Concluding a weekend of over 50
sets of music from pioneering musicians, The Trey Anastasio Band
headlined the last set of Bonnaroo in June 2002. Occurring in
the middle of Phish’s hiatus made it an epic moment for
phans and band alike—and music photographer Michael Weintrob
was there to capture the essence of the moment.
To close the action-packed weekend,
Trey Anastasio came out on stage with his acoustic guitar. Weintrob
explains what’s happening through his view finder: “I’m
staring at Trey and he’s looking at the audience. After
a rambling emotional speech—he was a mess—as he played
the opening riff to Wilson: da naunt da naunt. Trey’s looking
out to space when from behind me, 90,000 people yell back ‘W
I L S O N!’”
As Weintrob explains this, he mimics
the massive reflecting energy bouncing between crowd and stage.
“Trey responds: da naunt da naunt; and the crowd roars back:
‘W I L S O N!’” Weintrob illustrates the echoing
energy with his swaying hands and body. “I was in the middle
of this powerful energy exchange between Trey and the audience.
I witnessed what it was like to be Trey Anastasio for that moment—and
what it was like to be the crowd. It was really one of those moments
when I know everything in life is going to be alright.”
Many people might envy Michael
Weintrob’s place as a prominent music photographer—with
magaines like Down Beat, Relix and Rolling
Stone on his résumé. But its not fun and games
all the time. Although being a professional music photographer
living in Brooklyn, NY is exponentially more fun than most jobs,
it takes hard work and dedication; faith in the flow and the savoring
of each moment to keep him on the path that he knows best. Michael
rides the energy of music to stratospheric heights and captures
the moment for thousands of people to share.
Path
to the Peak Experience
After Michael’s father gave him his first ‘real’
camera, a Nikon 4004, he moved to Colorado and began following
his drive to see live performances and to shoot as many concerts
as possible. At that point, the early talent emerged. “A
lot of people were coming up to me to say that I was really good,”
recalls Weintrob. He realized he needed to do more of this. It
simply had to be done.
“The rush that I would get
when I was in front trying to capture the moment was just unparalleled.
It was like nothing I’d ever felt before.”
As soon as the fledgling photographer
realized his relationship with the lens, he decided to pour every
ounce of his energy into it. Weintrob had to surrender to the
fact that he and his camera were M.T.B.. “I always felt
like I was supposed to be there, it was meant to be. It was my
calling. All these doors started opening and things started happening.”
Another reason Weintrob couldn’t
ignore the drive lies in the lessons he learned from his parents.
Because his father had never owned his own business, Weintrob
always wanted to do his own thing.
Not
Always Smooth Sailing
One of the first things he learned is that being a professional
artist comes with its fair share of struggles. The main aspect
of dedicating your career to your art is that its not about money,
its about doing what you love.
As sure as night follows day, with
success comes failure. “I get really depressed sometimes.
I have moments of severe highs and severe lows. I tasted success
on the highest level of music photography when I had a double
page spread in Rolling Stone... I’ve tasted success but
it doesn’t happen every day,” says Weintrob. Normal
life can be difficult on the freelance payroll always awaiting
checks from record labels. No insurance, no job security, its
easy to wonder about getting a supplemental job at a photography
store.
But Weintrob knows better: “All
my time and energy needs to be spent on this,” he says.
Despite his business challenges, when he’s out taking pictures
he’s in his groove. “I’ll tell you what, “
hastens Weintrob, “when I’m working, when I was on
that boat, I’m in my element. When I’m taking photographs,
that’s me—that’s it.” Like having an angel
on one shoulder and a devil on the other, this entrepreneur knows
what needs to be done, but the demon inside sometimes gets in
the way. But nothing a little will power can’t take care
of.
Through dedication and focus,
Michael has become quite a savvy businessman, now earning enough
to make a living with his art. He’s learned that it’s
all about how you choose to present yourself as an artist. One
particular experience in his past, helped define what success
means to this photographer’s mind.
Several years ago, Michael met
a fellow music photographer at a festival selling pictures out
of his truck in the parking lot. They were amazing pictures of
Stevie Ray Vaughn, but Michael realized he didn’t want to
be the guy selling $10 prints in the parking lot. Michael decided
he wanted to put his photographs on the pages of magazines and
in galleries—an audience of millions.
With this goal in mind, Michael began collecting shots from every
show he could get to. Eventually he had such an impressive collection,
that magazines such as Down Beat and Relix could not ignore him.
