Explanation So this is a bit of a crazy one. I'm gonna be covering six pictures in this post of the Japanese artist CHAMELEON LIME WHOOPIEPIE. Since I'll be covering so many, I probably won't be super in detail with any one in particular. But who knows, this might just end up being a really long one.

Before starting with the pictures though, let's talk about CHAMELEON LIME WHOOPIEPIE and their music/performance. If you were to tell me to describe it in just one word, I would say "hype". It's a super energetic and intense performance, musically and on stage. In all honesty, the music is too broadly influenced to be easily described. Saying that it's pop or rock or R&B is too limiting. There's an unabashedly free quality to their music that it's really impossible to properly describe. To say that it's maximalist feels reductive. To say it has a basis in some form of hyperpop feels insulting given some of the depth and genuine aspects. The performance however is simpler to describe. It's high energy and hype. To me, the point of the performance is more about putting out the energy and vibe than the music to some extent. Listening now to their music, it's a bit amazing how high energy and powerful the performance was. The music can often times be relatively low energy and melancholic but the performance is anything but. Almost as if to say that with the right mentality and the right perspective, nothing matters but being here. Enjoy it.

The way I've arranged these pictures is not quite in chronological order. Instead, if you're looking at this on a bigger screen, the left side is one set of pictures and the right side another. If you're on a phone, the first set is the odd pictures, the second is the even ones with the first picture being in the first set. They're arranged this way mostly on a color basis. The second set of pictures share a similar color palette and are grouped because of it. I'll talk about that set as a group while talking about the first set as individual pictures.

One important thing to note is that I took all 6 of these pictures from the exact same spot. Part of this is logistical. It was easily the most crowded show I went to at SXSW. Even though Elysium is a pretty large venue with a large dancefloor, it was pretty packed. I ended up in the second row, right behind another photographer which affected my own shooting a fair bit. There were easily a good 20-30 photographers, which meant at this one show there were more people aiming to take pictures here than people total at some of the shows I went to. I'm not one to move around a lot during shows, but especially when it's crowded. So that's what I mean by a logistical thing. Other than that, I really liked the spot I was at. I was up front stage left with a good view of the entire stage. Honestly I'm not sure there was another vantage point I would've preferred.

For the first picture, I really just like the vibe and action. It's a pretty simple picture. She was right up to the front of the stage. To the far left that shadow is the photographer I was mentioning. Getting set and dialing the focus in was a bit tough for moments like these but I'm pretty satisfied by it. I really love the softness of the lighting and background. To note, she's wearing glasses in this picture but none of the others. Those glasses actually have screens facing outwards. I honestly have no idea what she's seeing when those are on but they light up and display graphics and are super cool.

Getting to the third picture, we're introduced to one of the "Whoopies", the rabbit mask faced proteges of the front-woman Chi-. In some ways this is a really similar picture to the first one. It also has one main focal point, in pretty much the same spot and prevalence to the first picture. It also has that soft background to it. However, in this one, the subject is also out of focus. Purposefully, mind you. I think that this picture works in that kind of spooky and slightly menacing sort of way. It's perhaps not a flattering picture but I find it a bit funny. A big part of making that spooky and menacing effect is the lighting. That really sterile blue color along with how dimly lit the subject is really sells that kind of faux horror feel. In some ways I see this picture as a still from a short video with the subject coming into focus slowly as if approaching a victim.

The fifth picture and last of the first set is just a fun moment. The opposing lines created by Chi- and the Whoopie pulling away from each other is fun, especially with the pose she's maintaining. To the far right is the other Whoopie, just out of frame. It's not quite an a/b picture as I've usually described, but it functions quite like one. The reason why I don't think it feels too empty on the right side is because of the laptop. It doesn't take up a huge amount of visual energy and allows you to focus on the two subjects to the left of the frame without making a void either. I also find the lighting really nice and helpful in orienting the eyes. The light to the left points at Chi- while the other green light and the pink one between point at the Whoopie. Unlike the other two in this set with soft backgrounds, this one is pretty sharp throughout. The reasoning here is that ultimately there's no need to separate. It should also be noted that most things in this frame are a fair bit away making any sort of background separation difficult.

Getting to the second set, these are really grouped because of their orange lighting. The first picture is a really clear example of that a/b type picture I've been talking so much about. There's a really clear separation between the guitar wielding Whoopie in front and the electronics player in the back. This is mostly done through the same kind of background separation from the first picture of the first set though not quite as dramatic. The second picture of this set continues with that a/b composition but has less separation. While not quite on the same focus plane, they're much closer together here, making any sort of separation difficult. Again, this is a picture where the laptop does a lot of heavy lifting, bridging the gap between the two subjects while not interfering and drawing too much attention. The last picture is honestly just a good endcap to all six pictures. Finally we have all 3 members together in one frame. It's fitting that we get a few single and pair pictures and end it all on a group power pose. The picture itself isn't perhaps too exciting, but I like how it fits into a structural narrative with everything else.

Earlier this year I mentioned how any one picture I take is a story I'm telling of the world while all my pictures together are my story. In that way, this set of six pictures is a story of CHAMELEON LIME WHOOPIEPIE and their performance. Each individual picture tells one story but together they stitch together a semblance of the energy and variety of the act as a whole.