Today we dip into the life of internationally renown visual artist and photographer, John Charles (REBELLION AND TRUTH), with a little Q&A about life and a recent behind the scenes exclusive photo shoot with horror based industrial metal band Dawn of Ashes! Initially let’s talk a bit about Dawn Of Ashes and their soon to drop music video for the song “EMDR,” recently released as part of DoA’s fifteenth and most ambitious album to date “Scars of the Broken” on March 18, 2022. Singer and frontman Kristof Bathory pushes the horror themed envelope even further than before with this completely brutal and visually stunning masterpiece. With the strongest and most appealing Dawn of Ashes line-up to date, Angel Nightmare (guitar & keyboards), Bahemoth (keyboards), Grey Soto (guitar), Krock (drums) and Krz Souls (drums) compliment Bathory’s vision brilliantly. Of course a great music video wouldn’t be complete without a professional makeup artist, Jennifer Corona, and a few very talented actresses, Michelle Nicole, Carissa White and Oksana A on deck. This broodingly grim music video directed by Chris Truman and edited by Vincente Cordero will be one of the best of 2022. With some details of the day established, we can begin our Q&A with visual artist and photographer John Charles…
AF: What was it like returning to the music industry? As a visual artist and photographer, was it hard to be stuck at home during the Covid-19 shutdown?
JC: Honestly, aside from all the obvious negatives associated with a global pandemic, I enjoyed the time off. It allowed me to catch up on some of the back catalog images I’ve collected over the years. I even dug into some of my old 35mm negatives. Yeah, I’m “35mm film” old. Until 2020, I feared revisiting those photos was a project I might never get around to. As far as returning, it’s amazing! I thought I’d ease back into this industry slowly, but I’ve really hit the ground running and enjoyed every minute of it. So, yes… I sincerely loved the time off and I sincerely love being back!
AF: Where and when did this Dawn of Ashes photo shoot and music video take place?
JC: Technically this was not one of my photo shoots (although we squeezed in a couple group shots in the cuts of their day). I was simply given access to capture behind-the-scenes moments while they were filming their “EMDR” music video. The shoot took place on March 6th, 2022 in an undisclosed studio in the San Fernando Valley. I think it was something like 10a to 10p, which is a bit of an early and long day for most artists and musicians, but it’s a labor of love and everyone was excited to be there. I was basically on location from start to finish because I know being there for a smaller window can end up shortchanging some of the individual band members or possibly missing something integral.
AF: What was your approach to this particular shoot? I’m sure there was a lot going on!
JC: My respectful approach was to simply stay out of their way. Everyone there had a job to do, including me and on this type of shoot, part of my job is to stay out of everyone else’s way. Therein lies the challenge for me! Being a fine art photographer, rather than a photo journalist, my goal is to create fine art. Of course, I captured an assortment of behind-the-scenes photos and was not shy to include the director, DP, PAs and all their gear in frame as they were filming. Everyone wants to see those behind-the-scenes moments captured between takes, especially those where the band is just laughing and hanging out. I got all those shots and I’m happy to say that they look great… but all of that is just the job, so to speak. However, my end goal every time I’m behind my lens is to, as I said, create nothing short of fine art photography. In essence, everything I shoot must be of high enough calibre to publish under my REBELLION AND TRUTH brand. So, to answer your question, that is always my primary personal approach to every shoot. What that means is finding my own vision within the given vision of the director, the band members, or whoever else is behind the subject matter (in this case, the music video). On the “EMDR” set, I had absolutely zero control and was working with lighting specifically set up for the filming of a music video. The lighting did not cater to still photography at all, which can be very challenging. As they were setting up and well into the beginning of their filming, I was trying to get my head around where I could take this artistically, finding that balance between REBELLION AND TRUTH and what works within the band’s image. The majority of their filming was done under flashing strobes, but in those milliseconds between absolute darkness and fully blown out frames, I saw a partial lighting that worked for me. It was those milliseconds which I chose to embrace. That’s where I lived all day, in the moments between the almost binary zeros and ones of strobe lighting. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a challenge, but that’s where I found what I was looking for. It tested all my skills and experiences with camera settings and timing, all the while finding clean subject framing and focus on people who were playing to a different line of sight (the music video cameras). So, what did I actually see in those milliseconds that would make this worth the effort? I saw something that reminded me in a very unlikely way of the old masters, painters like Rembrandt and Caravaggio. I captured something that was almost invisible to the naked eye on set and pushed it in the direction of the old masters in my post production. I hope I haven’t built the photos up too much in everyone’s mind. [laughing] I’m assuming an assortment of my photos will accompany this article, so I’d love to hear people’s opinions about how closely I reached my end goal vision. I also haven’t seen the completed music video yet, so I am curious how my vision compares to that of their final product.
AF: What was it like working with Dawn Of Ashes? They are quite a unique group!
JC: I don’t wan’t to interfere with any mystique they have going, but based on the day I spent with them, it was ideal. They were pros, perfectly fine, pretty badass looking and there was no drama. A couple of the band members were vegan, which I can totally get behind, because almost all my artist proceeds go directly to animal rights charities. I think my favorite moment that day was when one of them randomly started singing the “Bruno” song from Encanto and the rest of them joined in. Apologies in advance to the guys for sharing that memory, but hey... it was perfectly endearing and that’s the moment y’all won me over!
AF: Did you get any “blood” spatter on yourself or your camera?
JC: [laughing] I love the fact that “did you get any blood splatter on your camera” is a perfectly valid question for the industry we work in! Let’s just say I appreciated my assortment of zoom lenses that day.
AF: Do you currently have anything on exhibit or plans for a new one in the future?
JC: Wow. I appreciate you asking that. Just to be clear to the readers, this was honestly not a prompted question, but yes. Among other shows on the horizon, I have one particular art show coming up that is very relevant to this topic. I am part of a group exhibit this month and the piece I am including is actually the first photo from my Dawn of Ashes shoot to be shown anywhere. Even the band and their publicity team haven’t seen them yet. The piece will be premiered to everyone at the opening reception on April 9, 2022 at the Hive Gallery in downtown Los Angeles. If this article is published after that date, you will still have full opportunity to attend the exhibit anytime before its conclusion on May 1, 2022.
AF: How does it feel to have your work known internationally and to know that your art has helped many charitable causes and people to date?
JC: For me, that’s what this is all about. Wait, let me clarify. [laughing] I don’t mean it’s all about being “known internationally.” I mean it’s all about charitable causes. Like I said, all my personal proceeds go directly toward animal rights. Beyond animal rights, I have donated time, art and other means of support to many other worthwhile charities as well. It’s easy to feel helpless in this world, but I promise you that every small effort we make counts! So on that note, thank you to everyone who has made an effort to improve someone else’s life. …and thank you, Andrew for helping me help my charities (via this article).
AF: Thanks again for taking the time out of your busy day to answer a few questions for me and being my first article and interview for the upcoming (May) first issue of The Las Vegas Distraction Entertainment and Lifestyle magazine. John Charles, it’s been a pleasure and I look forward to the next time we talk. You can find more about John Charles’ body of work at his website: rebellionandtruth.com.
Reprinted with permission from: Las Vegas Distraction - Entertainment & Lifestyle Magazine
Written by: Andrew Fairchild (IG: @afairchild702, FB: @andrew.fairchild.7)
photos: John Charles / REBELLION AND TRUTH