In January of 2018 I met up with the fellas from Underoath in Los Angeles to shoot photos for their yet-to-be-released album, Erase Me. My friends at Tension Division were designing the album and merch and basically every facet of the upcoming album cycle. Not only did I need to shoot individual photos of each member using a number of in-camera techniques such as multiple exposure, shutter drag, and projector for the album art, but I also needed to shoot promo photos for Spotify and images for an upcoming issue of Alternative Press. The shot list was aggressive for a one-day shoot but I had the added challenge of shooting all this in the living room of an Airbnb while Brandon, the creative director, was remotely directing everything from their home in Ohio. It was a tall order but I was up for it.
Above you can see the size of the room we were shooting in (bts photos by my assistant, Kristin Cofer). While it was plenty of space for the individual portraits, it was a tight fit group shots with six men. We had to move a bunch of furniture and a bit of wall art to make it work. Below you can see just a few of the individual portraits I made. In the end we walked away with so many images that management ended up making an animated video of each of the members set (see below).
This shoot was a perfect mix of challenge and creative freedom. I was given the opportunity to use the techniques and styles that I’m known for and love, but I also was given the challenge to do it all in a limited amount of time in an unideal setting, which is also one of my specialties (Studio Anywhere, am I right?). All that to say, it was an incredible feeling to pull it off.
