For as long as I remember, I’ve been going to concerts. However, it’s only been in the past couple of years or so that I’ve gained an appreciation for the person that is at EVERY concert but is rarely appreciated – the photographer. As I began my deep dive into all things concert photography in the coming weeks, I discovered editorial and portrait photography and all of a sudden, I was hooked. If you’re a nerd for anything involving a camera like me, be sure to check out my favorite photographers below!

I. Damon Baker

Style: Mainly black and white portraits and fashion shoots

Fan base: 1.1 Million followers on Instagram

People he’s worked with: Taylor Swift, Cole Sprouse, James Franco, Rami Malek, Cindy Crawford and so many more

Why I love him: I get it. His photos aren’t necessarily everyone’s style and before I found his account, I wasn’t a huge fan of black and white either. HOWEVER, Damon Baker has made me do a complete 180 and after stalking his account, I was able to realize the beauty that a photo can hold, regardless of if it’s in color or not. His portraits are breathtaking, unique, and demonstrate the beauty and personality in each and every one of his models. Plus, he is an outspoken advocate for the LGBT+ community and he constantly stresses the importance of internalized beauty and self-confidence. He’s only 28 so this is one photographer that I definitely think has a bright future ahead of him and I’m so excited to see what else he creates.

II. Xenia Lau

Style: Portraits, editorial photography

Fan Base: 243,000 followers on Instagram

People she’s worked with: Katerina Saforova, Ainoa Gavara, Blanca Soler, Berta Castane

Why I love her: I actually only found Xenia’s page about a week ago but ever since I have been captivated by the beauty of her photographs. A pretty stark contrast to Damon Baker, her portraits are full of color, nature, and life, giving them a whimsical and enchanting feel. Additionally, Xenia was also born in Tokyo and raised in Barcelona so I think that it is incredibly interesting to see how her culture influences her photos. Her constant themes of feminity, sexuality, love, and beauty make her page one of my favorites. I also love how she features less-known models on her page as she is able to showcase the beauty of some people that we don’t always see. (I also love female photographers)

III. Jawn Rocha

Style: Concert photography and portraits

Fan Base: 41,700 followers on Instagram

People he’s worked with: Waterparks, 5 Seconds of Summer, twenty one pilots, and other bands in addition to senior portraits

Why I love him: My love for Jawn come’s back to my first real interest, concert photography. While I do consider myself to be a nerd for all things music, Jawn Rocha and other concert photographers really exposed me to a vital aspect of the music industry that I wasn’t really aware of. Sure, Jawn Rocha might not be the most well-known photographer in the business but nevertheless, I find myself never getting bored or disappointed with any of the photos that he published. He uses light, angles, and pure, music-driven bliss to create magical and captivating pictures that truly capture the concert in all of its glory. He also is amazing with the fans (I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him a couple of times) and he does something that a lot of concert photographers don’t do – take pictures of the crowd. He is able to capture every moment beautifully and whenever I look at his account, I am immediately transported back to the very concert on my screen.

IV. Brad Heaton

Style: Concert and tour photography

Fan Base: 260,000 followers on Instagram

People he’s worked with: twenty one pilots, Steve Aoki, Post Malone, Childish Gambino, Paramore

Why I love him: Lady Gaga really said it best…

Brad has been working with twenty one pilots for nearly a decade now (!!) but somehow every single picture he takes is different from the last one. Like Jawn, Brad focuses primarily on music photography and his skills really shine through in this department. At only 27, Brad has been able to shoot for HUGE artists (as mentioned above) and I think that he is only getting started. His photos transport me into another dimension and I can’t look at this page without saying “wow” at least 3 times. He is incredibly hardworking (I’ve seen him sprinting back and forth along the stage for at least 3 hours on multiple occasions) and most importantly, his love for his job and the artists he’s capturing really comes through in everything that he creates.

I’m just going to say it… photographers are under-appreciated, undervalued, and not given a fraction of the appreciation that they should. While they might be hiding in the shadows (both literally and metaphorically), photos are what gives us the power to remember the best experiences of our lives and get excited for the ones to come.

I love a good fairytale as much as the next person. Beautiful dresses, splendid houses, and the man of my dreams? Sounds pretty good to me.

