Guilty as charged your honour. That’s us. We’ve been sitting on this one waiting for the right time to drop it and now is definitely the time. Not only have we got a perfectly timed bootleg of ‘Reappear’ by School of Seven Bells but we have a very special photo book by Justin Hollar from the recent SVIIB North American tour that we’d like to show you and offer as a giveaway competition. Sound good? Read on!
Justin Hollar is a photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. Music has always been a passion of his, but for whatever reason he ended up holding a camera instead of a guitar. Fate we say, when you check out how amazing his photography is. If you take a look at not only his SVIIB photos but also his many classic shots for the likes of Vogue and Tommy Hilfiger, you’ll realise that Justin has one hell of an eye for a photo and we’re kind of glad he hung up that guitar. Although, we bet he’s a dab hand with the strings too.
Here’s what Justin had to say about the SVIIB project:
Growing up my favorite photographs were always the “behind the scenes” shots of The Beatles, Stones, Dylan, etc. I miss that access to music. So I decided to try to recapture some of those moments myself. I went on tour with the band School of Seven Bells last year for two months. We drove over 9,000 miles all over North America. I made a photography book out of the experience. I thought you might enjoy it.
I came up with the idea for the project mostly because music has always been a huge passion of mine. Some of my favorite photographs are the early shots Alfred Werthheimer did of Elvis, David Kramer’s Dylan photos, and the old Beatles and Rolling Stones shots from their recording sessions and tours. I feel like with all the manager and publicist involvement these days we’ve really lost that access of music making. The lives they lead to create the music we love. Those quiet moments in between shows. All that stuff.
Now with Twitter and Instagram that access is coming back but it’s all fluff. It’s all so uninspiring and disposable. So I just wanted to try to bring back some of the substance in music photography for myself. I’d like to continue doing these with different bands, different genres, different countries, etc. So this is just a starting point for me.
If you want a chance to win a copy of this damn fine photo book from www.justinhollar.com, put a comment below why you’d like to be in it to win it!!
Make sure you also get yourself onto Justin Hollar’s website and check out the book and many more shots of the band here. Simply stunning stuff.
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AND THE WINNER IS…… JOHN BRADLEY!!! Congrats John!! We’ll get this to you asap. Thanks to all those who entered.
In the meantime, it’s also perfect timing to drop an unofficial bootleg below of ‘Reappear’ mixed by Kelly Dean.
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Justin’s photographs are absolutely beautiful. There is a certain romanticism and mystery to every shot. This book is a perfect complement to SVIIB’s sound.
This book would occupy a permanent spot in my home. It combines my love of rock photography with my favorite band.
The photographs Justin takes are magnificent. He puts such a sense of his character into the shots. If I won the book, I would be in the presence of such fine artistry in my home.
This combines three of the best things (both missing from modern music): Incredible (and considered) photography, stylish (and effortlessly cool) musicians, and one of the most under-appreciated bands touring today. Must. Get. Book.
This would be awesome for my home!
Justin’s photographs ARE THE BEST!
I first heard SVIIB on the radio in Dublin, Ireland in 2009. My Cabal was the most beautiful song I’d ever heard. Since then I’ve tracked down all of their stuff, but never before considered photos. The photos above look fantastic – I love the one of Ben framed in the door, and the way the colour has been enhanced to show him emerging from the venue. Fantastic x.