PDN, the photo industry mag, and Billboard have decided to honor some of the summer music festival photographers with their Summer Music Moment Contest. They’ve chosen winners in both professional and amateur categories with some really outstanding entries. In addition to national shows and festivals, there are also shots from all over the world, like the International Woodstock Festival in Poland, Scissor Sisters at a show in Ischgl, Austria, and a U.S. army camp in Kuwait, to name just a few.
The judges for the professional category included some big names: Julie Greenwald, president of Atlantic Records; Bill Werde, Billboard’s editorial director; Amelia Halverson, Billboard’s photo editor; and James Reyman, who teaches at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, whose recent projects have included redesigning the Wall Street Journal.
Amateur judges were PDN’s Jeanine Fijol and John Gimenez, along with photographers Danny Clinch and, one of my favorites, Autumn de Wilde. She’s photographed just about all of my favorite acts, from John Vanderslice and Devendra Banhart to Fionna Apple and The White Stripes–she’s worked with everyone!
Ice Cream Man’s personal favorite is by Jeff Kravitz from the VH1 Rock Honors at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion.
Be sure to check out these other incredible mentions…
First Place Winners:
(By photo category)
-Performance (professional)…Kevin Tachman, who captured a breathtaking silhouette shot of the Scissor Sister with snow-covered mountains in the background
-Performance (amateur)…Lawrence Cassel’s orange glow My Morning Jacket at the Greek Theatre in LA
-Place (professional)…Mark Metcalfe’s starry capture of Air at Lumiere
-Place (amateur)…David C. Barnum’s fish-eye shot of Guster at Earthfest 2007 in Boston
-Crowd (professional)…Darren McDonald caught Wayne Coyne balancing on the crowd inside that giant ball at a Flaming Lips show at Malkin Bowl in Vancouver
-Crowd (amateur)…Konstantin Sergeyev for the perfect capture of a stage diver at Brooklyn-based World/Inferno Friendship Society‘s show in Washington Square Park, NY
-Spontaneous Moment (professional)…Matthew Niederhauser’s image of lead guitarist Li Hui Peng of Demerit “driving” a car in a billboard in Nanjing, China.
-Spontaneous Moment (amateur)…Timothy Murray’s photo of Major Grace lead singer Jess Carson at Eldorado Studios in Burbank, California
-Series (professional)…Pieter M. van Hattem’s sequence of Morrissey live in New York City
-Series (amateur)…Ana Gibert’s set of The Shys in Los Angeles
-Fan Favorite…Chris Odom’s shot of Matisyahu on stage
I did find one extremely frightening photo among these. It’s of The Shys standing on Sunset Boulevard on the night of their show at the Viper Room. The band looks great, but the $3.99/gallon gas sign in the background is absolutely terrifying!
Photo courtesy of http://gordonwelters.blogspot.com
