Art has brought us landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes, but our generation has seen a new environment flourish: the Clubscape. Our Clubscape series aims to provide you a behind-the-scenes perspective on how rave culture is experienced, captured, and illuminated by electronic music's best photographers.With his love for festival season growing faster than his never-ending caveman beard, Joey Rootman transformed his personal hobby into a career-worthy craft. With over 15 international festivals checked off his to-do list, the Toronto-born, Vancouver-based photographer merges his eastern roots with his West Coast vibe to spin fleeting moments into colourful memories. THUMP caught up with Rootman to talk festival imagery, solo travels, and poor hygiene.
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THUMP: How did you get into music photography?
Joey Rootman: It all started a few years ago at VELD 2012; I got offered to write a review. I didn't get any press access or anything, but I did it to see what would come of it. That led me to writing another review, and another review, and eventually I realized I just like taking pictures more. That developed into a job taking pictures at clubs. It was a natural progression of things I love. At any show that I go to, I consider myself an audience member first and a photographer second.
Joey Rootman: It all started a few years ago at VELD 2012; I got offered to write a review. I didn't get any press access or anything, but I did it to see what would come of it. That led me to writing another review, and another review, and eventually I realized I just like taking pictures more. That developed into a job taking pictures at clubs. It was a natural progression of things I love. At any show that I go to, I consider myself an audience member first and a photographer second.
How does capturing moments by pictures differ from capturing moments by words?
In both aspects, you're trying to tell a story, but I find with pictures, it's just a lot easier to get a direct feel for the entire event. With words, it takes a lot to really capture the spirit of the show or festival that you're going to.How would you describe your photography style?
It's always developing and changing. I also love to take landscape and nature shots, so when it comes to clubs, my goal is to get the overall sense of the event, within the picture, or within the set of pictures. Shambhala was definitely a landmark for me. The people, the setting, and the event altogether are unbelievably magical and so natural. To be able to walk around and feel that, and capture that, it changed the way that I look at music and music photography.
In both aspects, you're trying to tell a story, but I find with pictures, it's just a lot easier to get a direct feel for the entire event. With words, it takes a lot to really capture the spirit of the show or festival that you're going to.How would you describe your photography style?
It's always developing and changing. I also love to take landscape and nature shots, so when it comes to clubs, my goal is to get the overall sense of the event, within the picture, or within the set of pictures. Shambhala was definitely a landmark for me. The people, the setting, and the event altogether are unbelievably magical and so natural. To be able to walk around and feel that, and capture that, it changed the way that I look at music and music photography.
Read more on THUMP: Shambhala 2015 Was A Carnivalesque Gathering of Bass Music's Best
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In the future, how will your photography change because of Shambhala?
I will definitely work more towards evaluating the sense of the festival before I jump into it with a bunch of pictures. I was lucky with Shambhala because I took a day off before I pulled out my camera. That lead me to understanding the festival a bit more.
I will definitely work more towards evaluating the sense of the festival before I jump into it with a bunch of pictures. I was lucky with Shambhala because I took a day off before I pulled out my camera. That lead me to understanding the festival a bit more.
You've lived in both eastern and western Canada—how do the scenes differ?
Toronto has got this massive complete scene; it's full of niches. There's huge stadiums and tiny clubs. In BC, the spectrum becomes a bit more narrow, but we have a tighter community. There's less venues, but more familiarity with the things that we love.
Anyone who goes to a festival gets the sense of how addicting they are. This summer I found my friends become closer and closer to family at these festivals. New people who I've never met before become family within a day or two of hitting the dance floor. So, being able to capture festivals through photo is just magical.Do you have any festival horror stories?
In general, everything has been pretty positive at music festivals. At one festival I went to, a friend and I, on day three, realized that that none of the port-a-potties had hand sanitizer in them. We were like, "Yeah, we haven't washed our hands in a day or so, that's disgusting." Then we realized that no one was washing their hands. That's pretty much as dirty as it gets.
Toronto has got this massive complete scene; it's full of niches. There's huge stadiums and tiny clubs. In BC, the spectrum becomes a bit more narrow, but we have a tighter community. There's less venues, but more familiarity with the things that we love.
Why does festival culture appeal to you so much?Read more on THUMP: 10 Things I Love About Clubbing in Vancouver
Anyone who goes to a festival gets the sense of how addicting they are. This summer I found my friends become closer and closer to family at these festivals. New people who I've never met before become family within a day or two of hitting the dance floor. So, being able to capture festivals through photo is just magical.Do you have any festival horror stories?
In general, everything has been pretty positive at music festivals. At one festival I went to, a friend and I, on day three, realized that that none of the port-a-potties had hand sanitizer in them. We were like, "Yeah, we haven't washed our hands in a day or so, that's disgusting." Then we realized that no one was washing their hands. That's pretty much as dirty as it gets.
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You also took photos while traveling Europe alone. What was that experience like?
Sonar Barcelona was actually my first time ever doing a festival with photography. It was my introduction to photography as a whole. Going to Sonar by myself was definitely a bit intimidating, but it put me out there as a photographer and as a festival-goer. I attended another festival later in the summer barely knowing anyone, and from that I met one of my best friends now. I was also in Amsterdam for four months and got to see the immense love the people there have for dance music. It's built into their culture.What has been your most inspiring moment?
Being able to shoot Bonobo, who I've been able to capture once in a club setting and once at Shambhala. For me, it's because of the intimate vibe that he puts out at his shows. To be a component of that, and come out with some pictures that really matched his style, that's always nice. Music, in general, has just been an inspiring theme in my life. There's probably a specific album for every period in my life that perfectly describes how I felt at that moment.Joey Rootman is on Facebook // Twitter // InstagramRebecca is on Twitter.
Sonar Barcelona was actually my first time ever doing a festival with photography. It was my introduction to photography as a whole. Going to Sonar by myself was definitely a bit intimidating, but it put me out there as a photographer and as a festival-goer. I attended another festival later in the summer barely knowing anyone, and from that I met one of my best friends now. I was also in Amsterdam for four months and got to see the immense love the people there have for dance music. It's built into their culture.What has been your most inspiring moment?
Being able to shoot Bonobo, who I've been able to capture once in a club setting and once at Shambhala. For me, it's because of the intimate vibe that he puts out at his shows. To be a component of that, and come out with some pictures that really matched his style, that's always nice. Music, in general, has just been an inspiring theme in my life. There's probably a specific album for every period in my life that perfectly describes how I felt at that moment.Joey Rootman is on Facebook // Twitter // InstagramRebecca is on Twitter.
