20 minute clipping.

Although I worked for a monthly music paper through college, I really built my initial portfolio through the opportunities afforded by Toronto music bookers and agents. They generosity introduced me to a wide range of indie rock icons of the mid-80s like Johnny Thunders, Mark Smith of The Fall, Hüsker Dü, R.E.M., and more.

Doing this quick shoot with clipping. weirdly took me back. But I wonder, is this good?

Those early sittings were formative in helping me deal with stressful situations, and I made a handful of good pictures, but few that hold up to my portrait work now. I worry that by doing these quickie band photos at a venue, I am regressing to fan photographer status.

clipping. is a contemporary American music group, with industrial dance sounds, and rapper Daveed Diggs slaying the words over top. I reached out to them over Instagram DM (with encouragement from colleague Nick Fancher), and miraculously they agreed to a quick photo shoot after their soundcheck at a recent Brooklyn show.

The group’s aesthetic is dark, with loads of tracks about death and murder, yet somehow I ended up with a playful picture of them. I strive to break away from myself, but I always end up at me.


Images: “clipping.” photographed at the Elsewhere space, Brooklyn NY, August 14, 2025. Thank you to Sophia Pallwein-Prettner for onset assistance.