We are AKA* interview with musician-turned-photographer George Love

Why did you become a photographer?

In a way, I stumbled upon it. I was about to play at a music festival in France, and at the time I felt a bit disillusioned with the drums in a creative sense. My brother was doing photography as a hobby, and I was really liking what he was creating with his camera. The idea of being in control of the whole creative process greatly appealed to me. As a drummer, you’re always dependent on someone else, whether that’s one person or a whole group of them. With photography, it felt like I could have the first and last say.

So I bought a cheap camera for my trip and started taking photos of everything – the beautiful French buildings, my band members, random things on the street. I fell in love with it from that moment and haven’t looked back since.

Which photographers inspire you?

I must admit, my photography education and inspiration is unlike that of my music. I’m a formally trained musician, but I’m a self-taught photographer; it all came through social media – Youtube and Instagram mostly. As I’ve learned more, I’ve started looking to outside sources for inspiration, and currently my favourite photographers are Daniel Arnold, Sasha Samsonova, Jack Bridgland, Jamie Noise, Elizaveta Porodina and Cameron Hammond.

You have a very defined aesthetic: there’s an almost vintage look to a lot of your shoots. How did you develop that?

Yes, definitely! I think a lot of that comes from growing up in the 90s, listening to rock music and that whole culture. I grew up during the world’s transition to digital, and while I love the freedom and convenience it brings, there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to lose the lack of perfection that existed before it. I enjoy when things are a bit off, a bit not perfect. I grew up listening to bands like Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Motley Crue, and everything in between, and a lot of it has that same struggle sonically. It’s not perfect, it moves. I like to try and bring that into my images.

You shoot in a lot of amazing places. How do you decide on locations?

To be fully honest, I’m terrible at preparing locations, outfits, and anything else. I think if I were to equate my photography to music, I would say I take more of a jazz school approach, rather than classical. Jazz gives you a basic framework, but within it, the musicians are free and encouraged to improvise. I find a lot of my photography to be the same. I’ve shot everywhere from studios to random street corners. If there’s something in a room or on a street that pulls me visually, I’ll want to create an image there. The beauty of modern technology is that things such as lighting and equipment are much more portable and so shooting in random locations is much easier than before.