In 2017, I caught over 241 live performances from bands, across 115 days, which includes short sets as part of fests/tributes or photo-only opps. I didn’t record details for every fest or every special guest at an event so this figure is merely a good place to start (or rather brag about).
Bands I caught repeatedly in 2017: Green Day (4); Ryan Adams (4); Josh Ritter (3); Patti Smith and / or PSG (3); Talay (3); The Wild Reeds (3).
Venues I frequented most in 2017: Webster Hall (8); Lincoln Center / American Songbook (6); Mercury Lounge (6); Brooklyn Steel (4); MSG (4).
On the music side of things, I collaborated with the band HDLSS on some official portrait photos (an ever growing segment of the music photography realm), I shot Sunny Jain’s new band Resident Alien live at Joe’s, and I shot a Pleasantville festival stage on behalf of the terrific PamNation. Then, I had small staff/house photog roles with Webster Hall, (le) poisson rouge, World Music Institute and the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
The fourth time I caught Green Day (as a photographer) in the span of a year, I got a Billie Joe Armstrong jump shot I was truly happy with (you can see it in the last row of my Instagram embed below).
The Strokes shared one of my images of Nikolai (in his other band Summer Moon) and were kind enough to actually give me a linked credit which lead to a lot of new followers on Instagram.
Happy birthday @N_Fraiture ! (Photo x Sachyn Mital) pic.twitter.com/QJEjSdBs8j
— The Strokes (@thestrokes) November 13, 2017
Although the Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll results have not yet been published, the albums and songs I selected as my favorite for the year were (in no particular order):
Albums
Natalie Hemby – Puxico, GetWrucke
Hurray for the Riff Raff – The Navigator, ATO
Slowdive – Slowdive, Dead Oceans
Charly Bliss – Guppy, Barsuk
The War on Drugs – A Deeper Understanding, Atlantic
SZA – Ctrl, Top Dawg / RCA
St. Vincent – Masseduction, Loma Vista
Thundercat – Drunk, Brainfeeder
Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile – Lotta Sea Lice, Matador
Mount Eerie – A Crow Looked at Me, P.W. Elverum & Sun
Songs (the below plus a few others on a poorly kept Spotify list)
Kendrick Lamar – “HUMBLE.”, Top Dawg / Aftermath / Interscope
Offa Rex – “Queen of Hearts”, Nonesuch
Dua Lipa – “New Rules”, Warner
Lorde – “Green Light”, Universal
SZA – “Drew Barrymore”, Top Dawg / RCA
St. Vincent – “New York”, Loma Vista
The xx – “On Hold”, Young Turks
Greta Van Fleet – “Highway Tune”, Republic
Charly Bliss – “Glitter”, Barsuk
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – “White Man’s World”, Southeastern
Then, if there had been a section for EPs, I would have included Talay’s self-titled EP, The Aces’ I Don’t Like Being Honest EP, Greta van Fleet’s Black Smoke Rising EP.
Beyond the music, I did event photography work for ABRAMS Books, the New York Peace Institute, The Museum of the Moving Image, The Mighty Quinn Foundation, the SA Dance Company. I got on board with the burlesque group The Pink Room and had a photo published in a burlesque-history related book, The Pastie Project! And most importantly, I photographed a beautiful and wonderful wedding for a couple of friends. I hope I’m not forgetting anyone but it was a full and fun year. Maybe I’ll come back to edit this post if I remember something else.
I’ll conclude with my 2017 top nine on Instagram.
