The American Prospect

The desktop version of this terrific article from The American Prospect features my concert photography. Amanda Teuscher's piece is fantastic -- I especially like the wariness of nostalgia, and how DC's scene instead centers on dealing with current issues and looking forward.

Screen capture from prospect.org. Pictured: DC's own Coup Sauvage and the Snips.

Screen capture from prospect.org. Pictured: DC's own Coup Sauvage and the Snips.

Many of the photos they chose to use happened to have been taken with my vintage Asahi Takumar 135mm f/3.5 lens. Copies in good condition will go on eBay for under $150. Mine is an M42 mount. It's quite compact for a 135mm, and the image quality can be very nice. Check out the sharpness on this shot of Katie Alice Greer of the (totally awesome) DC-based band Priests.

I love the stray hairs against the black background, as well as the black fur against the white background. Shutter: 1/40, f/3.5, ISO: 2000. I usually won't push the ISO anywhere near that high, but the venue was rather dark this band's movements are so frenetic that faster shutter speeds were needed!

I was happy with the inclusion of this Ian Svenoius shot, because it has a little bit of wordplay. As the article notes, the words "POPULAR LIBRARY" were behind the band. I wonder if readers will notice that I framed the shot so it says, "POPULAR LIE"?

I feel like Popular Lie would be a solid name for a punk band. This shot was also with the Asahi Takumar 135mm f/3.5 lens. Shutter: 1/60, f/3.5 (or close to that), ISO: 800.