MUMBAI: India’s first ever Music Concert Photography Exhibition by music journalist Verus Ferreira, opened on Saturday evening 16th November 2024, at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Bandra Reclamation, Bandra (West). The music concert exhibition was inaugurated by jazz legend Louiz Banks.

For some, photography is a hobby, to others it’s a profession. Some love the technology side of photography, some shooting for weddings, documenting for newspapers, while a music lover loves taking pictures to capture their artists on camera for posterity. Ferreira is the latter.

Welcoming the gathering of friends, family and well wishers, compere Kamakshi Fernandes stated that Verus Ferreira had painstakingly done a lot of hard work over the years to bring to a close what we see here today.

Speaking further, she stated that unlike wildlife, portrait, fashion, adventure, architecture, nature, sports and food, among many kinds of photography, music photography has never ever been given its due importance, despite the fact that there are so many Indian as well as International artists visiting India and performing in the country in the last 10 – 15 years.

In a short tete a tete with Ferreira, she questioned on how the project came about and what went into seeing the light of day. “My project touches a topic that concerns music, connected physically and emotionally. My pictures tell a story to which people can relate to and identify with the subject. People can view the images and recall the day they went for a concert or if they missed it out. Besides, it also demonstrates how to capture an artists’ personality through photography”,

On display are photos of artists like The Vengaboys, Steve Vai, Michael Learns to Rock, Joss Stone, Slash of Guns N’ Roses, among many others, to Indian acts like Anoushka Shankar, Colonial Cousins, Deepa Nair, Usha Uthup, Louiz Banks, Zakir Hussain, Lucky Ali, Rahul Sharma, among many others.

Louiz Banks was very pleased to see the work done by Verus Ferreira. He remarked, "It is great to see how you have managed to capture so many amazing artists in action. Great photographs. I really love your work. I have never seen anything like this before. Keep it up and continue with what you are doing".

The Music Concert Photography is a unique exhibition featuring 64 photographs of music concerts over a period of 11 years from 2013 to 2024, and was a dream project of Ferreira’s, stemming from his work as a music journalist over the last 32 years.

“The purpose of having this exhibition is that I have photos that I believe can be exhibited. I would also like to magically bring out the fun of a concert, the power of music, see artists doing what they love best, seen through the eye of the photographer” avers Ferreira, a senior music journalist, who began writing soon after completing college, with the popular youth magazine The Teenager, (now defunct) The Teenager Today.

Months before the Music Concert Photography Exhibition could happen, Ferreira’s was music concert photos, were published in Smart Photography (March 2024) where 8 pages were dedicated for the very first time to Music Concert Photography in their SHOWCASE section. The Sunday Free Press Journal newspaper (dated 17th March 2024) also supported him with a half page Photo display.

The joy of the photographer, says Ferreira, is to treasure the moment, being there, at the right time and at the right moment, to get that perfect shot. “Getting your pictures printed and hung on a wall, lets your images be seen for a longer period, than flipping through your images on an electronic device with ‘next’. It allows people to spend more quality, focused time with them. But, most importantly, it shows that your work deserves to be seen and appreciated”.

Ferreira’s concert photos have graced newspapers and magazines over the years, like Mid Day, Afternoon DC, G Magazine (Chitralekha), Business India, Yuva, AV Max, Ngage (TOI), The Teenager Today magazine and many other publications, including a few online portals.

“In an era when photographic art is widely consumed digitally by viewers who spend only seconds with it, exhibiting exposes your work to a more deliberate and appreciative audience.  My work deserves to be seen and appreciated in person. A lot of professional or experienced photographers say that the photographic process is not complete until you print your work. I have to agree” says Ferreira who is also the Founder of music portal www.musicunplugged.in

Verus Ferreira who is also author of 2 books, The Great Music Quiz Book and The Great Rock Music Quiz Book, thanked everyone who helped realize this idea, especially Rajendra Sharma of Ambit Developers and Realtors for their support and for organizing this exhibition. He also expressed a word of gratitude to Sharad of Ambit Developers and Realtors, Ivan and Sandra Fernandes who put all this together. He also expressed his thanks to long time friend and fellow photographer Nirav Mehta.

“After the opening of the exhibition, the exhition will be on until Friday 22nd November 2024. I am proud to hang my concert pictures in one of the most prestigious gallery in Mumbai and one dedicated to promoting the art. I am also very excited to talk about my love for concert photography which is not taken very seriously. I look forward to meeting you all and talking about music and music photography. Don’t forget to leave your comments in the visitors book”, said the Mumbai resident, who has also used a few of music images in his music books, one of which boasts Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash on the cover.

In addition to the unique photographs on display, the evening also saw a few musicians take the stage for an impromptu sing along session. The evening ended with light refreshments.

Photography Exhibition by: Verus Ferreira

Venue: Bombay Exhibition Centre, Bandra Reclamation, Opp Hotel Rang Sharda, Bandra, (West), Mumbai.

Exhibition Dates: 16th November 2024 to 22nd November 2024

Time: 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m