Spending a Day at a Phish Festival for GQ
Stories and photos of my adventures at Phish Mondegreen
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A few weeks ago I spent a day with Phish at their Mondegreen festival in Delaware. Or, more accurately, ten hours of the day were spent photographing the scene, while the band gave me five minutes of shooting time. Four for rehearsal, and one minute for a group portrait. This was officially the quickest portrait shoot of my career.
Right before the rehearsal, the group manager informed me that my assistant cannot come in. I asked if flash wasn’t allowed, but that wasn’t the issue. I couldn’t figure it out, but the band just didn’t want Shane (my assistant/partner) to come into their makeshift studio. Without the off-camera flash he was holding, the shoot wasn’t going to happen, and I insisted on having him with me. In the end, they conceded. It wasn’t until later that we suspected a possible reason why he was unwelcome. Unwittingly, Shane wore a pink Paul Smith rabbit t-shirt that, while completely unrelated to the band, mimicked a pink rabbit symbol of the Phish radio station. Combined with his shoulder-length hair (as is the style of many Phish fans), he was assumed to be an avid fan.
