Concert Photographer Mark “Smitty” Neal has been a fixture at concerts and events in New York, Los Angeles, and elsewhere for many years, and he created a book of his life’s work Beyond The Pit : A Fans Perspective of the Live Experience during the pandemic. This week Smitty will host an event at the famed Morrison Hotel Gallery in New York City on November 17th from 6-8 PM to promote the book and its Kickstarter. The book is an incredible document of live music experiences, curated by Smitty, and a must have for fans of Metal and Punk. The book is limited edition and by supporting the project, you are supporting future work and the NIVA charity and helped keep venues in business after the downturn.
Check out our 2021 interview with Smitty:
Beyond The Pit : A Fans Perspective of the Live Experience Intro:
Beyond The Pit is a Kickstarter campaign with the goal to self publish a Limited Edition Fine Art book of my live music photography. If the goal is met and the book can be published, all contributions will be put towards production and distribution. A percentage of profits from all post-Kickstarter book sales will then go directly to the National Independent Venue Association: NIVA. This is not for self profit, but a way to give back to the music community.
My Vision:
Featuring 175 pages and over 200 photos in an edition of 100 signed and numbered, Beyond The Pit is a document telling both a visual and narrated story of a live music experience in and beyond the photo pit, featuring the raw energy of live photos from the most iconic names in metal, punk and hardcore, to the underground DIY scene from 2015 to present day 2022, along with personal stories and experiences shared by featured artist.
The idea for this project was conceived during the height of the pandemic lockdown. With nothing but time too reflect on all things positive that had happened in the past few years as a photographer, it was then I thought to myself this is the perfect time to create a photography book showcasing my work in a physical manner. A lot of these images have been featured on different media outlets online, others lost in the shuffle of social media platforms, and some have actually never even seen the light of day, they’ve just been sitting on hard drives collecting virtual dust. What is the point of shooting photos if no one else can enjoy them!
I wanted to create something that would not just be your typical photography book, but something different, something I felt was special, something that people, the fans could relate to. I want the fans to be able to feel the raw energy in my photos and at the same time be able to connect in relation with the artist through their stories. As photographers we capture a moment in time, a visual memory that tells a story which should be shared with others to enjoy. So much of that is lost these days with a simple swipe on social media. Unfortunately physical publication is becoming a thing of the past and because of that self publishing is a very costly process, this is why I need your help to create and self publish my photography book so that I, the fan, can share these memories and stories with other fans like yourself.
Helping The Community:
When I started putting together this project so many independent music venues were facing permanent closure, they were the first to shut down and the last to reopen, in fact many unfortunately had to close their doors permanently, there was an entire industry without any aid from government funding. I came across the National Independent Venue Association and saw what they were doing to help and I wanted to do my part to try and help the community that means so much to me. In 2020 it was predicted that “Venues were forecast to lose up to $8.9 billion of revenue if the rest of 2020 were to remain dark.” We all know how that went and how the industry has been impacted. With my hopes of this campaign reaching its funding goal with your help, I can not only create something special for the fans, but also do my part to help our community.