Good walls, familiar magic (Human Pursuits 20/3/23)
A couple months ago the band Bealby Point asked me to photograph them. Here's how it turned out.
VANCOUVER – Bealby Point is a rock and roll band from the small bedroom community of Deep Cove, B.C., which is located in the District of North Vancouver, about a half-hour’s drive from downtown. The band consists of Jack on guitar/vox, Clay on lead, Studes on bass, and Zack behind the kit. They got their name from an even smaller B.C. community that Zack’s grandparents called home. They pull inspiration from a lot of different sources but especially The Strokes. They really fucking love The Strokes.
A couple of months back the band asked if I might photograph them. I said yes, and we spent a few hours walking around east Vancouver looking for “good walls” – urban backdrops that would make for interesting photographs, without distracting from the talent. Turns out Commercial Drive has a lot of non-descript buildings and more than a few ugly murals. Perfect.
The creative brief was pretty simple: four friends who play music together. We drew inspiration from The Strokes, but also Arctic Monkeys and Green Day circa Warning. We used black and white film to try and give the band a sense of timelessness. My hope was to position them as the latest in a lineage that dates back to New York City in ‘78, while still presenting them as a Vancouver band. Ambitious, I know. Still I think the results speak for themselves.
Below are some of my favourite photos from the shoot. The band was happy enough with the result that they invited me to photograph their show at The Fox last Friday. I wasn’t the one performing but it still felt good to touch the stage again. To stand under the hot lights and feel the distortion in my teeth. To bare witness to the old familiar magic.
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