As soon I started doing a lot of concert photography I also started making photobooks. In the beginning only from actually printed photos that I developed in my darkroom. Quite small prints but the process was fantastic. Those books continued a bit when digital photography kicked in, but soon I also made the books digital once those services came about. Much easier and all in all cheaper than to print every photo. But after about four years that too stopped. I think I was just too busy with the next gig and the next gig that I didn’t get around looking back at the year.
So when I had finished my first 10 years as a concert photographer I thought it might be a nice idea to actually look back at those years. All in all it took me over two years to complete it as I got stuck on selections, the amount of photos I wanted in the book and the concept. But two years later I had it. I let in proof-read several times as I made the book both in Dutch and in English. I even had a designer look at the layout and all that for in reality only one print: mine. The cost of the book vs the interest overall (naught) made that I didn’t even attempt printing several more and that was OK. I wanted a book for me that had the quality and look of a great book so I could look back on what I thought were the best images over 10 years of photography with a little background information on the artist, concert or whatever came to mind. I made it nearly completely in black&white with only one or two photos with a hint of colour and I still love the result of the book. It’s a fantastic overview of where I came from to where I was at that moment.
Jump forward to 2020 and I was starting up some plans to retire in 2021. But then out of the blue in early 2020 Corona came and we were done. As of March that year all gigs canceled except some shows over TV or Internet and there’s just no fun taking screenshots of that. Luckily in the end of 2021 a few concerts were possible so at least I could end it all with more or less a feeling of closure and I did a last real one in 2023. But by that time the camera didn’t work as well anymore and I’d finally and for real called it quits (although… never say never).
But now some more time has passed and I’ve been thinking about getting a collection of photos together for a second part of my career. It will at least be fun to go through all of the photos and remember the places and concerts I’ve seen through the time. And maybe, just maybe I’ll get the urge to do a gig again every once in awhile. But not with the same pressure to have them ready as before. That time has come and gone. But for now let’s concentrate on getting a good collection of photos from 2011 till 2021.
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