Harry's House
Back in November 2022 I had tickets with two of my very best girlfriends to see Harry Styles in concert in L.A. To put it simply, WE WERE BEYOND ECSTATIC!! Each of us traveled from out of state to California, stayed for a couple of days pre-show, got all dressed up in our Harry attire, sat to eat at a great restaurant with an ocean view...and then I promptly received a notification that the concert was canceled. HS was sick and simply couldn't perform. We sat there a bit shocked, super sad and then laughed because OF COURSE. It all seemed too good to be true, yeah?
Flash forward to January when our show had been rescheduled. We all booked new flights for a quick fly in and fly out situation and then held our breath. I kept thinking, I don't want to jinx it, I don't want to jinx it, I don't want to jinx it.
We quietly got excited for the concert by listening to his music, putting on fake HS inspired tattoos and having a little wine. We were having fun, but not too much fun. Again, we didn't want to jinx it! As we finally started to make our way over toward the Kia Forum, it was hard to not get excited. It was happening. We were finally going to get to see HS.
My dear, darling husband, knowing how obsessed my friends and I were, diligently worked his a** off to find us general admission floor tickets. We got our wristbands on, bought a ridiculous amount of merch and then went and found a spot for the concert. When the music started and he rose up on the stage it was absolutely electric!! The concert was truly amazing and Harry is as fantastic of a performer as I hoped. We danced and sang and sweated our butts off - simply put, we had the time of our lives.
Of course, me being the photographer, I wanted to capture IT ALL! I brought along my Contax T2 (I was not about to get stopped at the door for having a camera that went against the venue rules - I am a rule follower!) and three rolls of film. Yes, three. Each had a purpose - hear me out! I wanted some color and new I wanted to capture some of our antics earlier in the day when still light out, so I started with Portra 800. Then I brought a special roll of film that I had pre-exposed with neon lights from a sushi restaurant in Vegas. Get it?? Music for a Sushi Restaurant?? It was too perfect! When I shot the neon lights, I had no idea what I would use it for, but when I was packing for the concert I absolutely knew this was it's moment to shine. And it did. And then finally I wanted some Ilford HP5, because there's nothing quite like the grainy goodness of b&w photography at a concert. It's so nostalgic and just perfect.
To wrap it up, we saw Harry, it was incredible and I walked away with some absolutely memorable images from the concert that I will treasure forever. Now, when can I get to another concert?!
XX-S
