With 2012 in full swing, what better way to reflect on the year that was than through some of the most amazing photographs we've ever seen. Headstash's resident uber-talented photographer Jordan August takes us through his 15 favorite photos of 2011.
These shots run the gamut of 250-person club shows to 10,000 person festivals and bands from STS9 and Big Gigantic to Galactic and Erykah Badu. Hear Jordan's story behind each picture below and find all of his photographs on Headstash and his personal Flickr account.
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Photo Credit: Jordan August
Gary Clark Jr. in Baltimore. The unknown mystery man of my time. I was asked to shoot this show by The 8x10 in Baltimore because of its high demand and quick sell out. It turned out to be one of my favorites of the year.
Photo Credit: Jordan August
Erykah Badu. Prestigious, beautiful and an idol to many. This show was by far the most valuable of my career to date – not to mention a show I never thought I’d be able to witness with my own eyes. This photo is my best of the year – symmetrical, square and statuesque.
Photo Credit: Jordan August
String Cheese Incident at The Lyric. I’d seen the Boston Symphony Orchestra perform here with my family and heard stories about the opera there from my grandmother when I was a young kid. Never did I think I would experience Cheese there quite like that.
Photo Credit: Jordan August
STS9 at The Fillmore. My favorite photo of this show. This image got me a lot of recognition really quickly (LD Saxton Waller made it his profile picture on Facebook) and was my first Tribe show since 2009. It felt good to put it all together like this.
Photo Credit: Jordan August
Cris Jacobs. With the break up and departure of The Bridge, there is no better place to turn than to Cris Jacobs and his band. Keeping the feel in tact and the family together for what I hope is years to come, this photo is reminiscent of what The Bridge used to offer to all of us.
Photo Credit: Jordan August
Sherwood Forest. If I could photograph or even put into words what happens in the Forest, I would be a rich (and strange) man. This photo shows one piece of the forest with hammocks and some lights. It’s definitely is one of my favorite parts of Electric Forest – a colorful playground for us big kids.
Photo Credit: Jordan August
Lettuce. Funk is still alive with the sound of Eric Krasno and his band of fools. This show at Electric Forest was straight fire. The day set brought true heads out. This photo is one of my first “on stage, looking out” shots. Definitely my first in such a prestigious arena.
Photo Credit: Jordan August
Garage A Trois. Stanton Moore, Skerik and Mike Dillon have been creeping us all out for years with their music and it has been such a pleasure to photograph them on more then one occasion. This photo from The 8x10 is a proud moment. A drummer is always poorly lit and stuck in some strange corner, so this was all that at once. Weird light, weird spot, but such a good composition.
Photo Credit: Jordan August
Toubab Krewe at World Cafe Live!. Toubab has always laid cultural roots into people that didn’t know much about world music. For years I’ve seen this band all over the place and this photo sums up all of that. With the pyramid in the center and the whole band connected through the white lights, it truly brings the group and picture together.
Photo Credit: Jordan August
Xavier Rudd at 930 Club. This was a big night for me – my first time shooting Xavier Rudd, and the first time shooting at the 9:30 Club. I’ve been going to this venue since I was a young teenager. As a musician and photographer, this is one of the harder venues to get your foot in the door at. This photo was way better than I thought I would be able to obtain.
Photo Credit: Jordan August
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. This picture of bassist Ben Carry is true rock and roll – the face of a rock star with nice white and blue accents behind him. It didn’t take huge expensive lasers and projections to make this photo – just true emotion.
Photo Credit: Jordan August
Kyle Hollingsworth at Camp Barefoot 5. A Talking Heads second set? Fuck yeah! That’s all I’m saying.
Photo Credit: Jordan August
Railroad Earth. Todd Scheaffer has been one of my favorite songwriters for a good while now. I really respect his lyrics and the way he can tell a story. I went up to Delaware for this show. The tour opener with only 250 people in attendance meant we were in for an amazing show. It was personal, intimate and easy to photograph. The whole band fit the stage so well and the backdrop was always well lit.
Photo Credit: Jordan August
Big Gigantic at Electric Forest. I’ve seen and photographed Big G a few times and was very exited to see the LED boxes again on the old Rothbury stomping grounds. They’re lights were so bright and back lit that night that a lot of images looked like this. The only difference being that this one is just badass – a solar explosion of sorts.
Photo Credit: Jordan August
Corey Glover with Galactic. Shooting live music for some is a hobby, but I look at it a different way. Photos like this I consider a portrait. Corey was a dominant figure that night, adding some beautiful vocals to some old, classic Galactic songs. I spent most of the set shooting him. This one is my favorite. The soft backlights were all I needed to focus.
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Jordan August is Headstash's resident ace photographer. Check out all his shots on his personal Flickr.
