Aaron Brame is a Memphis musician, writer, and photographer.
Heres how it began:
"I started carrying my 35mm film camera to punk and rock shows when I was a teenager, taking photographs of the musicians that I loved.
Today, I am 46 years old, but I still shoot Memphis musicians on film."
Using a Pentax ME from the late 1970s and shooting some pictures without flash, he
processes his black-and-white film at home and scans the results himself - so there’s no need for a photo lab.
The result is a gritty realism that puts you in the moment versus a polished super high def image or digital image.
I myself grew up in the Punk and New Wave era in London - and Aaron’s images remind me of that Punk aesthetic - less is more and rethink the process and make it more immediate.
Reminds me of the slightly out of focus cover shot of The Clash “London Calling” by photographer Pennie Smith- it captured the chaos and energy at that moment, as Paul Simonon is caught in the act of destroying his Fender Precision Bass guitar at a concert in New York City in 1979.
Regarding his influences and inspiration, Aaron states:
“My main inspiration is the street photographers--both famous and anonymous--who get out and take pictures of real artists doing real work. Vivian Maier, Garry Winogrand, and Dan Eldon come to mind. Consequently, my images are gritty and grainy, but hopefully imbued with a great deal of energy.”
As he explained in a photo essay published in Sagrada Magazine:
"Every time I release the shutter I feel a special connection to the art of
creation, a satisfaction in actually imprinting my images
on layers of emulsion that will chemically transform into
a negative. I like to hold the negs up to the light and see
all my images there, strung one after another like jewels
on a necklace, tangible artifacts of my imagination at
work."
I think he succeeds - its a bit like recording on analog tape - you are rewarded with amazing sonic resolution and depth - but it can show every imperfection with the performance.
Shooting on film is the same - you are committing to that shot at that time - and if you are lucky you can put the viewer right in there, to experience the melee of that action packed gig, at that moment.
Check out more here:
https://www.instagram.com/aaronbrame/