My experience at Reggae Rise Up was incomparable to anything I’ve ever done before. Previously, I have photographed red carpet events and other things; only attending concerts as a fan. Now, I can wholeheartedly say that although I value the fan experience, attending Reggae Rise Up as a photographer showed me that concert photography is incomparably even more exciting. 

Originally, my focus was not leading me down the path of concert photography. Instead, my subjects ranged from children to actors and government officials (the President of the United States being one of them). For about 10 years I focused on this, until the summer of 2022 when I truly fell in love with concert photography. After watching a performance and looking through all the photos that were taken of the artist, I realized that I too wanted to capture a musician’s energy onstage. 

After realizing this newfound goal, I began to work towards it, however that road was a rough one as finding opportunities was difficult. My only two brushes with concert photography before Reggae Rise Up was photographing a local youth group’s band and a local band performing at a bowling alley. What I remember from those opportunities is that although they were small ones, the joy I felt from photographing musicians in their element could never compare to anything else. 

After that though, concert photography opportunities became a little harder to find and I began to feel discouraged. This all changed on a random afternoon in my family’s car when my father picked me up from school. As soon as I stepped into the car, I heard the voice of another person coming out of the car’s speaker. I soon was able to figure out that the conversation was about photographing a music event; something that got me very excited. As the conversation continued and we remained parked in the parking lot, I realized that this wasn’t just any conversation. Apparently,  father’s former boss from when he worked in radio in Jamaica, was now the famous singer, Shaggy’s PR person for Jamaica. 

That’s when it clicked for me that this wasn’t just any other kind of conversation about concert photography. This was related to the possibility of photographing Shaggy at a festival I had my eyes on ever since it was announced that he and another artist I absolutely admire, Sting, would be performing there. There was a small chance that I could attend the renowned Reggae Rise Up as a photographer and live out my dream of being a concert photographer. At the time I was incredibly excited but I remember still feeling a little doubtful as the former months of no concert photography opportunity were still fresh in my mind. 

With all of this though, I still hoped and did everything she advised me to when applying to the event. Honestly, it was by the grace of God that we were able to connect with Shaggy’s PR person in America who blessed me with the opportunity to make my dreams a reality and photograph not only Shaggy and Sting, but the entire Reggae Rise Up festival. I am still amazed at how this happened and will forever be grateful for this opportunity. When I was in the car, on my way to the event, one thought entered my mind. “Now, once again, I’d be able to capture musicians in their element and feel the joy of freezing their passion inside a photograph; cherished forever.”

I feel that the joy I get from concert photography was amplified by an incomprehensible value when I walked through the gates of the entrance to Reggae Rise Up. Before entering, I asked for advice from my photography mentor, Ms. Raven, as I had never photographed a festival before. The words she said to me never left me during the time I was there, ”Get shots of the full story.” When walking in, I could truly see the stories of so many people unraveling right before my eyes. I then longed to capture them all as the mixture of an artist’s song with the sound of thousands singing along filled my ears as I walked inside.

I navigated throughout the crowd with a newfound exhilaration to capture the anticipation and excitement that permeated throughout the festival. But as soon as I made it a little further into the festival, my stomach gave me a lovely reminder that the time I had last eaten was hours prior to the event. Due to this, I changed directions and headed over to the food stalls in order to figure out what I was going to eat.  

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT PART-> Reggae Rise Up: Day 1!