So, the other week I had the very enjoyable experience of going to see some live poetry and spoken word at the Phoenix Square in Leicester, and also a good oppertunity to get a little more experience of event photography in Leicester. The night was called “Anerki” and was being organised partly by my friend Craig, who also performed some of his rather inspiring work, and a small group of other people.
The idea behind “Anerki” is that it will be a regular event for local artists to perform or present their art in various forms, centering around the theme of anarchy. I really enjoyed the whole evening, which included various politically themed poetry, “Cello hip-hop”, (Definitely as good as the term suggests), and spoken word with background musical soundscapes provided by various electronic equipment including a child’s speak and spell type toy.
I’d been asked to photograph the event as another photographer had unfortunately dropped out. It was great to photograph this kind of event, as it provides a real challenge for me. The room was quite brightly and evenly lit, and their was a big blue screen directly behind where the performers where going to stand so I had to think creatively about how I was going to shoot. I ended up playing around with the composition of some of the lights in the background and also trying to include the audience in the shots as much as possible. I was really pleased with the results and enjoyed trying to capture the personalities of some of the artists as much as I could. And as for the blue screen… Well, I’m glad they look so good in black and white! ; )
And a final shot – Me messing about afterwards trying to photograph the moon… No tripod so not brilliant but I thought the picture kind of goes well with the rest so I thought I’d throw it in!