Pat Stevenson knows how to capture a moment.
Over the last 20-plus years, the Sydney based photographer has shot some of the world’s biggest bands, DJs and club nights, building a rep as one of the best going ‘round. But it all started from fairly humble beginnings, and with a desire to just have a crack.
During this ep of our poddy, you’ll discover that Pat is one fun and generous dude. We cover some ground too! Click here to listen to the full ep on Spotify, and scroll down for a few of our favourite moments.
More time Kanye?
“There is a lot of pressure to capture a performance. I remember shooting Kanye West… and instead of three songs he gave photographers five minutes at the start of his set (to shoot). The beginning of his set was dark, it was blackness for five minutes. We had zero light to work with!”
Getting into the scene
Early 2000s, I used to be really into Sydney’s graffiti scene… it was electrifying. I loved to go out with my camera, jump the fence at the train lines and go take photographs of graffiti in the area I grew up in. I just loved the artform. The way I tried to get involved in the scene was to capture it on my old-school film camera.
Violent Soho have the best fans
“One of my favourite crowds to shoot is Violent Soho. They have the best crowds. Some of my favourite crowd shots, like people crowd surfing and being launched into the air at a Violent Soho gig, it’s so fun to shoot. All I have to do is point my camera… and you’re bound to get something. I’ve got one shot where it looks like a girl has just spawned on top of the mosh pit, cause it looks like she’s just dropped out of the air. She’s upside down and I’m thinking ‘how did she get so high’”
Missed it by that much!
“Every single day I notice this. Especially when shooting music, there will be something that happens in front of me… and I was out of focus, or I didn’t have the right lens on. But I think it’s good to know those moments existed, so you can look for repetition. Sometimes I’ve captured that moment and I’ve been lucky enough to get it, but you can’t get it every time.”
