2024 08 08
Lollapalooza just wrapped up. I haven’t stepped foot in a music festival in many years. Today is my ten year anniversary with Allison (!!), who I met while we were both photographing a music festival (Pitchfork). I used to be young and somewhat cool but these days I’m more concerned about the weather and crime. The news anchor made a comment that my old brain found amusing: during the weather report, they were discussing Lollapalooza and she mentioned that if you knew any of the names of the bands, you were cool. Chappell Roan performed to what has been reported to be the largest-ever crowd at Lollapalooza. I have no idea who Chappell Roan is. My first though was to wonder if she is somehow related to my friend Matt Roan. I am old, and not cool.
This whole getting old thing isn’t so bad, though. Sure I miss out an making photos of all the cool, young people. But I also have time to sit in my office and write blogs and watch the skateboarders down below me doing cool things without breaking a wrist or getting beer spilled on me. Yes I miss getting a front row view of the best bands in the world, but I recall ten years back writing a scathing blog about how I was DONE with music photography because it had become so over-saturated and demoralizing. I went looking for that text, which I’m sure is massively embarrassing, entitled and self-important, and thankfully couldn’t find it. I did, however, find a gallery of images from my final fest assignment, the one I met my future wife at, and many of the images hold up! And yes, it does make me miss the days of concert photography, but I’m also sitting on my couch chilling while watching another buddy do what I did fifteen years ago and I see how damn time consuming it is! The endless grind for little to no money. Late nights and early morning. Getting paid in social media mentions, if at all. It’s definitely a job of passion and I used it as a spring board to get myself to another place.
While I may no longer be cool, I now have a ten-year relationship with a girl I love dearly and am about to tie the knot with. So I think it was a fair trade.
-Clayton
Watching the cool kids from my office. Slappy Curb. Chicago, Illinois. June, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Lollapalooza just wrapped up. I haven’t stepped foot in a music festival in many years. Today is my ten year anniversary with Allison (!!), who I met while we were both photographing a music festival (Pitchfork). I used to be young and somewhat cool but these days I’m more concerned about the weather and crime. The news anchor made a comment that my old brain found amusing: during the weather report, they were discussing Lollapalooza and she mentioned that if you knew any of the names of the bands, you were cool. Chappell Roan performed to what has been reported to be the largest-ever crowd at Lollapalooza. I have no idea who Chappell Roan is. My first though was to wonder if she is somehow related to my friend Matt Roan (or local sports anchor Dan Roan). I am old, and not cool.
This whole getting old thing isn’t so bad, though. Sure I miss out an making photos of all the cool, young people. But I also have time to sit in my office and write blogs and watch the skateboarders down below me doing cool things without breaking a wrist or getting beer spilled on me. Yes I miss getting a front row view of the best bands in the world, but I recall ten years back writing a scathing blog about how I was DONE with music photography because it had become so over-saturated and demoralizing. I went looking for that text, which I’m sure is massively embarrassing, entitled and self-important, and thankfully couldn’t find it. I did, however, find a gallery of images from my final fest assignment, the one I met my future wife at, and many of the images hold up! And yes, it does make me miss the days of concert photography, but I’m also sitting on my couch chilling while watching another buddy do what I did fifteen years ago and I see how damn time consuming it is! The endless grind for little to no money. Late nights and early mornings. Getting paid in social media mentions, if at all. It’s definitely a job of passion and I used it as a spring board to get myself to another place. There are days I regret this decision and wish I’d stuck it out and continued focusing on the young, the cool, and the culture instead of chasing the financially-stable path.
While I may no longer be cool, I now have a ten-year relationship with a girl I love dearly and am about to tie the knot with. So I think it was a fair trade.
-Clayton