Two-stepping and facepalming rocked an Augusta, GA hardcore show on January 8th at Granskis —and not for what it should have: the music. Instead, Charleston based photographer Kayla Boshard is now left with a broken camera and a horrible concert experience.
The vocalist for hardcore band Cross of Disbelief can be seen in video swiping Boshard’s camera out of her hands and onto the floor. You can view the video here.
Boshard shares her story with us.
"It’s hardcore. I’ve been roadhoused to the face, stage dived on, punched, kicked etc. and as a photographer and hardcore show goer of over 20 years I understand the dangers of taking my camera gear to shows… but this night was completely different. I was hired by some promoters in Augusta to take photos at the Haywire gig on Jan 8th at Grantskis records.
I shoot a lot of southeast shows because this is the scene that raised me! That night a band named Cross of Disbelief was a supporting act… they came on, I just started snapping per usual. The vocalist made a comment about there being too many photographers and not enough moshers or something like that, def chuckled because I agreed. They allowed too many media people to be there and it was a little hectic but again I was hired and asked to be there so I was just going to stay in my lane and shoot. The band starts playing, first song into the set… the vocalist approached me, so I started snapping… I shoot all the hardcore shows with an 8mm manual fisheye lens so the closer the subject the more dynamic it looks… he got so close to me and I just keep snapping thinking this is sick and he’s gonna get a badass new profile pic lol he came practically face to face with my camera and then grabbed it and shoved it to the ground. My external flash exploded… the batteries went everywhere and my lens got a huge gouge on it…. I stood there in shock for the rest of the song…. I didn’t let it defeat me tho and shot what I could for the rest of the show… sometimes it sucks being the bigger person…. The same vocalist also kicked another photographers camera out of his hand and it also broke….
Fast forward I made a FB and IG post, and then a friend made a Reddit post and it blew up… the response was more than I thought I would ever receive. Hardcore to me is all about community. It has been my safe space when I thought I didn’t have anything or anyone… and this incident really solidified that sense of community for me. So many people have reached out offering to help, to send what they could on Venmo to help me get new gear… to make sure this guy never gets booked again…to protect our scene and the people that make it all happen. As a photographer I’m honored to be able to support the scene with my images… means the world to me to be able to do so. Even tho this sucks I still love hardcore. Always will. SOUTH EAST HARDCORE FOREVER. 💕"
Since the incident, Boshard has made an Instagram and Facebook post. Her friend has also shared Boshard’s story to Reddit. Several people have offered to assist Boshard in replacing the gear that was broken. Others are in attempt to ensure that Cross Of Disbelief won’t get booked for a future show. You can find the Reddit post here
The band’s official Instagram page doubled down further by stating, “Photographers are not artists.” And “Cry Harder”.
Stay tuned for updates