However, in Margaret Atwood’s “Happy Endings“, she throws that glass slipper out the window and points out the fact that these perfect scenarios are very rarely attainable.

The Author

If you’re a fan of feminism, sexuality, and overpowering the patriarchy, well then Margaret Attwood is the author for you! Best known for her prose fiction and for her feminist perspective, Atwood has written over 40 novels and short stories and from what I have read, she is the definition of a modern-day feminist. Her work focuses primarily on the flaws of mankind, embracing female sexuality, and the oppression of women, all of which have led to countless awards and praise from readers and critics alike.

The Story

Mimicking the style of a “chose your own story” book, Margaret Attwood presents the reader with 6 different endings to the same initial scenario – “John and Mary meet”.

Straight off the bat, Attwood tells the reader that if they’re looking for a happy ending, look no further than ending ‘A’. Without spoiling much, the very short and honestly boring ending ‘A’ details a cookie-cutter life that seems to be the goal of every romance novel character ever.

However, the 5 endings that follow are DEFINITELY not as light-hearted and endearing. Packed full of murder, sex, cheating, and suicide, Atwood presents a more “realistic” view of your classic love-story (sorry Taylor Swift). We are also introduced to two side characters, Fred and Madge, who add realism to the stories by proving that any relationship is affected by a lot more than 2 people.

Whether it’s Mary’s overdose, John’s homicidal tendencies, or Madge’s philanthropy, “Happy Endings” is sure to confuse, excite, and surprise you with every paragraph.

What do the Critics Think?

Overall, the reviews for “Happy Endings” were pretty positive and for good reason.

When reflecting on the plot, one critic states that “what I loved most about it was its strangeness. It is definitely weird. And back then, when I was learning about story analysis, plot structure, and Freytag’s pyramid in my literature classes, it seemed like a gift to me”.

Other critics mirror this statement and pose the question, is this piece even considered a story? Another critic goes as far as to state that ” [it’s] not a typical short story. In fact, we could even raise the question of whether it actually is a short story or not”.

Regardless of its classification, “Happy Endings” presents a realistic viewpoint on life that leaves the reader feeling unfulfilled and craving more.

Attwood also utilizes a rarely-seen point of view that involves taking a break from the plot and commenting on the story itself from her own POV. Injecting such a tactic engages the reader and also adds one of the most important aspects of storytelling in my opinion – humor. One review raved that “this story made fun of everything [they] learned about story-making. And it was hilarious”.

Overall, critics agreed that this story was a unique, vulgar, tragic, hilarious, and realistic view on a simple catalyst, “John met Mary”.

Why Should I Read This?

Honestly, if you’re looking for a feel-good story, don’t. Don’t let the title fool you. “Happy Endings” is grim, tragic, and confusing but above all else, it’s realistic.

Diverging away from your classic soap-opera love-story, Attwood leaves the reader questioning and craving a concrete answer but as the story points out, there rarely ever is one.

She also surprises the reader by moving away from her classic grim writing by taking the reader on a wild ride full of twists and turns at every line.

I’m not going to lie, I originally chose this story as having read The Handmaid’s Tale, I was pretty confident that I would understand this writing style with little effort involved. However, Attwood proved her talent as a writer by completely switching my perception of her by bashing the genre of fiction (her genre, I may add).

Overall, I walked away from this story with a pessimistic view of life. After completing “Happy Endings”, I literally sat in silence for 10 minutes debating the very authenticity of romance. Did Meredith and Derek even love each other? Was the entirety of The Notebook a lie? This story made me question e v e r y t h i n g so if you’re in the mood for a good ‘ole brain rollercoaster, then this story is perfect.

Ending A was boring. B was tragic. C was despicable. D was heartwarming. E was stereotypical. and F was eye-opening.

So…?

Read this story! It’s easy and quick (perfect for a stressed-out high school senior). It’s realistic and eye-opening (ideal for the pessimist buried deep down in all of us). And it’s unexpectedly humorous (the class-clown would enjoy it too).

Overall, Margaret Attwood’s “Happy Endings” is a must-read for anyone who is looking for a good way to reevaluate the very meaning of love and romance (aren’t we all).