But one thing he learned along
the way came from another photographer in Austin, Texas at the
South by Southwest music festival, during Michael’s senior
year of college. Any good protégé is always looking
for a mentor, so Michael embraced the opportunity to ask a key
question. “I asked him, if you could offer me one piece
of advice as a professional photographer, what would it be?”
Weintrob recalls this wise photographer’s advice: “Anyone
can take pictures,” he said, “learn how to sell them.”
Honing his eye for the last nine years has taught Weintrob to
recognize energy exchange. He saw it epitomized during the Trey
set at Bonnaroo and this past January he experienced a culmination
of the flow, floating through the Caribbean on Jamcruise .
Jamcruise:
“Greatest party of all time in the history of parties.”
Now after 9 years of hard work, and a little fun, he is becoming
well known on the scene. This past January 1800 fans and over
a dozen bands took off from Jacksonville, FL to spend a week in
the Caribbean. The week was a perfect example of the amazing progress
Weintrob’s career has made.
“I got to do a portrait of
50 of my favorite musicians all together!” explains Weintrob.
“People like John Fishman, the guys from String Cheese Incident,
the Aquarium Rescue Unit, Oteil Burbridge; some of the biggest
jambands out there. I’ve been working for the last 9 years
to get hooked up with these people, and now I’m there.”
The photographic climax of the
Jamcruise weekend—and possibly his whole career—happened
during the group shot of all the musicians. In many ways, it was
an intense experience. “I had to go tell the other photographers
that they couldn’t come to the shoot. It was my thing.”
But unable to resist dozens of
amazing musicians, the other photographers still snuck in.
At first, Weintrob took offense
to their disregard of his request. Because copyright law and exclusivity
play such a large role in the salability of photographs, Weintrob
was understandably upset.
However, after he put his business
sense aside for a moment, and really thought about it in a positive
light, he thought better of it. “At first I thought it was
bullshit that the other photographers got pictures of my shot,
but actually, it was really cool.”
Weintrob tells the bright side
of the story: “I set this thing up. I was running around
telling all the musicians to come out on the back deck. Then all
of a sudden 50 musicians show up! Col. Bruce Hampton talking to
John Fishman; Jeff Kaufman talking to DJ Logic; Fareed Haque talking
to Peter Rowan.” A lot of these people probably wanted to
speak with each other and Weintrob’s impromptu party was
their opportunity to talk.
Then it came time to capture the
moment. “The pressure was on. I had to get everyone set
up just in time for the sun to come down to the perfect level,”
Weintrob explains. “I got some shots from the front and
then I ran up to the top and it was taking me a moment to get
my fish-eye lens on my camera, then I said, ‘OK everybody,
look at me!’ And then everybody looked at me and started
screaming on my command. ‘OK, One...Two...Three...’.”
Pausing
Time
What if we were hit by a tsunami today? Are you fulfilled by life?
Weintrob captures experiences in the moment. In fact, just taking
the time to capture that moment is enough—because he was
also truly living it.
“I sometimes think to myself,
what if my house burned down? And I lost all of my stuff. What
would I do if I don’t have a backup of all my film?”
Weintrob ponders, looking around his crowded Brooklyn apartment
and studio.
He relates to the Buddhist sand
paintings. “They’re the most intricate thing in the
whole world. They’re all Zen’d out doing it for weeks
at a time. Then, as if it was never there, they blow it away.”
Maybe if it all disappeared, it would be okay. It did exist—and
it was a Zen moment.
Throughout all of Michael Weintrob’s
career, he’s never taken a photo class—it’s
all been sheer drive. But he’s no stranger to doubt. “I
have these moments where I wonder if I should get another job,
then, just when I think its getting too late, I run into another
opportunity. I just trust my instincts. A lot of the things I
do are not pre-meditated. I don’t have a set schedule and
that’s when I accomplish things. I’ll be walking down
the street in a daze and something will just pop out at me. I’ll
wander in and this wonderful thing will come of it.”
“When I’m about to
go photograph a concert, the feeling that I get is unexplainable.
And when I think about it, it gets me really really excited....Standing
there, the lights are about ready to go out. The musicians are
about ready to walk on stage and I’m standing up between
the front row and the stage and its almost like I’m in an
alternate world. It's like the state right between REM sleep and
being awake; in the middle there, in this limbo place. There’s
people on stage and people in the crowd but you’re trapped
somewhere else.”
To see Michael’s work, check out his multiple
exposure project in the gallery,
or his own website at www.groovetography.com