Photo: Autumn de Wilde
Courtesy of Yep Roc Records
In the piles of records, websites, online articles, promos and press kits and general musical confetti that flit past my eyes daily, certain photos pop out, as I’m sure is true for anyone.
My little secret is that I’m a little geeky about this; when I see something that strongly grabs my focus, I save it to a link folder, to remind me that there’s incredible work being done out there every second, recognized with little fanfare, just for the challenge and love of it.
During the last few years, Autumn de Wilde’s photos have quietly accumulated to dominate a good portion of that folder. Her images never fail to capture something authentically alive about the artist in question, absorbing the essence of their music and transforming it to visible setting. Sounds easy, you say? Not on your life. Many photographers twice her age haven’t even gotten close to the feel of her shots once in their careers. You can tell that she’s not just some faceless person behind the lens, and that to her, the band in front of the lens isn’t just a flavor of the week paycheck, either. Instead of filling her frames with the latest fashion trends/accessories/hip products for sale as modeled by Band X or injecting herself into the image, her photos focus on the personality that each musician exhibits, and then subtly finds a common visual language to make that tangible for the viewer. (I’m especially fond of her in-motion, abstract, and documentary shots, though I *really* wish there were more of them around.) I received her new book, full of Elliot Smith images, from a dear friend for my birthday when we were at Powell’s, and was glad to see that Autumn would be having a gallery showing/book signing there, but tremendously sorry that I’d wasn’t around to see it.
Anyway, enough random babble from me. Just read the article, and check out some of her shots to see what I mean — her work stands on its own, and certainly doesn’t need me selling it. Besides, she says it succinctly herself: “The photos make you wish you were there to see what happened next. For me, that’s the whole point. Someone will see a photo and wish they were there.”
The article:
“Autumn de Wilde puts indie musicians at ease, then she puts them on film” — from The Boston Globe
The images:
Autumn de Wilde’s Portfolio
Real Low Vibe 