Why people hate photographers at concerts.

Why people hate photographers at concerts.

Ever since Photogal's interest in shooting concerts waned a few years ago, I've slowly been shooting more and more shows. At the outset it was a good team; she photographed the bands and I wrote about the performances. After a while she started to complain about it and I never understood why.

Well, over the last few concert seasons I've begun to see why. Let me preface this by saying I understand there are a number of freelance photographers that make their money off shooting concerts for various periodicals. I respect their work greatly and really enjoy looking at many of their pictures. And a large number of them are super cool folks. But a few of them, and I do mean the minority of concert photographers, are kind of big jerks that can give all photographers a bad name. When you're at the bigger shows, with barriers separating the stage from the crowd, this isn't as apparent, but when you encounter a show with no barrier, where the photogs have to embed themselves in the crowd to get a decent shot, the difference becomes glaring between the nice guys / gals and the jerks. Allow me to present a recent example.

I shot last week's Dandy Warhols show. When I got there I found out I was one of only two photographers with photo passes and there was no barrier. So between the first and second band I went down to the front of the stage and introduced myself to the security guy.*After that I went through the folks in front of the stage -- one by one -- and introduced myself, assuring them I would only be in their way for a few songs and making sure they were cool with that. Every single person I talked to said that was totally cool.

The first band I shot was Darker My Love, and I only stuck around to get a few shots of them before rejoining my friends near the back of the venue. One of them asked me why I was back so quickly so I explained my overriding philosophy to them in this situation. The folks down in front paid $30+ dollars for their tickets, got here when the doors opened so they could have a good spot, and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin someone else's concert experience when they had put in so much effort to ensure they had a good time.

We all watched Darker My Love, really enjoyed their set, and while they were breaking down and The Dandy Warhols' gear was being set up I went back down in the crowd. I got a little good-natured ribbing from the kids I had spoken to earlier, but everything was cool. Once the band started I crouched down and started snapping shots. That's when things got a little weird.

In my peripheral vision I saw a whole bunch of other dudes with SLRs pushing their way through the crowd and blocking people's view. One of them almost knocked me over -- which ain't easy since I'm a reasonably big guy stature-wise -- and I could see the disappointed look on fan's faces as these goons blocked their view and shoved kids out of the way to get their shots. I still have no idea how they got in with SLRs since there were only two photo passes** but there they were, ruining the beginning of the show for countless people.

Now look, folks want pictures of concerts. Heck, often the folks that want them most are the people who were actually there, so there's no reason to shove people out of your way when you're both aiming for the same goal!

I've seen hints of this behavior in the past, and always suspected that it's that sort of behavior that creates a situation where the vibe is security and fans versus the photographers, but this particular situation was the rudest behavior I'd seen yet.

So what's to be learned? Photogs, take a minute to talk to the folks around you. They'll let you take your shots, and you'll get even better ones because some pissed off kid won't be pushing you while you're trying to focus or kicking you in the back of the leg while you wait for halfway decent lighting. And you've GOT to learn that just because you have a photo pass, it doesn't put you on some higher plane that the rest of the folks there. In fact, I consider the fans a higher social class because they're the ones saving up the money to go to the show, and putting in the time to make sure they have just the right spot to see their favorite band.

Showing those folks a little respect will go a long way, and make the concert experience far more enjoyable for everyone.

*It should be noted that the vast majority of the security guys given stage duty are super cool and super professional. They're not constantly yelling at the crowd or intimidating them because they don't have to. They're usually seasoned and know what to look for, and what to defuse before it becomes a problem.
**I noticed the one other guy with a legit photo pass stayed in his spot at the side of the stage that he staked out with the same kids who had been waiting in front all night the whole time and bothered no one, by the way.