Clearly I have no idea what is going on in the world of pop music because when I was asked by the Village Voice to photograph a band called One Direction I had to google them. If you are as out of touch with the Glee generation as I evidently am, One Direction is a boy band from Ireland and 13 year old girls fucking love them.  Never in my life have I ever been to a show where the audience was louder than the band.  Seriously, the constant screams from teen girls were deafening as I had to cover my ears to block out the sound. I’ve shot Mototorhead several times and never even considered wearing earplugs but if I had to shoot One Direction again I would stock up on ear protection.

I honestly don’t even know what One Direction sounded like but they seemed pretty adorable and the crowd seemed to love them. I felt a little creepy photographing tween girls but these crazy girls were the most interesting thing about the show. I just wish I had brought my flash or came earlier so I could have photographed more of the kids waiting outside. I feel like there is a fantastic photo documentary that could be made following One Direction fans. I am just probably not the guy for that job.

Anyway, the whole thing was a really weird experience which is exactly why I took the assignment. So yeah, well worth it to trek all the way up to 74th st. to the Beacon Theater for a matinee show even if it didn’t seem like it at noon on a Saturday.

Click here to see all the shots of One Direction at The Beacon Theater.

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