Christaan Felber Shoots the Searingly Soulful Voice Behind Alabama Shakes

Part two of an assignment for The New York Times Magazine shooting the members of the soulful rock band Alabama Shakes proved fairly breezy for Christaan Felber, who had just spent time in Athens, Georgia, shooting the band backstage and performing live. A month later, Felber had the band in a New York City studio for a sparser, more personal session. 

Photo © Christaan Felber

“Although the band is undoubtedly very popular, they’re still a relatively new band that has not been around the block quite as many times,” Felber says. Nevertheless, he kept things quick and painless, placing the band’s lead singer, Brittany Howard, next to “a massive wall of Northlight windows” to capitalize on natural light. He snapped frames of Howard singing and playing with her guitar for an up-close look at her on-stage energy.

“As a photographer and even as a human being, it’s important to have as many experiences as possible because each one opens a potential door to conversation about a shared event or topic,” Felber says. “In this case, I’m a pretty big music nerd and used to play in a bunch of different bands, so I can have relatively competent conversations about music, instruments, etc., which really helps to establish trust and respect.”
 

THE SHOT
Camera: Mamiya RZ67 Professional II  
Lens: 110mm   EXPOSURE: 1/125 sec  
ISO: Kodak Portra ISO 400 film

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