Panic! At The Disco, August 2006.

One from the archive… I took this photograph of Panic! At The Disco way back in 2006 when the band played Leeds Festival.  At that time I wasn’t working for any publications and therefore couldn’t gain press and photo access to the event but as I was crew, volunteering for a company, I managed to sneak in my film SLR.

Panic! At The Disco were doing a signing in the NME tent and I caught them afterwards for a very quick chat and took this photo.  Pushed for time and given permission by the goodwill of their tour manager, I only took one shot so was very relieved to find it was free of technical mishaps.  A couple of months later I sent the photo to Adam at Fueled By Ramen who put it up on their Myspace, where it remained right up until the departure of Ryan Ross and Jon Walker in 2009.  It’s crazy how well known the photograph became amongst fans of the band as it’s the antithesis of their meticulously styled press shots and taken in seconds in a field, rather than hours in a studio.  A catalyst for my documentary-style portraits, this image holds a great personal significance and will remain one of my favourites.