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One of the most prolific periods of Steve’s career ran in parallel with one of the most explosive times in rock music the world has ever seen. For Steve the genesis of the era came when Sounds commissioned him to photograph Screaming Trees in 1990. Much more of his signature work came however when a tragic but gifted young man, the same age as Steve, was setting the world alight without even trying. Kurt Cobain and his band Nirvana provided Steve with some of his most celebrated material and put the end bracket on the 1990-1993 period when Steve photographed them for the last time, at Pier 48 in the heart of the Seattle grunge scene. An electrifying period, it seems obvious why Steve would want to share it with us in his exhibition, but to the man himself, ‘Punk as Fuck’ served as physical catharsis.


“I decided that my pictures needed to go on walls - I'm sick of computer screens - so I went into the darkroom and created the prints for this exhibition - with 2013 being the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's 'In Utero' album it seemed an appropriate opportunity for me to put a solo Nirvana exhibition together but I wanted to put a series of pictures together from that period that captured the mood and paid respect to the great musicians that didn't necessarily achieve the commercial success, but were an essential part of the fabric that created the situation for Nirvana to burst out of.


Te exhibition covers 1990 to 1994, which is when it all so unceremoniously ended. Te exhibition was incredibly well received


interviewing bands that it’s often about empathy; being a musician himself – best known as tenebrous LIAR – is he able to identify and more authentically convey the character of a band?


“Absolutely - but I've found that there's a lot of common ground with 'artistic' people, I think the skills needed to make photos and music are similar; I know a lot of photographers that are musicians and a lot of musicians that are photographers. My main aim is to make my subjects feel comfortable.”


In a short film about the man himself on video blog site fstoppers.com, Steve describes a time in his live gig career when, “there weren’t loads of shithead photographers then”. Either side of the barrier now, a glinting barrage of lenses face front towards the show. But


“Tenacious and Focused”


and seeing all of those painstakingly produced prints together inspired me to produce another two exhibitions, one in Istanbul - 'Emergence' 1990-99 and one in Glasgow - 'Keep Mum' 2000 - 05.”


It’s Steve’s dedication to the technical side of the craft, and to his dark room that he attributes most of his early commissions to. He knows the dark room inside out, and would construct makeshift version in the back of a van, or in his hotel room in order to process the shots ready for a demanding print schedule. In terms of his camera itself, what does he find himself using at the moment? And does he have an old faithful?


“Hasselblad 503CW + CF50mm f4/ CFE 80mm f2.8 & CFI 120mm F4. Voigtlander Bessa ii. Widelux F8 35mm panoramic. Canon EOS1 / EOS1n / EOS 5d mk iii + EF 28mm f1.8/ EF 50mm f1.4 & EF 100mm f2. My old faithful is a Leica R6 with 50mm f1.4 lens but it’s currently broken.”


It’s enough to make your head spin.


Having a handle on your equipment and your output is one thing, but navigating your way round a variety of subjects – with egos and complexes – is definitely an art. He has captured the faces of Bjork, Nick Cave, Prodigy and more, but what we understand from


some will be well intentioned. Some will deserve their place.


With Norwich home to a good many aspiring music photographers, thanks in part to our thriving music scene and also the Norwich University of Arts, what advice would Steve impart on those young hopefuls, on how they raise their head above the rest and get noticed?“By being the best and by being the luckiest”, says Steve. “If you're not a brilliant photographer that knows the discipline inside out then you're not ready. You need an undying love for music, empathy for the artist you're working with - the ability to communicate with them on their level but also the ability to successfully communicate with everyone else involved, from door staff to audience members to band managers and music business types. You need to know when it’s appropriate to use the camera and when it’s not, you need plenty of subjects and to build up a portfolio of stunning work - above all you need to be tenacious and focused.”


Emma R. Garwood


We want to thank Steve for giving us his time and usher you Northwards to Glasgow, where Steve’s latest exhibition, ‘Keep Mum’ will be showing from 28th June – 26th July. Details can be found on keepmum.eventbrite.co.uk


outlineonline.co.uk /July 2013/ 17


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