{"id":5579,"date":"2017-09-04T18:40:57","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T17:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/?p=5579"},"modified":"2024-06-05T13:03:00","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T12:03:00","slug":"punk-rock-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/punk-rock-portraits\/","title":{"rendered":"Punk Rock Portraits – A Retrospective"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Logo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A few years ago I ran a website called Punk Rock Portraits. As the name suggests, it was to show my photos from gigs; it was live from 2004<\/a> and eventually amassed a decent number of albums. I was lucky enough to photograph most of the bands I wanted (except Blink 182 and No Doubt!), but since I shut the site down I haven’t had anywhere to keep those older images (newer ones are on the ‘Gigs’ category<\/a> on this blog). I thought it was about time to rectify that, so I’ve put some of my best \/ favourites on this page. Click to make them bigger first!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Less<\/a>
The first of many, many LTJ shots, but still one of my favourites.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2004<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Million<\/a>
Frank Turner in his Million Dead days. Not a particularly exciting shot, but one of the first decent gig photos I took, so it has a special place in my heart.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2004<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Tsunami<\/a>
I really miss Tsunami Bomb – Agent M used to smile through the entire set, and that enthusiasm was pretty infectious.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2004<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
A photographer’s dream – the Hives used around 80 pure white bulbs to light their set and complement the white suits. The set was pretty awesome, too.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2004<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Babyshambles<\/a>
One of my favourite images out of all of them. With no press pit, I arrived early and shot from hard up against the barriers at the front. I don’t think I’ve ever known such a frenzied atmosphere at a gig.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2004<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Fastlane<\/a>
Drummers are great, when they slow down a bit.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2005<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sonic<\/a>
SB6, a band I returned to many times. Not only are they amazing live, it’s also quite hard to take a bad photograph of them.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2005<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
I love the combination of the pose and the blank space in this one, particularly since gig shots are usually so busy or tightly-cropped.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2005<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Hell<\/a>
Hands down one of the best gigs I have *ever* been to. Also one of only a few where I ignored the ‘three songs only’ rule in the face of absolute chaos, and happily continued snapping while enjoying the music throughout.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2005<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Lars<\/a>
One of the first gigs I ever shot; attitude and self-confidence by the bucket-load.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2005<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Alkaline<\/a>
I’m never sure if I like this image or not, but Rock Sound saw fit to publish it as the cover of their Italian edition, so I thought I’d better include it.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2005<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"MC<\/a>
Post-punk laptop rap. Niche, perhaps, but absolutely brilliant.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2006<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Hundred<\/a>
I’ve been to more Hundred Reasons gigs than I can remember, and photographed them four times. What made the former experience and the latter really challenging was the complete whirlwind of activity from start to finish. Here’s one that snuck through in focus and with no motion blur. Result!
\u00a9\u00a0Haydn Williams 2006<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Yellowcard<\/a>
People have a tendency to wave body parts, lighters or mobile phones around when you’re trying to take crowd shots, so I was really pleased with how this one worked out.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2006<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Less<\/a>
Photographers dream of shots like this. Thanks LTJ.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2006<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dropkick<\/a>
The Dropkick Murphys were one of the first bands I ever photographed, albeit in the more personal confines of Rock City. I’m not a big fan of arenas, but the vast space of the Ice Arena gave me chance to play around with composition on this one.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2006<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sonic<\/a>
I’ve got hundreds of photos of set lists – I just chose SB6 because I like the simplicity of the image, and I like the songs.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2006<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Blackbud<\/a>
I don’t know anything about Blackbud; I only went to Godiva to shoot the Cooper Temple Clause. In the end, this was the best image of the day.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2006<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bullets<\/a>
I just like the movement in this one.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2006<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Less<\/a>
So many LTJ images, such little space.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2006<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Planet<\/a>
Any band that can make an entire crowd sit down halfway through a gig is OK by me. This is what little venues are all about – proper interaction with the band.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2006<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Propagandhi<\/a>
I didn’t really know much Propagandhi stuff before going to this gig, but it turned out to be strong evidence that a band can convert you into a fan through sheer energy alone. Incredible.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2006<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Jesse<\/a>
I always found horns difficult to photograph well. Sneaking around behind the stage worked really for this one though, I thought.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2007<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Big<\/a>
Drummers are really hard to photograph – always at the back, in the dark, moving really fast. At the Vic you could get alongside, which helped me get this image. Definitely my favourite drummer photograph.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2007<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
Slam Dunk 2007 at Leeds was amazing, and the crowd went crazy for every act. As a result, this image was taken from the hottest mezzanine level the world has ever experienced.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2007<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sonic<\/a>
If anyone asks for a definition of punk rock, show them this image.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2007<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Paramore<\/a>
I’d been dying to photograph Paramore, who at this point had only released ‘All We Know if Falling’, peaking at no. 51 in the UK. It would be another couple of years before the first of two UK no. 1 albums, and I’m glad I caught them in the iconic Refectory before they moved onto arenas.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2007<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Iggy<\/a>
An absolute professional, Iggy had the crowd in the palm of his hand, but did a great job of working the press pit during the first three songs too.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2008<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Iggy<\/a>
Iggy quite deliberately hit me in the face with the mic, and I will happily tell that story to anyone who’ll listen.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2007<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Iggy<\/a>
More Iggy.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2008<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Biffy<\/a>
I never really ‘got’ Biffy’s early stuff, but when this image was taken they were riding high on the back of ‘Puzzle’ and would cement their success with ‘Only Revolutions’
the following year. For me the energy of this gig was the turning point in me starting to really like them. \u00a9 Haydn Williams 2008<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The Zatopeks – a band clearly in it to have a *lot* of fun.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2007<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Zolof<\/a>
Zolof stuff still works when pared right back (see the acoustic version of ‘Diner Song’), and the space in this image fits nicely with how I ‘see’ lots of their stuff in my head. I’m not sure that makes sense, but I love them.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2007<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Less<\/a>
Everyone loves Roger.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2007<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Less<\/a>
Less Than Jake did a six-night residency at the Astoria 2 in 2007, and I managed to get a photo pass – for all six nights! How they kept the typical LTJ vibe going for almost a full week I don’t know, but they did!
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2007<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Gallows<\/a>
Not normally my kind of thing, but Gallows were incredible. Frank Carter just snarled and smashed his way through the entire set, and this was about the only time he was even approaching anything less than break-neck speed all night.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2008<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Streetlight<\/a>
I looked forward to Streetlight Manifesto for a long time, and they didn’t disappoint. This kind of sums up the pace throughout.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2008<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sum<\/a>
This one was manic – just as much fun as the Fat Lip video would have you believe.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2008<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Zolof<\/a>
Zolof have such a chilled-out, fun sound – I think this image shows how the live shows reflected that.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2008<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sonic<\/a>
Laila, ever the professional.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2008<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sonic<\/a>
Another shot that I think spells out the fun of an SB6 gig.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2008<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Enter<\/a>
It’s always nice to try and make something of keyboard players whenever possible.
\u00a9 Haydn Williams 2008<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A trip down mid-2000s punk rock memory lane.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5600,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[1243,1242,260,386],"class_list":["post-5579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gigs","category-photography","tag-concert-photography","tag-gig-photos","tag-punk-rock-portraits","tag-punkrockportraits-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haydnwilliams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}