Karl
Rodriguez
English
201
Getting To Know Oliver Walker
As
I sit and wait for Oliver Walker to show up to the coffee shop in LA, I keep
thinking to myself that I don’t really know what he looks like, and he
definitely doesn’t know what I look like.
How are we going to figure out who the other person is so we can have
this interview? Then a man walks up that
doesn’t look anything like the picture that I saw, but he’s looking around as
if he is looking for someone. I stand
up and ask if he is Oliver at the same time he asks if I’m Karl. We figure it out and do our
introductions. We quickly get a drink,
and take a seat at a table in front of the coffee shop. Now I’m extremely nervous. I don’t know anything really about how to
interview someone. I guess I just have to
roll with the punches and find out who Oliver is and how he does what he does
in the world of concert photography.
I’ve been a fan of his work for over a year now. I noticed that he was the photographer for
many of the best images that I came across when looking at photos of different
concerts.
Once
we get situated in our seats, I start off by giving a little bit of a
background about myself so Oliver doesn’t think that I am just some
weirdo. I explain to him that I am a
photography student, and that I’m writing a paper about someone in the field
that I would like to get into, and the writings that they do as part of their
work. He seems fine with everything; so I
just dive right in.
By
asking Oliver a few background questions, I find out that Oliver grew up in
Gilroy, CA, which is mainly known as the “Garlic Capital of the World.” I’ve only driven through Gilroy myself, so I
don’t know that much about it. He then
went to Biola College in Norwalk, Ca. where he got a BFA in sculpture. Ironically, when Oliver was in college, he
only took one photography class. It’s
kind of interesting that he became a photographer.
Oliver
proceeds to inform me that he thinks that one thing that helps him with his
photography is that he took different art-inspired classes. He states that he’s better at composing his
images because of the classes that he took.
The classes that he took give him some insight on how to see the image
before he takes it. He likes to see
something that is different from other concert photographs. He doesn’t want to see the same thing over
and over. I like that. I actually try to think the same way when I
shoot photos. I think that you won’t get
noticed unless you are different. You
need to be able to distinguish yourself from the other photographers. When looking at his images that he posts on
Instagram, you can tell that Oliver stands out.
The hardest part, from my understanding, about concert photography is
that you have no control over the lighting.
When you look at Oliver’s feed on Instagram, you can tell that he uses
the lights to his benefit. It’s like he
already knows what is going to happen with the lights, and sets himself up in
the right place to catch the perfect shot.
During
the interview, Oliver stated that he got his start in photography by just going
to different shows and taking pictures. He
was living in Long Beach at the time. He
started out just taking pictures with a regular point-and-shoot camera and then
upgraded to a DSLR. According to Oliver,
he had some friends in LA that ran some shows called “The Rumble.” It was a show that occurred one a month and would
bring different bands together to play.
This friend of his also had a blog.
Oliver was able to take pictures of the bands at “The Rumble” and get
them posted on the blog. Then he started
to get work after that.
When
asked who is his inspiration, Oliver is quick to say that it’s Dennis O’Regan. Unfortunately I didn’t know who Dennis
O’Regan was, so I had to look him up.
According to Wikipedia, Dennis O’Regan is a renowned English rock
photographer. His imagery is
particularly associated with the punk movement.
He was the official photographer to people like David Bowie, Duran
Duran, The Rolling Stones, Queen, and a bunch of other hugely famous bands. I then looked up some of his images. This guy is a legend. Just taking a quick glimpse at a few of his
images, you feel like you are hanging out with the bands. There is one image that caught my eye in
particular. It’s one of a member of
Duran Duran performing with fans in the background. The twist to this image is that the subject
is turned and looking right into the camera and has a smile on his face like he
is having the time of his life. It’s not
a staged photo. You can tell that this
is honest emotion coming through the lens.
One major detail
that I noticed is that Oliver and Dennis definitely do have something in common
with their photography. The photos of
live shows give a feeling to the viewer that they are right there in the
moment. Both photographers’ pictures evoke
strong feelings of that moment when you, as a fan, are watching a performance
and the person or persons on stage are giving you everything that they can
possibly give. You know the moment. It’s when they are dripping in sweat,
breathing heavily, and dancing like nobody is watching them. It’s the moment that, you wish you could get to
experience at every live show. Both
Oliver and Dennis are photographers that are able to convey that moment in a
single shot. They make the viewer have
an actual feeling, whether it is good or bad, when they look at their images. This is something that a good photographer
can show in his images of these bands. This
got me to thinking about what Oliver does to be able to shoot so many great
bands that have such a stage presence.
Since
Oliver has a contract with Goldenvoice, he is able to sit down with someone
from the company named Lindsey and pick out about 10 - 15 shows a month that he
can shoot. He says that he is lucky
enough to be able to put in a lot of input on which shows he can shoot. He can pick bands that he likes first, and
then fill in the rest of his schedule with other bands from the list. He doesn’t seem to mind that he gets to shoot
bands that he doesn’t know. He told me
that he likes finding new bands that he ends up becoming a fan of later
on. We discussed how the band Purity
Ring is one of those bands. Both Oliver
and myself stumbled across this band at different times, but we both became
fans. We didn’t know anything about
them, but once you hear them live, you get hooked. They also have a really good stage presence. Purity Ring is very unique, so the images that
you can get as a photographer can really be aesthetically pleasing when you can
get the artists and the props that they have on stage with them.
When
we were discussing different bands and getting to shoot them at festivals,
Oliver told me that he is hoping to have his own business where he can shoot
about 2 or 3 festivals a month by next year.
This is a dream job as far as I’m concerned. Hopefully he is able to start his own
company. What photographer wouldn’t want
to travel and take photos of live shows that may be once in a lifetime event? If I were ever able to get a job like that, I
would jump on it in a heartbeat.
When
everything is all said and done, I’m glad that I got to meet and interview
Oliver Walker on that day. Oliver was
very pleasant and friendly. We shared a
couple of stories with each other, and bonded over the fact that we both lived
in Long Beach. He was very honest with
me and didn’t seem to mind me stumbling all over myself from being so nervous
during the interview. He even mentioned
to me that he would try to get a photo pass for me for an upcoming music
festival called FYF in Los Angeles.
Since he is the photographer for FYF, I really hope that he is able to
do this. My fingers are crossed.
