Photo: Art by Brian Departee
Artist Interview with Jacob Anderson-Kester
Brian DePartee is a photographer whose primary artistic focus (at the moment) is the documentation of music throughout the Pacific Northwest. His project, Peach Fuzz Presents, functions as a photographic archive of shows in Olympia, Seattle, and beyond. Currently rounding about the end of his time at Evergreen, we had an opportunity to talk and recall his experiences thus far and get a glimpse into the future.
Can you tell me what led you to create ‘Peach Fuzz Presents’?
“When I first got into photography, I was really inspired by the Northwest Sound Exchange. It was this group of people who were basically trying to capture the Seattle scene and the people in the scene, and they really tried to capture the DIY culture and what it permeated. For [Peach Fuzz Presents], I chose a focus of Olympia and Seattle and went to the shows that I wanted to, for the artists that I really wanted to capture.”
A distinct quality of some of your show photos is the utilization of longer exposures. Can you tell me what you feel like longer exposure does for the image?
“When I’m trying to shoot images of people and artists and musicians, I really am trying to capture the energy and the feelings at a show. I think that is one thing that stands out— because you can go to, say, an open mic night, and that environment is going to feel so different than the basement of some person’s house, shooting photos with lights and fog machines. And you really just get a different sense of community in each space. So for me, longer exposures kind of give a ripple effect of what time is like, and you really see the change in motion and the raw feeling and energy of a show. So I really like to capture long-exposure photos of bands that are more lively or loud or like to create a ruckus.”
When you want to take a photo, how does that different feeling and the difference of light in each scene change how you calculate the outcome?
“It’s really interesting, because whenever you go to a new show, or a new venue, all of the situations and variables are slightly different. No show is the same. And that’s why I think capturing bands and doing band photography is so be
beautiful and so different because each show is unique.”
Especially the lighting situations, for better or worse.
“Yeah, definitely, because you could, again, be in a basement where you know there’s only one overhead light or you could be in another basement that has a bunch of neon lights and flares and motion. So when I go there, I really just try to focus on the bands and their positioning, and also their relationship with the audience, and if I can capture some relationship between the audience members and the bands; seeing how active both can get and how both of their creative energies kind of tie into the community experience of seeing a performance.”
What would you like to capture about Olympia?
“I really want to capture the culture of the regular person and the regular artist. One thing that really drew me to local shows and local artists is that I don’t really think they’re represented properly in social media or are necessarily as influential as they can be, and I think just documenting many of them and really giving them an image creates more popularity and more networking for them.”
“And I’d really love to see more photos of shows as a musician myself. Just being able to see other photos of musicians really gives me inspiration, and so [I like] being able to capture that and pay it forward.”
A lot of the moments that I have experienced going to shows in Olympia have been kind of lost in time; stories that people tell, but not as captured as they could be.
“You know, that’s a great point. Because in the DIY culture and the house show scene in Olympia, there’s a lot of houses that host shows, but then there’s also a lot of houses that change paths and stop hosting. And so it really does date the shows; the times of when you had shows at the Red House or the ABC House, and just seeing all those different shows and faces.”
“They’re all brought together and brought forth by the community, which is [something] so empowering about the DIY culture, that if you have a group of people who are willing to push forward your idea, then you can make it happen.”
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You can find Brian’s photography Instagram @briandeparteephotography and Peach Fuzz Presents @peachfuzzpresents or on Tumblr at peachfuzzpresents.tumblr.com
