From time to time I get called by musicians / artists to help tell their story through photography. I’m always flattered when I get these calls and I take them seriously because I respect their artistry and I’m grateful that they thought of me. This past week, Singer/Songwriter JRDN had reached out asking for “Behind The Scenes” coverage on the set of his latest video, “Mrs. Right Now.” The song is from his latest LP “Ralph” which I feel is his most personal album to date. I connected with a heap of songs but my favourite is “The Way That You Love Me”.
Now it’s important to note that not every project asks for you to be the lead, get the “hero” shot or shoot the ever-coveted album artwork. So, before committing to any project, I always ask myself a couple of questions. How will this opportunity add value to my portfolio? What can I learn from this experience and do I respect this artist’s work? The answer was an easy yes to all three questions.
I employ a few strategies when documenting BTS to keep me focused, consistent and true to my style as a street photographer.
I focus on finding moments that are candid and honest and then polish them off with warm, cinematic, moody edits in post. Just like on the street, I try to be like a fly on the wall, staying clear of interrupting the artist and the video’s director.
I always pack light. Some people tend to overlook this simple tip. I don’t like to fumble with big lenses because you can miss special moments.
I try my best to overdeliver for the artist. This may come in the form of adding extra portraits of the artist, candid moments in and around the set of the crew members and the space. For this particular project my edits were all very cinematic since the song seemed to call for that as well as the space (The Drake Hotel in Toronto).
Choose the ratio to shoot in based on the project. To keep with the cinematic theme and because this was a video, I shot everything in 16 x 9 (landscape). I find it so refreshing and fulfilling to share the full-screen version of my images which is not something I always get to do.
Me experimenting with a few images to tell the story through double exposure.
I hope you enjoyed a look into my process and workflow outside of street photography. What personal or professional work kept you busy this week and what was your process like? Let me know in the comments.
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