We were lucky to catch up with Evan Moses recently and have shared our conversation below.
Evan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
Before I got into photography, I was majoring in Film and Television Production at Glendale College from 2017-2019. That’s where I learned the fundamentals of camera operating, composition, exposure triangle, and lighting just to name a few. I applied what I learned during lockdown when I picked up photography as a side hobby while taking online courses. From there, I started shooting shows in 2021 when lockdown restrictions were lifted. This took the form of DIY metal and hardcore shows witnessing crazy and wild performances. That’s when I began to document the beginings of post-COVID era hardcore shows. From there, I began to network and build my photo page I’ve been running for 5 years, shooting bigger and bigger events with more eyes being drawn to these moments. During the past few years since 2022, I went back in person at Glendale College to improve my skills in photography which I’m currently majoring in right now.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
My name is Evan Moses, and I’m a photographer that specializes in live music, in-person events, sub-culture and youth culture documentation, and portraiture. I’ve gotten my start with shooting music shows for five years, while simultaneously expanding into different sub-cultural events such as skateboarding, flea markets, and social meetups with the idea of being a fly on the wall observing social interactions as they play out. The type of work I do is mainly that which helps not just display the performances, but also give the feeling of what it’s like being at these events, who was there, as a way to tell a story of what played out.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
One of the ways I began to notice growth of my photo page was through credible friends I made in the hardcore punk scene constantly sharing y work and shouting me out. That didn’t happen overnight. A lot of that was through consistently posting everyday, meeting other people at shows and tagging the bands, people, or individuals in photos. Apart of it wasn’t just getting random followers, it’s developing a constant and engaged user base that is more of a community. This is especially true in hardcore as that’s most of my friend group and following is based out of. Sometimes I have viral moments that create huge engagement with the algorithm, but overall generates a small number of followers. This is not always the case I notice long term growth with my already established audience. Collaborative posts I notice do really well if all of the pages have a similar target audience helping out not just myself but the other pages with say a photo post. I would also say the quality of my photo work has increased drastically since starting out, learning new techniques, with much more disciplined focus overall to get the best possible images imaginable.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
What helped me early on is being consistently looking out for events happening in the area in the local music scene and making a major effort to pull off shooting as many of the events as humanly possible. I thought of it as being a loyal customer or regular at a venue or spot that develops a well known reputation. I made an effort networking with promoters, bands, other photographers, managers, and local show-goers and to constantly keep in touch with everyone. This is how I’ve also developed my friend group within the scene. From this, I’ve been expanding into helping out smaller businesses, flea markets, and companies that rely on in real life documentation as a way to help promote them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://evanmoses1998.wixsite.com/emphotos
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emphotos98/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-moses-847551284
- Other: https://evanmoses98.darkroom.com/
Image Credits
Evan Moses