This is Villagers playing in Vicar Street just before Christmas. This was a bastard of a gig to photograph. I should have known when I saw those six dishes on poles at the back of the stage. Each one contained a powerful light that was pointed right out at the crowd and at my camera. They weren’t always on, but when they were, they completely ruined things. Still, I did manage to salvage this shot. It’s far from perfect but I like the way Conor O’Brien, in the centre of the stage, is sharply rendered. Even though it’s an exposure of more than four minutes, because he stands so still, and is so intent on what he’s doing, he looks like he’s been captured in a conventional photograph. In contrast, the two guys to his left are just blurs. This seems kind of apt, given that Villagers basically is Conor O’Brien. (more…)
Traces Of The Real 