Boston’s music photography community is better when we’re together.

How Discord and working together instead of in competition has helped Boston’s concert photography scene.

Peach Pit Live In Boston (2022) Photo by Brent Goldman

About a year ago, I created a Discord server on a whim to bring a handful of Boston’s live music photographers together to be able to chat. We started by sharing what shows we were looking forward to covering, a few PR contacts and links to our work to support each other.’

A year later and we’re over 150 people strong. Some of us shoot paid work regularly, some are regulars as press and others are looking for advice before they shoot their first show. We’re a diverse group with different backgrounds and a huge range of taste in music. The one thing we all share is a passion for photographing live music in Boston.

We hear stories of other cities that have a ton of competition, meanwhile we’re getting to shows early and cracking jokes before we all get into the pit together. We are passing gigs we can’t take on to other photographers. We even came together to get TD Garden to add lockers to store our camera gear after the first three instead of going all the way back to our car then back into the show or heading home.

Boston is a college town with lots of new photographers, so we’re removing obstacles for college students. Don’t have an outlet for a show you want to shoot? Just ask in the chat - chances are someone can point you in the right direction. Looking to upgrade to a mirrorless camera but not sure where to start? We have Sony, Nikon, Canon and Fuji shooters to help. A number of us love to shoot concerts on film still and love sharing our knowledge of it.

We might not be the biggest music city like Austin, Nashville or LA, but for my money, Boston’s music photo scene can hold its own with anywhere else. I think a huge part of it is that we’re supporting and hyping each other up instead of trying to climb over each other. With so much great music out there and artists coming through on tour, there’s enough for everyone to succeed.

So even if you don’t want to hire me, reach out and I’ll happily refer you to one of our other amazing photographers in the city.