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Rock photographer shoots to thrill
By Scott Van Velsor
Correspondent
May 13, 2008
OAKLAND — "This machine kills fascists" is written in cursive across the face of a chrome bass drum. A scarlet redhead plants her feet and steps up to the humming microphone. The dimly lit bar erupts in sound and light as the heavy metal duo blasts the crowd into stunned silence.
All eyes turn toward the band, including one rather large super-wide-angle lens attached to the front of a Canon 5D, the Porsche of modern photography. Shannon Corr, 38, of Oakland, knows exactly what he wants. Sliding to the front of the room, he snaps a few shots and moves on, watching the timing of the drums and stage lights. The thrashing heads and ear-busting performance make it easy to capture a perfect shot, one that preserves the frenetic energy of another underground rock band, this time Jucifer.
Welcome to The Uptown, a booze and rock dive in West Oakland. Corr has hundreds of photos from here. Without Corr's photography hobby, visual documentation of Northern California's gritty and lonely underworld of hardcore rock 'n' roll would be largely nonexistent.
Corr is the self-appointed "documentuer" of underground music in Oakland and San Francisco.
He has played in bands since he was a teenager and currently swings drum sticks behind two, Sons of Oswald and The Turks, both based in Oakland. Corr also has a full-time painting gig with a high-end interior finish shop in Richmond.
The Bay Area is full of small bars and clubs that host local and touring bands from around the world. Oakland and San Francisco form the backbone of a vibrant below-the-radar music scene that has quietly flourished, fueled by the needs of some people to tune out the popular music broadcast on the radio or to sellout crowds at massive rock concerts.
A typical day in the life of this photographer involves a 7 a.m. start time on the job, a full eight-hour day, an hour commute across the Bay Bridge, a quick cup of coffee and dinner and then band practice and, perhaps, a heavy metal show with a camera until late in the evening.
"Why not?" he asks. "What else am I going to do?"
Corr can post the pictures he takes to his Web site — bulging with photos already — mere hours after the show. He then sends an e-mail to the band with a link and a friendly note that, in essence, says, "You are free to use these."
A boon to self-starting bands that have a shoestring budget, more than a few have taken up Corr on the offer of free press. Recently dissolved after eight years, Replicator is a good example of this phenomenon. The noise-rock band used to play shows with Corr's previous band — Greenlight the Bombers — earlier this century and are fans of the intrepid photographer.
"When we did promo photos last year for our final album, it was a no-brainer to have Shannon do it," said Conan Neutron, singer and guitarist for Replicator. "We loved his style and he knew the band. ... He can make even mediocre bands look great, and he is one of the few people that can truly capture a great band in all of its glory."
Corr has been a photographer for nine years and considers himself a professional. He bridges the gap between live performance and visual art, and taking and giving away iconic band photographs is part of an effort to build a reputation in this media-saturated — and amateur driven — world. He wants images that shine regardless of the subject being photographed.
"That's the key to cross-over," he said. "To have someone look at the pictures — they could care less about the band and probably wouldn't even like them — but they could say, 'Oh, that's cool.'"
Diversifying his portfolio and expanding his reach beyond the realm of curios and epic band performances are the next steps in Corr's career. He is compiling a coffee table book with some of his best underground photos, which include tattooed guitarists in the full grip of artistic expression and singers screaming into the microphone in a trance of hardcore angst.
In between all of this, he shoots weddings and sells — but often also gives away — handmade silk-screened T-shirts that say, "Shannon Corr shot me."
Thousands of local band photos, eclectic collections of outdoor photography and contact information can be found on Corr's Web site, www.shannoncorr.com .
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