4TheRcrd Mag.

All pictures in this post were taken by Meg Bourne

I am introducing a new photo feature on Beyond Robson, every week I will profile a Vancouver photographer. Where am I finding this local talent? In our very own flickr group and also from my own contacts. Each week will shine the spotlight on a photographer, feature some of their work and a little bit about themselves.

First up is Meg Bourne. Having lived in Vancouver all her life, Meg graduated from a teenager taking silly pictures of her shoes to a bonafied rock concert photographer, who’s had the privilege of being hand-picked by Jack White for a photo-pass to The Raconteurs concert last year. I’ve followed her photography extensively through flickr over the two years that I have known her, and her work just keeps getting better and better.

When did you get into photography and why?
I got into photography mainly because of my parents. My dad is an actor/writer/director so I was always watching movies with him. From a really young age I was inspired and highly interested in cinematography and the art of capturing the moment in your own way. I think I was so obsessed with cinematography that I didn’t-and still don’t-think I would be that good at it. I’d worry too much about everything and want to be as good as the movies that I love, which would limit me. Therefore I discovered that photography was a better choice for me. After getting my first camera at the age twelve, I fell in love with taking photos of anything and everything. Although I wasn’t good at all then, I still enjoyed it; which is really all that matters. It wasn’t until I started taking my crappy point & shoot camera to local shows that I found out how much I loved photographing musicians. Around the age of fourteen, I got a professional camera and started going to bigger and better shows by getting photo-passes.

As concert photography is your specialty, what do you think of Vancouver shows? Would you rather live in a bigger city with bigger performers?(This takes me back when you went to San Francisco to photograph The Strokes!)
I think Vancouver is a great city for concert photography! We have some really amazing magazines and papers here and some really fabulous photographers, fortunately no one really has an ego. As much as I’d love to live in L.A. and work for “Rolling Stone”, I don’t think it would be the same. However, that’s not to say I won’t leave Vancouver one of these days.

Do you ever get bored of concert photography and want to experiment with other genres?
No, I never get bored of it! But I do often do “fashion” photo shoots for local designers. Although I don’t enjoy that as much, it’s fun once in awhile. As far as I am concerned, there’s no greater rush than getting to capture one of your favorite musicians doing what they love. I don’t think I could ever get bored of that!

What inspires you in terms of color, texture, setting, and poses?
It really all depends on who I’m photographing. Sometimes it even depends who is in my life at the time or what shoes I wore the other day. If I see something that I like, I try to incorporate it in my photos, especially if I’m doing a fashion shoot. I even incorporate it sometimes just in the angle or the composition that I choose (for concert photos). Well, at least I try too.

What is your favorite thing about Vancouver in terms of photography?
We have some really awesome venues in Vancouver and a lot of really talented people. Vancouver is a really artsy city and everyone seems to love everything and everyone creative. It is a great environment to work in.

How creative can you get with concert photography, because really sometimes it’s all up to the performer?-It is all about angles and composition. You could be photographing the most boring person but if you catch him/her at the right moment, it can be magical. Every musician is there because they love what they’re doing; it’s my job as a photographer to be able to catch all that emotion in their eyes. Everyone has that feeling in their eyes, just some are harder to capture than others. I think that’s what makes concert photography so fun, that’s what I love about it.

What is your opinion of the photography scene in Vancouver? Are you impressed with what you see on flickr these days? What would like to see more of?
It seems like now-a-days every teenager owns a point & shoot camera and calls themselves a “photographer”. I don’t like that. I’m not impressed at all at most people’s photo streams right now. Sometimes I’m really impressed, you have to really want it and really enjoy it. When you know what you are doing and you are experienced at it, it comes through in your photos. You can’t just do it because it’s “cool” or something ignorant like that. There’s a lot of really amazing photographers out there that just aren’t lucky and can’t seem to make a living doing what they love. Yet there are some really awful photographers out there who are lucky and world famous. Photography is a tricky business. I don’t think our generation understands that-just because you took a photo of someone or something, that doesn’t make you a photographer.

There seems to be a trend towards teenagers taking pictures of bands performing. Why do you think that is?
I think it’s because music is available to everyone. It’s like an international language that everyone speaks. As far as random people taking photos at shows-that bugs me. I work hard for the photo-passes that I get and all those flashes from peoples camera’s really get on the performer’s *and my* nerves. The rule for “pro” photographers at concerts is “three songs, no flash”. Yet, I think that’s what makes concert photography so much fun. You can’t use flash but only work with the lighting that the show provides, which makes the photographs so much more interesting. I don’t mean to bash all the *wanna-bee* photographers out there but please-if you go to a show, unless you have a photo pass, don’t sneak in your little camera. If you are serious about taking photos at shows, work for it and find out all you need to know.