Max Barskih – Save Ukraine #StopWar (Benefiz Konzert)
Concert photography at the Save Ukraine benefit concert in the Kurhaus Wiesbaden. Born on 8 March 1990 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, he began his musical career…
Max Barskih, born Mykola Bortnyk, is a well-known Ukrainian singer, songwriter and producer. Born on 8 March 1990 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, he began his musical career at a young age and quickly gained recognition in the Ukrainian music scene.
The “Save Ukraine #StopWar (benefit concert)” is a moving event created by Max Barskih to support Ukraine at a difficult time. Faced with the current geopolitical challenges and conflicts, Max Barskih decided to use his musical platform to draw attention to his country's urgent needs. The benefit concert, held in one of the most renowned venues, brought together artists, musicians and supporters from around the world to raise money for humanitarian aid and support for Ukraine.
The photography took place at the Kurhaus in Wiesbaden, and the two frames that carry this evening do not face the same way. One is taken from behind the singer: he stands with his arms spread against the backlight of a single follow spot, confetti falling, and in front of him the whole hall with thousands of phone lights. The other stands in the audience — a young woman in an embroidered blouse holding up a Ukrainian flag, blue light around her, raised hands, more flags.
At a benefit concert the audience is not the backdrop, it is the occasion. People came because they wanted to support something, and that attitude is only visible when the camera turns round. A concert report that shows nothing but the stage tells you about a performance; only the hall tells you about a collection.
The from-behind frame works for the same reason. The artist stays a silhouette and the picture belongs to the lights behind him. It is the only perspective in which stage and audience come together in one rectangle without either crowding the other out.
Technically it is the hardest frame of the evening. The follow spot points straight into the lens and everything in front of it is dark. The exposure goes on the lights in the hall — the singer's silhouette is allowed to stay black, because its shape is what carries the picture.
And the national colors are not corrected. The blue of the hall light and the yellow of the flags are not a white-balance error, they are the reason the concert was played at all.
- Location
- Kurhaus Wiesbaden
