Mie Nakazawa of Haiku Hands.
Settling in after a show to curate, edit, and overall process images from a performance is a favorite thing of mine to do outside of attending the show itself. Most photographer workflows have commonalities but where our respective approaches curiously and rightfully differ I think, is what music is listened to while editing. Expectations to edit while listening to the music of the artist just photographed naturally surfaces as a first step to post production nirvana. The recall of events by re-connecting vignettes from a show to a melody, riff or lyric is euphoric to me.
There's nothing else like this age old pairing of senses between two mediums that breathe new interpretations, recollection, and life to a show long past their final encore.
Haiku Hands, a three-piece electronic dance group I'd never shot before, is responsible for the soundtrack of so many of my editing sessions for OTHER artists, breaking my personal norms by funneling their high-powered beats and velvety vocals of empowering decree into dizzying amounts of hours for the aural inspiration needed, that played over the images of so many artists over the past year.
“Not About You” endlessly on repeat, fueled my approaches to decision making, aspiration, and abstract creativity before uploading a single image. When I finally photographed Haiku Hands for the first time this past Saturday, then sat down to curate and edit their photos to their music, I paused and gave them mental hugs, high fives, and handshakes of appreciation. Little did I know at the time this opportunity would find it's way into reality the following Sunday night and leave me lightheaded and in disbelief.