Today we’d like to introduce you to Evan Moses.
Evan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I discovered my love for photography in 2020. I had some experience and understanding of using a DSLR camera from taking film classes at my local community college. I’m currently majoring in that field but during the lockdown, I took advantage the free time I had started practicing with my Canon 60D.
On top of that, I had a massive love for extreme metal and hardcore punk which I had been listening to for over three years up at that point. I bring that up because I was hoping to help the local scene by documenting shows. Although there wasn’t a show happening, I would document small merchant market events and pop-ups/meet and greets that were allowed. This was where I learned to use Adobe Lightroom. My photo page I started around the year later to display what I’d been documenting. Once shows started to come back, the first show I documented was right next to the LA River that was put together by a band called Dead City. It was a stepping stone to getting to know more people in that community in a way that I never thought would happen. Since then, live music photography has been my main focus.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Like mentioned earlier, I’ve been going to my local college since 2017. I was initially interested in getting into the film industry. However, I began to lose interest due to the film landscape heavily focusing towards content rather than art. That’s where photography suited me as a way to express myself. It wasn’t hard to figure out the technical side of things. I eventually learned to use Lightroom Classic which I realized is the standard for professional photography. However, the networking was a different ballgame. I was beginning to meet like-minded artists from different fields almost every week. A lot of what has helped me is my mom and I tagging along and going to these shows. I wanted to mention that I am on the autism spectrum, which I was diagnosed at the age of 2 or so. I mention this because it’s a bit harder to meet new people that I assume want to be left alone, so I’ll tend to keep to myself. My mom will hep with that by having us both meet new people together. But overall, it’s been mostly smooth, even if the bumps were more based on my social skills than my work itself.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m mainly known for photographing extreme metal and hardcore punk shows in the LA scene. I’ve been documenting these types of shows since 2021, and I go to them almost every week. I’ve become known to not just get stills of the band’s performance, but the moments in between sets capturing social aspects of the community and how sometimes this is a way for people to hang out to support their friends. One of my favorite moments of my journey in photography was documenting Sound and Fury Fest, which to my understanding, was the biggest hardcore fest ever. Over 5,000 people attended which created an epic scale unlike no other in this scene. Getting photos of people moshing, band members performing in the daytime was unlike anything I’ve been able to pull off since. So many of the bands who I’d seen before thought their festival appearance was also their best set ever. Seeing so many friends was another highlight as well. The photos went viral beyond what I was use to seeing. I was stunned but also humbled of how many people connected with them.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Networking and sharing my work by tagging and shouting out friends from the music scene I would consider to be the main reason for developing a following and appreciation in the hardcore scene. Going to the same shows and catching up with people who support what I do is a huge part of how it has helped me grow. Learning new skills or aspects of the community through friends has helped me become comfortable with what’s going on around me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://evanmoses1998.wixsite.com/emphotos
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emphotos98/
- Other: https://evanmoses98.darkroom.com/
Image Credits
Evan Moses