It’s a rollercoaster of emotions but I promise, you’ll be on the edge of your seat at every turn and loop.

If there is one thing that I can say about myself, it’s that I have spent an ABSURD amount of money on concert tickets. Despite the fact that I have a slick 4 dollars in my bank account (flex), I have 0 regrets about the ways I have spent my money. For me, concert tickets are paying for an experience so the 100’s (AKA 1000’s) of dollars that I have spent have not been in vain. With all of the finances I have spent on concerts, you would hope that I at least would have some great memories and as a matter of fact, I do, so below is an ever-changing ranking of my all-time favorite concert.

1. My First Waterparks Concert

Let me prefix this by saying that this experience was one of the best and worst of my life.

For starters, it began when my friend and I drove 3 hours in the middle of a Wednesday night down to the bustling (false) town of Bloomington, Illinois. I know, riveting. See, we got there Thursday at dawn but the doors didn’t open until 8 pm that night. So, we did what any devoted fan would do and pitched a tent in the middle of the sidewalk.

Did I mention it was December?

Huddled together for warmth, my friend and I laid on the concrete for 12 hours which was honestly, not horrible. We saw the band’s van pull up, we meet them as they walked into the venue, and we heard them soundcheck which was pretty crazy for 15 dollar tickets. However, one thing we did not consider when setting up camp (literally) is our lack of proximity to civilization. God forbid we had to go to the bathroom, we had to hike half-a-mile uphill to a run-down subway. To top it off, this Subway would only give you the bathroom key if you spent $5 so I can confidently say that I have never eaten so many sub-sandwiches.

Finally, after 12 hours of waiting, a voice descended from the heavens (AKA a large man in a security jacket) and declared “doors will be opening in 30 minutes”. At this point, I swore than one more hour would mean the loss of at least 3 of my toes or fingers so you could definitely say that my friend and I were VERY relieved to hear this announcement.

Despite the fact that we had been sitting on that sidewalk since dawn, I swear that the last hour felt five times as long as the rest of it. At this point, we had run all of our stuff back to my car and we didn’t want to waste our phone battery so we were quite literally fiddling our thumbs. Who said adolescence wouldn’t be exciting?

When the doors finally opened, I would like to say that myself and the other 300 or so in line maintained our composure and walked in a single-file line in order to maintain our hard-fought position but since when are a bunch of tired, hungry, teenagers ever civil? A stampede ensued that I swear could rival that of Lion King’s. When we finally shoved our way to barricade, I was covered in scrapes, bruises, and bite marks (I wish I was kidding).

THEN we had to spend another hour waiting for the first (OF FOUR) opening bands which honestly, just exposed me to 3 artists that I currently enjoy. After 2 more hours of jumping around awkwardly and attempting to sing to songs we didn’t know, the lights finally dimmed, the chords to Waterparks’ first song could be heard rising in volume from the speakers, and hundreds of screams and cheers erupted from the sweaty and battered crowd.

The long-awaited band walked onto the stage and I have no idea how, but the second I saw them a mere 5 feet away from me, it made the 24-hour journey worth it. My friend and I spent the next 2 hours jumping, moshing, screaming, crying and above all-else, sweating but in light of the fact that I probably had low-grade heatstroke, I loved every minute of it.

There is something special about live music.

I don’t know if it’s the bass rippling through the floorboards. Maybe it’s the feeling of being surrounded by 100’s of people who are just as passionate about music as me. Or who knows, maybe it’s just an excuse to get out of school? Whatever it is, concerts have easily constituted the top 10 moments of my life.

My first (of many), Waterparks concert was hot. It was sweaty, sticky, cramped, and freezing. I’m not going to lie, in some ways, it sucked. However, when I slept in my car that night in the middle of the parking lot (glamorous), I could not wipe the stupid smile off my face. I spent hours going through my phone, scanning every video and picture and just trying to relive every single moment of that night.

It’s 2 years later and I can still say that when I think about where I’m the happiest, the first place I think of is that run-down venue in Bloomington, Illinois.

And who knows? I’m seeing them for the 5th time next month so that might take the top spot!