It is no secret that Atlanta is home to a rich, diverse culture of the arts. This includes live music, visual arts, photography, dance and many other kinds of expression. It is important that the people of Atlanta take pride in this culture that makes the city stand out from amongst the sea of others. The local production known as the EarWorm Photo and Art Expo managed to support this culture and uplift it in such a beautiful way.
On Thursday, Sept. 5th, connoisseurs of live music and live music photography gathered in an intimate setting known as the Supermarket, a new local creative event space founded this year. Attendees came to the venue to connect, enjoy a good song and appreciate the eyes of many of Atlanta’s upcoming and veteran concert photographers.
There were many photographers present at the grand display, including Rayna Sklar, Lane Bickett, Amanda Florence, Hannah Midd and Sam Kapoor. They have had the opportunity to shoot for artists and groups like the 1975, flipturn, Hozier, The Marías, Queens of the Stone Age and some well-known Atlanta-area bands, hallpass and Recess Party.
Another notable photographer whose work was on display at last week’s expo is Terence Rushin. Rushin is well-known in the Atlanta photography community for his energizing festival and live music work. Believe it or not, professionally making people look like rock stars is just a side hustle for him to express his creativity. Rushin’s true home is here at Tech where he works in the College of Computing. Rushin has had the opportunity to take pictures of world-renowned artists and household names like Taylor Swift, OutKast, Kendrick Lamar, Korn and Miley Cyrus. Terence’s work was up for display at EarWorm with prints available for purchase.
Mentioned earlier, Sam Kapoor is another one of the live music photographers who presented his work at the celebration on Thursday. He has made a name for himself by keeping the people in the loop with the local music scene. Kapoor’s “Kapoorhouse” was created in 2019 with the intention of holding house shows for local musicians and promoting them. The platform gained popularity, and as it grew, Kapoor moved from house shows to covering gigs at local venues and doing pop-up shows.
Now, Kapoorhouse’s content includes live music sessions posted online, concert photography, concert reviews and a weekly post containing a list of local musicians performing live that week and another with all new music released. What some call “the hub of Atlanta’s sound,” Kapoorhouse’s content can be viewed through the Kapoorhouse Instagram, the “Atlanta Sound” Spotify playlist and the Kapoorhouse website.
Aside from the beautiful displays of talent that covered the walls of the underground venue, there was a small stage in the next-door room that housed a silky-smooth acoustic performance from local musician, Meredith Tilton, and an engaging DJ set from Cole Mosner. Tilton has been compared to singers like Lizzy McAlpine and local Athens musician, Clover County. She currently has two songs, “Tired” and “Doing Fine,” both released on streaming platforms, and she plans to put more of her work out soon.
All of the artists at the event had their work on display so that the viewers could easily see every hour of hard labor, color-grading and editing that it took them to get there. Everyone left the Supermarket on Thursday night feeling inspired to create and feeling proud of the city that they get to call home.
“Support live music!” or “Support local art!” are common phrases, but many fail to fully grasp the importance of the message being relayed. Each year, the music industry generates billions of dollars for the United States economy due to ticket purchases, travel, restaurants around the venue and streaming on Spotify or Apple Music. Listening to the most popular artists on the charts can help contribute to the music industry, but it is even better to support the small musicians too. For example, if no one had taken a chance on pop princess Chappell Roan, she would never have supported chart-topper Olivia Rodrigo on her “GUTS” tour and would not have received the much-deserved audience that she has today.
Some attractive features of supporting local or small artists include cheap ticket prices, intimate venues, less traffic, more emotion and passion with each performance and genuine interactions with fans. Also, supporting local art, businesses and music creates a strong foundation for the community, and it is the backbone of the music industry.
Needless to say, creative expression is critical for society.. Living in Atlanta makes it almost effortless to find local musicians and artists to support. Go be inspired!