Interview with music photographer Chris Hardwick
Chris Hardwick is a Brisbane music photographer who’s captured some seriously nice guitars in his time! Oh! …And some seriously awesome bands too!!! He’s photographed You Am I, Crowded House, COG, Art Vs Science, Static-X, Stereophonics, and at festivals including Parklife and Bluesfest. He really captures the intensity of the moment in each photo.
You can just imagine the atmosphere at each gig when flicking through his folio! Hear what Chris had to say when I spoke to him this week…
How have you got to where you are today?
I always enjoyed playing around with my point-and-shoot camera and then when I turned 18 and went to music festivals I saw the music photographers up the front of the stage and I said, “That’s what I want to do!” I saved up, bought a DSLR, and got involved with some blogs allowing me to get into venues with gear. Now I work for The HiFi and Jim Beam, taking photos of live music and seeing all my favourite bands up close.
In a few words, describe yourself…
Geek.
What are you spending your time on at the moment?
I’m playing around with some ideas to help budding music photographers get a step up, a community project of sorts.
Do you have a ritual for getting into the creative mindset? Or a creative process?
Not really, but live performance is so emotive and energising that I just enjoy the music and take photos along the way.
What or who inspires you?
Anyone that has spark, so many people just drift through life, it’s always inspiring when someone actually has a passion.
What are you most proud of?
I try to be proud of everything I do, if I’m not proud of my own work, I don’t see how anyone else could like it.
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
It changed every day… Architect to Zoologist, I wanted to be one.
