Hiya, what's your preferred name and pronouns, and whose country do you live on?
My name is Bea, I live and operate on Dharawal country.
2. What's your rig rundown?
My rig is nothing glamorous. I primarily shoot on point-and-shoots, my preferences are Ricoh Shot Masters. My first camera I owned was a Ricoh Shot Master Tru-Zoom, that camera survived so many insane situations and it somehow lasted a good four years of moshpits and spilt beers.
I try to always have a spare battery on me (if I remember) and I keep my film that I’m using in a random old pencil case. Truly nothing glamorous but don’t fix what isn’t broken, I guess.
I always have rolls of Kodak 400 Ultramax on me, it’s the easiest to source consistently and every purse I own is littered with spare film cartridges.
3. How did you get in to shooting live music?
I initially started with disposable cameras. I would buy a whole bunch and shoot photos of my friends at all of the house parties and DIY shows I went to in my late teens. It basically progressed from there, I bought my first Afga reusable 35mm camera when I turned 21 and never looked back. It’s always been trial and error especially with working with film.
4. What/who are some of your influences in photography?
Photography has been something that I’ve always had an interest in since high school. The biggest influence on my work has always come from going to shows as a teenager.
Being 17/18 going to various punk, heavy, or hardcore shows at Rad Bar in Wollongong, seeing photos taken by people like Katelyn Slyer (insta), Nova Farrell (insta), Mitch Strangman (insta), and Oliver Risi (insta) influenced the trajectory of my photography.
The pure and vivid grittiness, as well as the realism shaped through nostalgia is what truly guided my work.
5. Do you have a favourite show that you've photographed, or a favourite memory from a gig you've shot? Or maybe a particular favourite photograph that you've taken?
There are so many stories, it’s so hard to pinpoint one exactly. I’ve been very lucky to be able to have as many opportunities as I have to capture some of the fun shows I’ve been to over the years.
There was a DIY show that was held in a warehouse in Bellambi three years ago by the Hoon boys. Private function played with Smooch from Melbourne. The warehouse that it was held in doubled as a shared art space, there were projections on the walls and in true Hoon fashion a paper mache pig head in a police uniform. Whoever made it forgot the paper part of the mache, so instead of breaking, what felt like a ton of bricks got chucked around destroying everyone in its path.
For some reason there was also a bunch of bananas that got thrown around causing many people to comically banana peel slip in the mosh pit. So hilariously extraordinarily Hoon.
6. What else do you like to photograph outside of live music?
I always love getting to shoot more quiet moments as it’s something I don’t get to do very often. I’ll try anything once - maternity photos, engagement photos, baby showers always rarer but still so fun. Also the obvious press shot or two every now and then is always fun to break the mold.
7. How can folks reach out to you if they'd like to get in touch?
Through my website is the best way to contact me, I have it set up so people can fill in a form and it’ll go to my emails. Instagram dms work too but I’m notoriously bad at checking them so email is a lot quicker.
