You’ll usually find #brentstirton photographing in conflict zones, or documenting social and environmental issues.
But we asked the award-winning photojournalist to turn his attention to the world of music, and cover two nights of the Red Bull Sound Select #event 30 Days in LA. “I think music interests almost everyone to some extent,” he says. “When I was younger I did a tour with the Rolling Stones, when they visited South Africa, but I don’t think I’ve shot any live music for at least 12 years since then.”
But despite this hiatus, Brent quickly got into the swing of things, photographing Norwegian rapper Lido’s spectacular performance on his first evening, and Charli XCX the next day. “If you can it’s best to have a couple of nights so that you can get a sense of the venue and prepare yourself to shoot there on the second night,” he says. “You often only get three songs where you can stand in front of the stage, and you need to make them count.”
“Charli XCX was excellent, as was her support, Brooke Candy. These girls are powerful, sexy and confident and they can mesmerize a crowd. I remember seeing this guy in the crowd just shouting ‘I love you Charli!’ at the top of his voice, over and over. I’ve seen #people like Mick Jagger have that kind of dominance over a crowd, but it was fascinating to see it coming from a dance act.
“I’m 47 now and most of the #people in the crowd and on the stage were still in their 20s. That was an interesting aspect by itself.”
Lido was a harder act for Brent to shoot, with the rapper staying behind his keyboards and performing amongst screens that partially obscured him. But this just allowed the audience to became more involved in the pictures – something that appeals to Brent’s fascination with social behavior.
“It was interesting how many of these #people experienced the gig through their phones, as if they need a way to say ‘I was there’ and are prepared to experience it in a secondhand way to do that,” Bent says. “He’s a talented guy, Lido, mixing it all together. And Jaden Smith, Will Smith’s son, came to join him on stage which was pretty cool. They performed a song about the Black Lives Matter movement, which is good and something that should be out there at the moment.”
“I shot these two gigs on the days following the results of the US presidential election, and there were demonstrations against the result outside on the streets. The police had shut down some of the highways, there were helicopters overhead and you had all these flags and demonstrations. In contrast, though, inside the venue there was a lot of love and affection: there was this lesbian couple kissing in the back row and being very sweet, and a Japanese couple in the balcony smooching away. I know I read more into these things than most #people, but I thought that contrast was an interesting experience.”
Surrounded by fans with smartphones and small mirrorless cameras, Brent found himself having to compete for space to shoot, and ensure that he was getting better results. “You have to dominate those other photographers a bit, if that’s the right word. I was there shooting for Red Bull and when you are doing your job like that you have to be assertive. I make my pictures stand out by using my experience – shooting with the natural light in the venue and timing my shots for when that light looks interesting.
“That’s an interesting way to work as you can get some unpredictable results: it’s dark a gloomy, then suddenly bright and slightly overexposed, but still looking good. It doesn’t have to be technically perfect; it just has to be interesting.”
As we spoke to Brent about his time shooting 30 Days in LA he was on his way to South Africa to continue a project looking at serious crime and race violence – the kind of commission he is far more used to. So would he be returning to photograph live music again soon? “Never say never,” he teases. “Music really is the universal currency, and that’s fascinating to me.”
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