Music

These Intimate Photos Show a Side of Detroit’s Movement Most People Miss

Photos by Lyndon French

Let’s face it—photo galleries from music events are usually pretty boring. You see the same images over and over again: some guy with his hands in the air, a sea of faces in the crowd, a silhouette of a DJ from behind. Who cares?

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Lyndon French, however, is not your average festival photographer. When I met him backstage at Movement in Detroit this year, he admitted that he’s more into portraits, and doesn’t have much experience taking photos of music events at all—but that’s exactly what I like about his approach.

Rather than treating the festival as an experience to be factually documented, Lyndon focuses on unexpected juxtapositions—between architectural shapes, interesting textures, and all sorts of tiny details—often pulling them out of their mundane contexts to create particular moments of poignancy.

Below, the images he captured over three days at Movement 2017 are a testament to how music photography doesn’t have to suck.