#13 - business in the front, party in the back

August 17, 2012 6:00 AM

Nikolaij Lund is a cellist and a photographer who takes whimsical portraits of classical musicians.

[flash site, but the photos are worth it.] [via]

posted by quin (13 comments total)

Those can't be real musicians. Any musician I've ever known protects their instruments at all costs, even to the extent of sacrificing their own well-being. Heaving a cello or playing one in the water? WTF?
posted by LN at 6:07 AM on August 17, 2012

I'd guess that's a prop cello.

Nice photos.
posted by brokkr at 6:19 AM on August 17, 2012

I'd guess that's a prop cello.

Nice photos.

Ditto.

and Ditto.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 6:22 AM on August 17, 2012

My immediate thought was also, "What, what are you doing with your instrument? Nooo!" So, probably props. Has to be, right?
posted by dellsolace at 6:22 AM on August 17, 2012

I would like some assurance that this accordion player is okay.

They're beautiful shots. When I worked on a performing arts center's program book, I got so bored of using the same publicity photos season after season. These are so much more fun. His Flickr set generally identifies the musicians.
posted by gladly at 6:26 AM on August 17, 2012

Oh god the contemplative tuba player (#25) just kills me for some reason. And again at #57. It seems like a very tuba-ish thing to do, to go into the woods and pose dramatically.

This one is just beautiful.
posted by specialagentwebb at 6:39 AM on August 17, 2012

gladly: "I would like some assurance that this accordion player is okay."

He's still just lying there.
posted by brokkr at 6:43 AM on August 17, 2012

Oh the one of the cellist falling into the water with his instrument is straight out of my worst anxiety dreams. Gorgeous, though.
posted by coppermoss at 7:04 AM on August 17, 2012

The ones which don't show the subjects' faces (two of the standup bass trio and one percussionist) are really interesting. They are all beautiful.
posted by snorkmaiden at 8:29 AM on August 17, 2012

These photos remind me of a gig I did once at Sannibel Island. We had a 4 hour break between the rehearsal and the concert, and were free to explore the island during this time. Inevitably, most of us ended up at the beach.

As is a habit of classical musicians, most of us were already dressed in our tuxes/black gowns (we tend to be lazy about bringing a change of clothing, especially if we're not sure we're going to get a proper dressing room or even a decent bathroom). I had hiked up my trousers and was wading in the shallows, looking for shells. Others were just milling about on the shoreline.

I'm sure it looked like we were getting ready for a photo shoot like these. It certainly felt that way.
posted by Wossname at 8:30 AM on August 17, 2012

I would imagine that many of these are also composites, to further eradicate any possibility of instruments coming into contact with water, etc.
posted by catch as catch can at 9:04 AM on August 17, 2012

Yeah, having now looked through the entire gallery most of these images seem to be composites.
posted by catch as catch can at 9:07 AM on August 17, 2012

This is fantastic. I love the one where the musicians are standing calmly and their shadows are jumping (obviously also a composite).
posted by immlass at 1:01 PM on August 17, 2012