I have always had a very strong connection to music.
It never really mattered what it was - Peggy Lee, Jim Croce, John Denver, classical or Depeche Mode. We just always had it around us. In many ways it was how I experienced the very best of my parents.
Every time I heard those songs and when I hear them today, I get transported back to the moment I first heard them - in my siblings' bedrooms, over my parents record player, or in the car with my sister at a lake in the summer. It’s a visceral and unrepeatable moment where I know my eyes and thoughts get locked into that first feeling. It still happens now when I hear new music for the first time, from 1940’s big bands to Anthony Hamilton and beyond.
I wanted to capture that feeling - in as fresh a way as possible with other people. So, I grabbed my husband and just put him in front of the camera with headphones just to see what might happen. Then I asked other friends to be open to showing that moment when they listened to a song.
This project is about capturing that very moment when somebody listens to a song - either for the first time or maybe its a song they have heard before and have their own memories attached to it. I know that there is a certain Hawthorne effect with this but everybody gave of themselves in the most honest and vulnerable way to capture that moment.
So, the experiment was pretty simple. Everybody listened to a list of songs picked specifically for each of them - one of those songs being the same for everyone and I photographed them as they listened and responded.
This stream of photographs represents those moments, the music and the listeners' truth as they listened.
I hope you enjoy the experience of watching each piece unfold as much as I enjoyed working on this project.
I graciously thank everyone who participated in this project and trusted me enough to give so much of themselves.