Design and photography have always been doorways into worlds I would otherwise never see or be a part of. Getting the chance to go with the Wu-Tang Clan to shoot them at Coachella is one of those stories that my friends will get sick of hearing and my kids will one day have to listen to.
It goes like this, I was doing some design work already for WMG, Divine’s assistant at the time hits me up about Coachella and says he’s got me backstage with the group as long as I come and document everything. I’m there. I drive up and meet him and Power at the resort, meet their tour manager, Simon Green who ends up becoming a friend of mine, and then we hit the event.
Not sure what I was expecting but I get to their tent in this huge artist village where all the talent lays up until their time to perform and I am just trying to take it in as the moments fly by me. I see Method come out of his trailer in a cloud of smoke. I see Divine walk up to his brother, RZA, and ask if it’s cool I shoot as they’re prepping to get on stage, RZA laughs as he sees me clicking away and says, “looks like your boy is already on top of it”. And I was, I took over 15,000 photos that night. I didn’t stop, I was changing flash cards and batteries left and right. I had two cameras, a 5d mkii and 7d, slung around my neck and a couple lenses stashed in my cargo pockets. I was on the stage, down the stage, behind and in front. I took everything I could out of the experience, it’s just another reason for me to appreciate being part of the creative community.
