photos

In college I worked as a photographer for the Daily Trojan (and even served briefly as photo editor!). This gave me the opportunity to shoot exciting events like concerts and football games. Here are some highlights from that time in my life. I’m retired now, but if the opportunity arises again…

Florence + the Machine at the Hollywood Bowl

We were literally between a crucifix and the Hollywood sign! Such a fitting venue for this special concert. Fun fact - I ran into Emma Watson at this one! I was waiting at will call for my time to head out and she came in with a date to pick up her ticket.

Madeon at the Novo (then Club Nokia)

At most concerts, media photographers only get to shoot for the first two songs before being asked to leave (sometimes you were allowed to enjoy the rest of the concert in GA, but not always). Madeon likes media, so I was able to shoot the entire concert. He was a dynamic DJ and the light displays were sick - this was a lot of fun to shoot. At the time, the Novo was still called Club Nokia… just glad I left LA before I had to witness the rechristening of the Staples Center as Crypto.com Arena.

Parov Stelar at the Novo

I had no idea who this band was before this assignment, but I came out an electro swing fan! This was one of the concerts where the photographer got a plus one to bring. The friend I brought was on a dance team at our school so it was cool to get to see him do his thing after I finished shooting. We met in a CS course and prior to this concert, most of the time we spent together was for coursework. The class was digital logic and while the theory of it came naturally to me, I struggled with the labs because I had never taken a programming course. He had the opposite problem, making us the perfect team. I would explain what needed to be implemented and he could quickly execute the coding component of our labs. If he’s reading this, thanks for helping me secure an A!

Jamie XX at the Shrine

I am a child of the Tumblr era so Loud Places was on repeat on my iPod touch in high school. I liked shooting at the Shrine because it was practically on campus. Otherwise, we were responsible for our own transportation to and from concerts and even though Uber and Lyft were a lot cheaper back then (remember when Uber Pool/Lyft Line were still a thing?), it was still too much for a college kid. We got about $5 every time our photos were published in print…

M83 in Boston

It was the summer of 2016 and I had gotten into the summer undergraduate research program of my dreams. It was a magical summer - I saw Boston at its finest, ran around the Charles River Esplanade regularly, lived in an MIT dorm quite literally on the Charles with front row seats to the city’s Fourth of July fireworks show, and had my first taste of living on my own away from my home state of California. It was also the summer that helped me decide to apply for a Ph.D. (dare I say I was brainwashed?). I saw that M83 was performing and took it upon myself to go rogue and contact the artist’s team to try to finesse a media pass. That’s how I ended up at Blue Hills Bank Pavilion with my summer program bestie (plus one perks) listening to another one of my Tumblr top hits IRL. Did I mention it was also the summer of Pokemon Go? Since we all spent most of our time between our respective labs (mostly on the Longwood campus) and the dorm, we got to see some rare Pokemon out at the venue that we’d never seen before (Polywhirl for Seaport, how appropriate).

The Naked and Famous at the Troubadour

Had to schlep out to WeHo for this one but it was worth it to shoot at the Troubadour, a real slice of Hollywood history. A lot of people seem to hate LA but I have to say that since leaving LA, my love for it has grown. The opening chords of Young Blood sound like the last time life still felt good?

Jess Glynne at the El Rey Theatre

Rather Be came out my freshman year of college and I was listening to it obsessively on repeat during the spring semester. The memory association I have with that song is sneaking on to the USC sand volleyball courts after dark to play. It involved a risky maneuver of hopping over a pointed wrought iron fence…

Foo Fighters at The Forum

This is the first concert I ever shot. I was paired with a writer for this one who had covered concerts before so that was helpful. He also had his own car, so we pulled up to The Forum at sunset, which was a lovely view. Apparently Dave Grohl had fallen off a stage in Gothenburg, Sweden so he was confined to a chair for most of the concert wearing an orthopedic boot, and they were selling merch that sported “Broken Leg Tour” on it.