About | alanaswaringenphoto

ABOUT ME

I got through high school with the help of two hobbies: taking pictures, and attending concerts. When I discovered that both could be harmonized together to create one pastime, and even a whole career path, nothing could get in my way of heading down that exact road. The road I’ve chosen has allowed me to shoot over 100 concerts since 2015, and have a full-access press passes to festivals such as Firefly Music Festival, Lollapalooza Music Festival and Pitchfork Music Festival .

When I’m shooting a concert, I’m always trying to capture the message that live music tends to spread: music is what makes us come together, from all different backgrounds, stories and experiences. It makes us feel less lonely even when we’re in a crowd of strangers, because all of those strangers are gathered for the same unified reason.

The inspiration for my work is stemmed from that message, and the people that spread it on the stage. My favorite musicians have shaped me and so many others into who we are today. I strive to capture the emotions of artists and their live shows that accompany the feelings they have written into their songs. A picture may say a thousand words, but my photographs express a thousand feelings.

My love for photography, and specifically concert photography, both terrifies and excites me. Almost anyone can take a good picture. I stand out because of the passion I put into photographing the emotions of music. Capturing a fan’s reaction to seeing their favorite band for the first time, or the emotion of a lead singer hearing thousands of fans sing their song back to them, helps to confirm that this is what I need to do with my life.

After growing up in a suburb of Chicago all my life, I' moved to Boston to study photography at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, but am continuing my studies at Syracuse University after transferring this year. I'm hoping to take the ideas of my education and portray them further not only in my concert photography, but through portraiture and more conceptual photography as well.