Music and Lights: What Do Photographers Listen to on Set?
Music and photography have always shared an intimate relationship. On a set, music can shape the atmosphere just as much as light, location, or the presence of the subject — sometimes setting the mood, sometimes filling the silence, and sometimes becoming part of the creative process itself.
We asked three artists with different practices — Marco Gualdoni (Italy), Victor von Krasowski (UK) and Michał Kawałko (Poland) — a couple of questions about their musical habits: what they listen to while they work, what sounds have stayed with them, and how music finds its way into their creative lives.
What does your ideal shoot sound like?
Marco Gualdoni: I don’t think I really have an “ideal” shoot in terms of a specific kind of music or soundtrack. Music is, however, an almost essential part of a shoot for me, and there is virtually always something playing when I photograph. I rarely plan what it should be, and I usually prefer to leave that choice to the person I’m photographing.
I suppose the ideal “sound” of a shoot is when our musical tastes or sensibilities somehow meet. Or, perhaps even better, when the other person introduces me to a song, an artist, or a kind of music I didn’t know before, and I suddenly find something in it that resonates with me. Those moments of unexpected musical discovery can be really special.
Victor von Krasowski: It depends on the shoot, but I usually want the music to become part of the environment rather than sit in the background. I like what Brian Eno says about ambient music, that it should be as ignorable as it is interesting. That’s quite close to how I think about music on set. I don’t necessarily want everyone to stop and listen to it, oh no. But I want it to quietly change the room’s atmosphere, almost without us noticing.
For me, the ideal soundtrack creates a world around the subject. It can make the studio feel more intimate, more mysterious.
Michał Kawałko:
some noise to drown out the world
When I think about it, I realise the music I listen to doesn’t really connect with what I create, in terms of topic, atmosphere or general vibe. What I play depends on my mood rather than the mood of my current artwork… But it’s usually something calm, some noise to drown out the world. It rather gives my mind a chance to focus on something other than creating, as most of the creation itself happens half-consciously.
Is there a particular song, album, or artist you return to when you’re shooting?
Marco Gualdoni: Music is one of the most important and vital things in my life, something I really can’t imagine doing without. At one point, when I was around twelve or thirteen, after a few years of studying classical guitar, I actually thought about becoming a professional musician. Things eventually went in a different direction, but music has remained a constant presence in my life ever since.
I listen to a lot of classical music (particularly Baroque and Romantic, though not exclusively) and a huge amount of jazz, which is probably still the genre I listen to most. I’ve always had a particular affection for guitarists, and I think that emotional connection to the instrument has stayed with me from the years when I used to play myself. Pat Metheny, in particular, is one of my favorite musicians of all time.
There is almost always music playing during my shoots, but I usually let the model choose what they want to listen to. I really like discovering something about the personality of the person in front of me through their musical taste. And that often leads to unexpected surprises: for example, when a very young guy whom I might have assumed was a voracious pop listener turns out to be passionate about Brazilian music, or suddenly reveals an unexpectedly deep knowledge of jazz musicians from the 1960s and 1970s.
Victor von Krasowski: It changes with the season, actually. At this time of year, which is my favourite season, I love putting on Grouper during shoots. There is something about her music that feels autumnal to me. It’s soft, hazy and slightly melancholic without becoming sentimental.
But my all-time favourite is Victorialand by Cocteau Twins. It has this strange quality that reminds me of Northern European forests… Moss, cold light, something ancient, slightly unreal. Or, very often I put on Wayne Shorter’s slower, more lyrical pieces. I definitely have a soft spot for jazz.
Michał Kawałko: Not to sound posh, but it’s not music actually but the Bible Super-production audiobook! I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve listened to the Book of Ecclesiastes when sitting at the easel.
Do you think the music you play affects the images you make?
Marco Gualdoni: Yes, music definitely influences the images I make in many ways, although I don’t think that influence is necessarily direct or immediate. I don’t think that putting on Ariana Grande’s latest album rather than an old Miles Davis LP will directly determine the images I produce — although I do suspect that something may actually shift.
My emotional, psychological, and even physical response to the music I’m listening to certainly has an impact on me, and therefore probably on the way I photograph, even if that influence is very difficult to describe, let alone measure in any scientific way.
But music is certainly one of the things that help me connect with the person in front of me and get to know them in a more genuine way, and that can have a decisive influence on the final result.
And now that I think about it, I probably use music more often than I realise to create a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere in my studio, both before and during the shoot. More than one model has told me afterwards that the music they heard when they first walked into the studio helped them feel at ease and made the space feel welcoming. And that, of course, can have a very real impact on the images we end up making.
Victor von Krasowski: Absolutely. Photography isn’t just about what happens in front of the camera but also about the atmosphere you create around it. Sometimes a particular piece of music can completely change the energy of a shoot. For instance, I often open my shoots with Harold Budd‘s ambient music. I learned something from practising yoga. I observed the atmosphere of yoga studios, and I believe that when someone enters the studio, whether it’s an art studio or a wellness studio, I ask them to leave the external world with all its demands behind and enter a different world – of wonder, of dreamlike beauty. I want the person coming into the studio to feel comfortable, above all. I doubt music itself determines the image, but it can quietly shape everything that happens before the shutter is pressed.
I sometimes choose the music almost like I choose the lighting.
I sometimes choose the music almost like I choose the lighting.
Before a shoot, I already have an idea of the atmosphere I want to create, and music is one way I get everyone into that world. Sometimes I want the studio to feel like a David Lynch film, something like Blue Velvet, where there is beauty and sensuality but also something unsettling underneath it. Other times I want something closer to Ingmar Bergman, perhaps Winter Light, something quiet, austere, more introspective, where the tension comes from what isn’t being said. This beautiful tension between presence and absence… I like that.
Michał Kawałko: I wouldn’t say it has some specific impact on what or how I paint… It’s very secondary; the topic of the artwork is long decided already, the music/audiobook is just an addition. After some time, I can’t recall if I listened to anything specific while painting this or that.
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