PIT ETIQUETTE: Kent photographer Mike Palmer on getting the ultimate gig shot
“It can be f*cking wild when you have 30 people trying to get the exact same shot of the singer”
Gig photographer Mike Palmer (@mikepalmerphoto) is never happier at work than when he’s getting a shoe to the head, it’s all part of the job…
As a freelance photographer working across lifestyle, branding and live music, in recent years Palmer’s lens has captured everyone from Sam Fender to Mo Farah, Grace Jones to Eurovision winners Måneskin, while his work with Vans regularly sees him getting up close and personal with actors like Jamie Campbell Bower (aka Vecna from Stranger Things) and artists like Anderson .Paak, Foals and The Vaccines. He’s just returned from Lollapalooza where he’s been shooting artists like Machine Gun Kelly and Anne-Marie, and straight after speaking to 'Cene today he’s leaving to shoot a music video for Game of Thrones actor Toby Sebastian.
“I remember taking cameras to family holidays and shooting sunsets and beaches,” he recalls of his early interest in photography. “Then I’d got to gigs at Brixton Academy when I was around 16 with those awful point-and-shoot cameras. I remember I took this one photo and I was like, ‘That's f*cking brilliant. That's so good’. Looking back, it's a terrible photo, but that piqued my interest in music photography.”
Growing up in Sittingbourne, Palmer became the official club night photographer while studying product design at uni, and later started shooting bands at shows. A chance encounter with a band at a music festival led him to meet their manager, and the rest is history.
“I guess I stumbled into it really,” he shrugs. “It was just a hell of a lot of luck and hard work, a lot of gigs, mixed with non-subtle fanboying, and it’s grown from there.”
And as for his fondness for being kicked in the head: this just means he’s getting the best shots. Photo pit etiquette dictates that photographers can only usually shoot during the first three songs – no flash. Then there’s the issue that everyone there is clambering for the exact same shot. In a word, it’s competitive.
“It can be f*cking wild when you have 30 people trying to get the exact same shot of the singer.”
“It can be f*cking wild when you have 30 people trying to get the exact same shot of the singer. A lot of the time, it’s who just uploads it on Instagram the quickest,” he shares. “It's way more fun if your shot is a different moment, a different angle. Just different vibes, you know?”
To bring something new to the table, Palmer gets in the spaces that other photographers don’t (or perhaps, shouldn’t) venture to, whether that be wedged up against a monitor, in the thick of the crowd (he’s 6 ft 3, so it works – unless you’re behind him), or braving a mosh pit.
“No one ever seems to want to head to the middle of the crowd,” he says. “It pisses off so many people having to push in front of them to get to that bit that you wouldn't usually ever dream of going to, but for me that's such a cool place to take shots. Obviously, the shot that everyone wants is dead in front of the singer's face, but it's important to have your own style. I was watching photographers getting that same shot and competing, so I started to walk the opposite way and stood way too far to the left or right in front of the speaker, or on the edge of the stage to get something more creative.”
Thinking outside the box has resulted in some of Palmer’s favourite-ever shots. When shooting Aussie rockers Gang Of Youths in Brixton, he knew when the confetti cannons were due to go off, and manoeuvred himself into the heart of the crowd in time.
“I went into the middle – and the confetti didn't happen,” he laughs. “Literally, I pushed all the way there, and people always push you in the back or punch you in the head – you get so much sh*t. Anyway, I got to the middle and nothing happened. But then the singer jumped the barrier and walked straight towards the sound desk where I was standing, perfectly in the middle. He walked past and then he crowdsurfed back. I got these amazing moments where he’s looking up to the sky, arms out, with the crowd grabbing him. It’s one of my favourite shots and moments of my career.”
“ Literally, I pushed all the way there, and people always push you in the back or punch you in the head – you get so much sh*t.”
Another band Palmer shoots are American hardcore punk band Turnstile, whose shows aren’t for the faint hearted; renowned for descending into a chaotic sea of stagediving, shirtless crowdsurfing (and often, dropping) – the whole room becomes utter carnage.
“I was in the pit and the singer threw himself in the crowd before the music even started,” Palmer recalls. “Shooting these shows are always the best. The energy and opportunity for shots is so wild. Whether you’re shooting in the pit, on stage or in the crowd, you’re going to come out feeling exhausted with the highest adrenaline. Some of my favourite moments have come from being within it; people flying over, getting a couple shoes to the head. It’s the best,” he grins.
Mike Palmer
