The power of the light, and the fleeting capture of musicians in motion, magically combine to create photographs that bring these moments back to life in our eyes and, really, in our souls.
Each shot was carefully composed and fastidiously focused to capture the impact and importance of these gifted and glorious musicians. I was singularly committed to locking in these performances for posterity at that time. I knew we were changing the world.
Shot primarily with a 1980’s-era Canon AE1 35mm camera on Tri-X ISO 800 B&W film, film engineered to be “fast” enough to catch the action in low and difficult lighting situations – crystal clarity and technical perfection was sacrificed for grain and, profoundly: authenticity.
These images are a meticulously restored time-capsule offering from a decade (early 1980’s – early 1990’s) of the PacNw’s music scene churning towards the sea-change of massive, global recognition and glory. Offered here and now to elaborate upon the popular and often encountered narratives of the times. The existing record will always be incomplete and high-level, but these serve to fill in some of the blanks.
Enjoy that spin? Because sure, some of that is totally true (I did shoot with a Canon AE1 mostly on Tri-X without a flash), but the rest of it is me being funny.
While there are absolutely important photographers of the time that did all of those things with their innate talents and commitment to artistic merit – that wasn’t me. This isn’t that. I was a freelance writer/photographer and I was driven to document these bands for the primary purposes of the local music press (and/or because some of these bands were friends of mine and asked me to). Freelance journalist was a low-pay, high-demand pursuit, but I felt it was a righteous one.
All of which is to say, sorry I’m (ahem) a few years late , but here’s my contribution to the record of early-80’s through early 90’s PacNw/Seattle live music. I think they’re cool photos, they were definitely cool bands, and I hope you like them. The Bygone Photos are nothing more or less than that.
- JA Andersen