Friday, May 1, 2009

Rain Rain go away - The sunny side of working in England






So as many have seen Dan had a good time documenting our trip while I worked with the well-known classical music group Aronowitz. My childhood friend Jennifer Stumm is an accomplished violist who invited me to England to photograph her group for their upcoming album and press photos. Coming from shooting rock bands and fashion editorials I know very little about the rules of the game for photographs in the classical music world. As I am shown the typical press photo, I dismiss the idea of shooting within the confines of that box. Why not put my mark on classical music? Why can't they look as cool as any rock band or as beautiful as a pop star? So in typical Angela fashion I infused my general sense of humor and love for vibrant color into the photos. I aim to capture not just their faces, but their personalities as well. Of course there were challenges - there were no stylists or make-up artists, no art director, no trained assistant, and my light blew up (even with a power converter for UK). Oh, and not to forget there's the challenge of shooting 7 people that were used to being on stage, but certainly not models in a photoshoot. For many it's easy to take a picture of a beautiful setting or a pretty flower they see, but here a photographer has to separately light and bring beauty to 7 people in a way that makes them look like a cohesive group, and match the background chosen. Of course, they were all extremely gracious to work with and willing to try new things. On this trip I realized that my love of music and photography causes me to enjoy shooting every genre.