MUMBAI: Unlike wildlife, portrait, fashion, adventure, architecture, nature, sports and food, among many kinds of photography, music photography has never ever been given its due importance, despite the fact that there are so many Indian as well as International artists visiting India and performing in the country over the years.
Life as a music photographer can be pretty incredible. Spending time with some awesome music artists, listening to their great music, travelling to different places to watch them and the best of all, capturing the artists for posterity on your camera, can give you a totally different high. For Verus Ferreira, music photography is a dream career, stemming from his work as a music journalist over the last 32 years.
After many hours spent in the music space and going through thousands of images and short listing the final lot, he finally presents the first ever Music Concert Photography exhibition this weekend. “I am really happy to hold my first exhibition on music concert photography, which is probably the first ever in the country”.
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Ferreira’s project touches a topic that concerns music, connected physically and emotionally. His pictures tell a story to which people can relate to and identify with the subject. They are drawn to the picture, by creating a connection with those who are interested in music and identifying with the image they see, be it pictures from his collection like Vengaboys, Steve Vai, Michael Learns to Rock, Joss Stone, Megadeth, Slash of Guns N’ Roses, among many others, to Indian acts like Anoushka Shankar, Colonial Cousins, Usha Uthup, Louiz Banks, Zakir Hussain, Lucky Ali, Rahul Sharma, among many others.
His images transport the viewer to recall the concert the photo has been shot, to whether he or she attended the concert and if so, cherishing those music moments. Besides, it also demonstrates how to capture an artists’ personality through photography, whether it’s pictures from his collection of Trilok Gurtu, Wiz Khalifa or Zubin Mehta.
A lot of professional or experienced photographers say that the photographic process is not complete until you print your work. And surely Ferreira is on the same page. “In an era when photographic art is widely consumed digitally by viewers who spend only seconds with it, exhibiting exposes your work to a more deliberate and appreciative audience. My work deserves to be seen and appreciated in person. A lot of professional or experienced photographers say that the photographic process is not complete until you print your work. I have to agree”.
Ferreira’s music concert photos have appeared in leading publications like Mid Day, Afternoon DC, G Magazine (Chitralekha), Business India, Yuva, AV Max, Ngage (TOI), The Teenager Today magazine and many other publications, including a few online portals.
The purpose of having this exhibition is his belief that he has photos that can be exhibited, while also magically bringing out the fun of a concert, the power of music, see artists doing what they love best, seen through the eye of the photographer.
The joy of the photographer is to treasure the moment, being there, at the right time and at the right moment, to get that perfect shot. Getting your pictures printed and hung on a wall, lets your images be seen for a longer period, than flipping through your images on an electronic device with ‘next’. It allows people to spend more quality, focused time with them. But, most importantly, it shows that your work deserves to be seen and appreciated.
As an Author, he has also used a few of his music images in both his music books ‘The Great Music Quiz Book’ and ‘The Great Rock Music Quiz Book’, the latter that boasts of Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash on the cover.
The Music Concert Photography Exhibition is an opportunity to showcase his music concert photos, some of which have already been published in Smart Photography (March 2024) where 8 pages were dedicated for the very first time to Music Concert Photography in their SHOWCASE section. The Sunday Free Press Journal newspaper (dated 17th March 2024) also supported with a half page Photo display.
Ferreira will be presenting his Music Concert Photography Exhibition from 16th – 22nd November 2024, at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Bandra Reclamation, Opp Hotel Rang Sharda, Bandra, (West), Mumbai.
While many may own his music books, he now hopes to have his music concert pictures hung on a wall.
Photography Exhibition by: Verus Ferreira
Exhibition Opening by Louis Banks: Saturday, 16th November, 5.45 pm
Venue: The Bombay Art Society, Bandra Reclamation, Opp Hotel Rang Sharda, Bandra, (West), Mumbai.
Exhibition Dates: Sunday, 17th November 2024 to Friday 22nd November 2024
Time: 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m
About Verus Ferreira
Verus Ferreira is a well known senior music journalist, who began writing soon after completing college, with the popular youth magazine The Teenager, (now defunct) The Teenager Today.
As a freelance music journalist, he has over three decades of work experience with the Indian media. As a correspondent, he has regularly contributed music-related articles to various newspapers to glossy magazines.
He has also curated the onboard playlist for various airlines like South African Airways, Air India, Jet Airways, besides also contributing to the Jet Airways magazine – Jet Screen.
He has also dabbled into photography and his photographs have appeared in several newspapers and magazines, thus graduating him into a photo – journalist. He was also featured in the Smart Photography magazine (March 2024) for a feature on Concert Photography where 8 pages were devoted to showcase his work as a concert photographer. Thereafter, The Sunday Free Press Journal newspaper (dated 17th March 2024) also featured him. Business India (13th September 2024 – 30th October 2024 issue) also featured him in their ‘People’ column for his work on music photography.
Ferreira is also author of two books The Great Music Quiz Book and The Great Rock Music Quiz Book, both available at major book stores and online platforms.
The Mumbai resident is also the Founder of music portal www.musicunplugged.in
He presently writes for the Free Press Journal newspaper.
