Gene Smirnov, who is currently based in the Philadelphia area has been photographing musicians for over 10 years. It was no surprise when he got an assignment from Converse who were in collaboration with Decibel magazine to capture the energy of a Philly stoner rock band "Ruby The Hatchet". Stoner rock is a sub genre of heavy metal which derives elements from psychedelic rock, blues, acid and doom metal. Inspired by bands like Black Sabbath and Cathedral, but takes in it's own direction with distorted guitars, heavy bass and retro sounding production. The scope of the project included casual portraits for the ad and to create a mini documentary video about the band. With a small crew he spent a day with the band capturing loose photo journalistic portraits and video scenes of band in their natural setting playing music and around the fire in the backyard setting.
Ruby The Hatchet / Decibel Magazine / Converse from Gene Smirnov on Vimeo.
