One of the things I enjoy most about the whole music biz schtick is the people I meet along the way. Not just the so-called rock stars; label reps, tour managers, promoters, stage crews, promo people, merchandise watchdogs, other journalists…. I’ve met plenty of each and I’m proud to call many of them my friends.
One such specimen is Australian sound engineer Matt West, who has worked for the likes of Testament, Motörhead, and several non-metal artists; a gentleman whom I met by chance and turned out to be quite a nice guy largely due to his warped sense of humour and love of metal. Turns out we also share a love of photography, and Matt has taken a big step by releasing a book of 200 shots compiled from his travels around the world.
Gotta say, I’m impressed.
Following is an overview of the book by Matt and the official press release for the book, entitled Moments:
Matt: “Moments is a collection of images with minimal information: only a title and location accompanying each shot. My desire is to leave the interpretation up to you. A random sequence of apparently unconnected photos, moving from one country to the next, through the randomness of the images you are invited to make your own connections. The dialogue of this book is both personal and internal.
There are to be no band or celebrity shots here. These are moments that caught my eye while wandering foreign lands. A collection of images from around the world taken while on the road, mostly away from the crowds and the flashing lights.
This is a book for when you have a few quiet moments of your own to drift away. It’s easy reading and easy viewing. I hope you will find something that inspires your imagination.” Continue reading MATT WEST – Moments: “Best Accompaniment To A Coffee Table Award 2012”
I fell in love with photography when I was 13 years old. Credit goes to my parents for that, as they decided to send me to summer school that year. Well, it wasn’t exactly summer school. More like educational courses were being offered for the summer and they took place at a local institute of learning, so to my mind it was summer school, which was a fate worse than death for a 13 year old kid. Particularly one such as myself who had all kinds of nothing lined up for the holiday stretch. My parents would have none of it, however, and decided that I’d spend 9:00am – 12:00pm from Monday to Friday for a month taking part in an activity of my choice. Or else.