BLAG is proud to present online exhibition, 'Beastie Boys Live'

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The story of the images from photographer, Sarah J. Edwards:

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"It was a fresh December in 2004 when we travelled by Eurostar to Brussels to meet our great friends, Beastie Boys. This was a special trip because despite our friendship closing in on a decade, we’d never worked together in a photographer / journalist meets band capacity. We were on our way to create a brand new BLAG cover story.

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Boarding the train, Sally and I carried rolls of bright paper to makeshift into a backdrop, squeezed between our knees we hurtled under the Channel.

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Upon arrival, Bill, the band’s production manager kindly organised for me to use two Mac 500 lights. These are stage lights to light artists and I hadn’t calculated the sheer brightness.

Money Mark went to catering, who gave us several rolls of foil to reflect the light. We used gaffer tape to hang the backdrop and local phone books to weigh them down.

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The DIY lengths we all went to were not short of impressive.

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The interview and shoot were hilarious, you can see the results for yourselves here

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The live shots were taken with another round of finessed strategy. The band were wearing different outfits for different parts of the show and had organised for me to spend a very short amount of time in the pit - and in-front of 14,000 extremely excited fans to capture these different looks.

This time I was balanced on a high, yet bendy plastic box with Cey Adams to my left and a production team member to my right making sure I didn’t fall, in order to capture pictures at the right height.

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Adam, Adam and Mike had planned to hold the pose for this photo just a little longer so I could get enough photo options, the crowd went wild, Mike D couldn’t hold in his laughter, I managed to stay still.

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Yauch wanted one of these pictures for the Awesome I Shot That DVD sleeve and poster, which was an honour. Here’s a never-seen-before alternative.

Buy the Beastie Boys Photographs

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Photographer: Sarah J. Edwards

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ABOUT BLAG

Sally and Sarah created BLAG while at art college, using Saturday job wages. They grew it to become an international glossy, picking up and comers for covers and features ahead of the curve. They produced in-depth, down-to-earth editorial content leaning into humour and kindness, unveiling an empathetical view point not often seen. Over the years, the duo have produced and created hundreds of original shoots and interviews. Often undertaking multiple roles including: location, styling, photography and

interviewing, as well as collaborating with some of the world’s leading cinematographers, hair, make up and styling talents. They have directed promo for brands including Mercedes Benz, Nike and Essie and made short documentaries on ground-breaking artists including José Parlá and Futura 2000.

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Original content created by Sally and Sarah includes BLAG covers featuring: André 3000, Beastie Boys, Cillian Murphy, OutKast, James McAvoy, N*E*R*D, Julian Casablancas, Slash, Les Twins and Joey Bada$$. Features included: Daft Punk, The Raconteurs, Amy Winehouse, Justice, MGMT, Phoenix, Andrew Garfield, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Helen McCrory and Janelle Monáe. Guest contributors to BLAG include: Chuck D, Questlove, Mike D, John Legend and Mark Ronson.

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“The twins racked up an impressive list of cover stars.” - Complex
“While BLAG’s feature stars command the spotlight...the sisters’ personalities drive its vision.” - Metro