Concert Photography by Jeff Kellem

When shooting performing musicians, I have focused on using existing light (no flash), both to minimize distraction of the performance and to capture the moment, as is. While in Boston, I photographed close to a thousand shows over five years including artists such as Letters to Cleo (@letterstocleo), Sam Black Church, Henry Rollins (@henryrollins), Helmet (@helmetmusic), Aerosmith (@aerosmith), Honkey Ball, Eleven, Merrie Amsterburg, 6L6, Mary Lou Lord, Mary Timony (@maryt_money), Helium, Paula Kelley, boy wonder, Tree, among many others.

A couple years after moving to the San Francisco bay area, a chronic health issue diagnosis (with no cure, yet) required me to slow down, including leaving a band I had been recording and performing with and attend fewer concerts. Even with the health issues, I do still occasionally take on a new gig. I also coach musicians in performing, songcraft, composition, and music production/recording. Feel free to reach out in case there’s time available in my schedule:

Releases using my creative work over the past few years include:

• Applied Cryptography by Tim Perkis & Scott Walton, 2016, pfMENTUM. (photography)
• Leave Behind a Groove on the Earth: The Story of Sam Black Church documentary, 2016. (photography)
  • Companion book for film, Sam Black Church: Images from the Vault. (photography)
• The Hidden Cost EP by Corey Holms (@coreyholms), 2018. (type design)
• Spinning in Space EP by Jeff Kellem, 2021 (photography, type design, music, recording)
• Unplanned Intro for D single by Jeff Kellem, 2021 (photography, type design, music, recording)
• In the Mist single by Jeff Kellem, 2021 (photography, type design, music, recording)
• Piano Whorl Experiment album by Jeff Kellem, 2021 (artwork, photography, liner notes, type design)
• Live concert album performed at CCRMA. Artist to be mentioned once release is official. Possible release in 2022, depending on marketing schedule. (photography)
• Live concert album performed at Tom’s Place. Artist to be mentioned once release is official. Possible release in 2022, depending on marketing schedule. (photography)
• My type design work was used in early versions of album art for a major recording artist (~30 year career) in 2016. In the end, the artist chose designs that tied closely to an album from 20 years earlier, instead. So, artist not mentioned. Possible that the work may be shown at a future date.

After the third surgery, I’ve been able to get back to more music projects. I’m also working on a retrospective music photography/essay book and recording project with a focus on bands from 30 years ago from my collection. Aiming for release in 2025 to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the timeframe middle for this photo block with new recordings by some of the musicians from my photography archive and related concerts to coincide with the release. May take longer.