photography + words: Robin Laananen
I don’t know many jobs that allow you to travel the world with your best friends, a road family; snorkeling in Croatia, biking in Europe (wherever we could), hiking the Chilean Andes, roadtripping in Iceland (New Zealand, Australia, anywhere), shopping the spice market in Istanbul, dinner at the Red Square of Moscow. One of the best but hardest jobs being 24/7, never alone, always questions, heavy responsibilities on my shoulders, a certain level of sacrifice of a “regular home life”.
I’ve been shooting all things music for over 25 years, starting before I was 20 shooting in basement punk shows. I felt most at home pressed against the stage, directly in front, with eyes on the back of my head for flying fists and the tide of the pit. I’ve had to stage dive with my camera to avoid being caught on fire by stage antics. I have taken portraits of some of my musical heroes, traveled the world documenting life behind the scenes while on tour. I spent years shooting for record labels, magazines, and directly with artists documenting studio work or album art work. Music is home and my main inspiration.
It wasn’t until 2020, when there was no choice to go up (fly), so I had to go out (drive). I unexpectedly fell in love with landscape photography during solo road trips; the stillness, the freshest air, being within the trees, the reveal at sunrise, literally chasing light while behind the wheel of a 12 passenger converted camper van. I was hooked. With missing my musician friends, I began to reach out to musicians I knew and ones I hadn’t met yet, I was curious what they were doing with their time off the road. The response was beautiful because everyone had a desire to create, everyone was intrigued by the project. I would meet with them, take portraits, incorporating my love of landscape or photographs of how they’ve been spending their time. One was building a motorcycle, one was learning to surf, another was learning how to throw axes. These were all women. Once tour opened up, I reached out to all musicians and would take portraits on my days off as the bus moved through the States. The project went global, most recently meeting with local musicians during a pre-tour road trip in New Zealand.
This book is a personal journey with the world as a main character.
The exhibition to be titled “This is out of control, I don’t know where we’re going.”
Bio
This is a book of stories and photographs from the road, from the mountains, the narrative being from a woman who can be a fly on the wall both within the lives of musicians and as a temporary tourist as a solo explorer.
I want to inspire others, other women, to act on their curiosity of the world. My demographic is fans of music, of the bands within these pages, road trippers, travelers, road crew, other photographers. The photographs will be of cities in juxtaposition of the landscapes. There will be the ongoing portrait series of musicians I know and who I had never met until they were in front of my camera.
*I have published a book of photography documenting life on the road with the band Warpaint, “US/THEN”, published by Setanta Books in the UK. The book includes a 7” of two live tracks from the band, mixed by the drummer in a European hotel room. I hired the band’s UK publicist for a 3 month cycle, the same as an album.
