FOMO is such a strong human emotion that it defies logic, especially when looking at photos or video from Studio 54 or a Beatles concert or Truman Capote’s Black-and-White Ball… or, as “Indie/Seen,” veteran photographer Piper Ferguson’s new photo book demonstrates, the indie-rock scene of the early ‘00s.
LCD Soundsystem, Coachella 2016 (Photo: Piper Ferguson)
It’s a time capsule of the era dominated by the Strokes, the Killers, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the White Stripes, Interpol, LCD Soundsystem, the Rapture and many now-obscure acts from that scene, and even though the photos were taken 20-odd years ago, the artists are presented so vividly that it’s hard not to wish you were there.
Jenny Lewis with Rilo Kiley, Coachella, 2008 (Photo: Piper Ferguson)
In Los Angeles, New York, Coachella and at Austin’s South by Southwest confab, we’re seeing them young, (often) inebriated, and thinking they’re the coolest people in the world, as only those who are too young and inebriated to know better can do.
Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Los Angeles, 2002 (Photo: Piper Ferguson)
And there are also classic shots of artists from beyond the scene and/or era, like Beck, Bjork, Underworld, St. Vincent, Amy Winehouse and others.
Amy Winehouse, Coachella 2007 (Photo: Piper Ferguson)
Yet what sets Ferguson’s book apart is her talent and skill as a photographer: Not only is she an ace at capturing onstage moments as they happen —there are several shots of performers swinging from pipes above the stage or some other telling onstage moment — she also knows how to make ordinary-looking bands look interesting without resorting to exotic locations, whether it’s the Shins in bed (in superhero costumes, natch) or Radio 4 standing in front of the Unisphere holding snowballs.
The Killers, Austin, 2004 (Photo: Piper Ferguson)
“We’ve all heard ‘Don’t just shoot a bunch of guys standing against a brick wall,’” Ferguson tells PvNew. That idea worked perfectly for the Clash and the Ramones, but you can’t do it every time. Photographers like Annie Liebovitz and Mark Seliger inspired me to push bands to be actually doing something in the shots, plus it makes it fun for the band.
Mark Everett of the Eels (Photo: Piper Ferguson)
“I think artists are much more open to quirky concepts today,” she continues. “But I can’t tell you how many times in the past I’ve approached managers with ideas and they’d say, ‘They are never going to do that,’ and then I’d show the band my idea and they were so excited to be doing something different, funny, odd, weird, creative.”
The Cribs, Los Angeles, 2005 (Photo: Piper Ferguson)
Also, “I also think bands appreciate it when a photographer actually puts some time and thought into it,” she says
The Shins, New York, 2003 (Photo: Piper Ferguson)
As for her ability to capture spontaneous onstage moments, “I wish I could say I was able to anticipate these moments, but it’s really because I’ve put in the time,” she says, adding, “I might recognize an artist’s repeated movement or some other pattern because I’ve spent hundreds if not thousands of hours standing in front of stages. Plus, back then, it was all on film, so the shots had to count!”
Joe Strummer, Chateau Marmont, Los Angeles, 1999 (Photo: Piper Ferguson)
While “Indie/Seen” shows a micro-focus on a certain scene and era, it’s hardly all she’s got in her archives, and more is likely to come.
Phantom Planet, Los Angeles, 2002 (Photo: Piper Ferguson)
“Initially my [book] publishing deal was for a monograph of my work, and my proposal included Merle Haggard, Tom Petty, Billy Idol, Steve Jones, Mick Fleetwood, Donovan, Booker T. Jones, Santana,” she says. “A lot of legends and legacy and pop artists were mixed in with the indie artists, and that was the book we started and came close to finishing. But then my publisher, Roger Shaw at Weldon Owen/Insight Editions, thought it might be good to do a book on all indie rock, so we basically had to start a new version. That being said, I could definitely do another book with classic and pop artists as well.
Bjork, Coachella, 2007 (Photo: Piper Ferguson)
“But,” she concludes, “I want to do a book called ‘LA/Seen’ next and make it about the L.A. club and music scene as I experienced it. I feel like for whatever reason, Los Angeles isn’t as revered as having a ‘scene,’ at least not since the [‘70s] Masque club or [‘90s] Raji’s, but even still, those places were not popular like CBGB’s or the grunge movement of Seattle. The history here is amazing and dense, and I have so much of it documented.”
