus combining a couple of my biggest passions in the world.
My oldest passion – Music. And my most recent passion – Photography.
Throwing that together with a 15 year fascination with Photoshop, and a background in design and its a pretty freakin’ sweet way to hear some new bands, have some fun and meet some new faces.

Why do you photograph musicians?

I love music, why not help people create / document a point in time?

Film or Digital?

Digital

Colour or Black and White?

Both

What has been your highlight so far as a photographer?

Bongzilla were amazing. Been listening to them for 13 years. Got to shoot them.

Bongzilla by Garry Thomas

Bongzilla by Garry Thomas

What band would you most love to photograph?

Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Queens

Have you got a favourite venue?

Wherever the music takes me.

What do you consider your most essential piece of equipment?

24-70mm 2.8 lens, Ear Plugs

What kind of ear protection do you use?

Decibullz custom ear plugs from Amazon

Have you got any advice for aspiring beginner photographers?

The best camera is the one you have in your hand.

How can people contact you if they want to use your services?

https://www.facebook.com/garrythomasphotos/

https://www.instagram.com/garrythomasphotos/

Garrythomasphotos@gmail.com

Hit me up and I’ll probably come photograph your band.

Planet Hunter by Garry Thomas

Planet Hunter by Garry Thomas

Delaney Davidson by Garry Thomas

Delaney Davidson by Garry Thomas

Fall Of Man by Garry Thomas

Fall Of Man by Garry Thomas

Tom LaHatte by Garry Thomas

Tom LaHatte by Garry Thomas

Artist Profile: Stella Gardiner Photography

Stella Gardiner
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Welcome to Will Not Fade’s Artist Profile series, where we take a look into the people in the music scene who aren’t necessarily musicians.

Stella Gardiner

Stella Gardiner

Who are you?

Stella Gardiner.

How did you start off doing photography?

I was originally into Lomography and experimental street film photography,and it wasn’t until much later in life that I started using a digital camera. I bought a Canon 5D and made a few low budget music videos with a friend in London. Upon returning to New Zealand I decided to use the camera for photography and on a whim took it with me to a Peter Murphy gig in Auckland. I sent my images to a media outlet on the advice of a friend and the rest is history.

Why do you photograph musicians?

Musicians bring the world so much joy. They give it their all performing on stage and I want to immortalise those moments for others to share and enjoy. Going to a gig, for me, is a cathartic experience. It’s an added bonus if I get to photograph as well.

Film or Digital?

Mostly digital although I have tried film as well but it’s tricky.

Colour or Black and White?

Both. Depends on the artist and the atmosphere or venue.

What has been your highlight so far as a photographer?

So far it would have to be photographing The Cure. For a teenager obsessed with Robert Smith this was a fan-girl dream come true!

The Cure by Stella Gardiner

The Cure by Stella Gardiner

What band would you most love to photograph?

Grace Jones. I saw her live at Camden Roundhouse in London and would absolutely kill for the chance to photograph her. She is an amazing woman.

Have you got a favourite venue?

I love Meow on Edward Street as there is always a place to get a great shot and the décor is eclectic making for super interesting backgrounds. I also love San Fran for the high stage and super awesome staff! I do miss Bodega though.

What do you consider your most essential piece of equipment?

Actually my jeans. I need a lot of pockets to hold all my stuff when I shoot haha.

What kind of ear protection do you use?

Isolate titanium ear plugs. They block loud sounds but I can still hear conversations in the crowd perfectly. It’s really trippy.

Have you got any advice for aspiring beginner photographers?

Think outside the box and be prepared for anything. Oh and ALWAYS treat the crowd, promoters, venue staff and fellow photographers with the utmost respect. They can be your biggest ally at a crowded venue.

How can people contact you if they want to use your services?

https://www.instagram.com/stellagardinerphoto/

https://www.facebook.com/stellagardinerphoto/

stella.gardiner@gmail.com

Peaches by Stella Gardiner

Peaches by Stella Gardiner

Linen by Stella Gardiner

Linen by Stella Gardiner

Julia Deans by Stella Gardiner

Julia Deans by Stella Gardiner

The Chats by Stella Gardiner

The Chats by Stella Gardiner

The Exploited by Stella Gardiner

The Exploited by Stella Gardiner

The Jesus & Mary Chain by Stella Gardiner

The Jesus & Mary Chain by Stella Gardiner

The Mummies by Stella Gardiner

The Mummies by Stella Gardiner