Trailerpark Festival 2013

Artrebels and Trailerpark logo - by Charlene Winfred

Artrebels and Trailerpark logo – by Charlene Winfred

Words and pictures by Flemming Bo Jensen and Charlene Winfred | originally posted in the Trailerpark blog and Artrebels blog, 9 August 2013

Trailerpark 2013 by Charlene Winfred and Flemming Bo Jensen

Trailerpark Festival 2013 was rich in every way an art and music celebration should be: visually, aurally, and atmospherically. For a photographer, this provoked the pleasurable dilemma: do I shoot, or do I put the camera down to lose myself in the music?

Even beyond that, watching technicians running amok with performers backstage, awash in cables, microphones and lighting gear, making a swathe of last minute adjustments and checks before the stage lights dimmed for the MC to announce another act, the question we often asked ourselves was: how do I reconcile the human ordinariness of what happens backstage with what happens on stage – the lights and sea of sound and the adulation that made men and women temporary gods, creating a world made tangible only by the fervent will of the audience?

Small stages meant that there was almost no separation between audience and performer. The intimacy did nothing to diminish the power that the music had over the crowd; if anything, it delivered a connection between the performers and their audiences that would not otherwise have existed.

“It was the first time I couldn’t hear myself singing” said Rangleklods frontman Esben Anderson of the crowd singing along to Clouds at a volume that overwhelmed their monitors, thanking them for what would have been a tremendous experience for any performer.

Getting to see for ourselves, how an artist prepares for the spotlight, was invaluable insight into what it takes to be a star: MØ finding a quiet moment in the folds of the very curtain that separated her from the masses that would scream louder and louder for her as her performance wore on. Nikolaj Vonsild of When Saints Go Machine stretching his vocals to his headphones as the band set their lighting and equipment up, escaping into the zone with the efficiency of an established performer about to deliver his fans a mesmerizing hour of gratification. Hans Philip of Ukendt Kunstner owning the very air around him from the moment he hit the backstage, exuding the incredible power and energy that never flagged for a second during the pair’s first proper concert act, which was a wild success by any measure: “who are these guys?” people on the floor were heard asking in awe, over and over again.

While the separation between what happens on stage, and the rest of life is a common experience among all who do their work in the spotlight, getting to be a part of each individual story, makes the festival experience so much richer than just three days of musical goodness. It allows an outsider a rare glimpse into what is at stake, for those to whom performance is as much a part of the creation of art, as the art itself.

Phantom. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Phantom. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Phantom. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Phantom. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Festival crowd. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Festival crowd. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Rangleklods. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Rangleklods. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Rangleklods. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Rangleklods. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Rangleklods. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Rangleklods. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Rangleklods. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Rangleklods. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Rangleklods. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Rangleklods. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Rangleklods crowd. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Rangleklods crowd. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

MØ having a quiet moment backstage, pre-show. Photo: Charlene Winfred

MØ having a quiet moment backstage, pre-show. Photo: Charlene Winfred

MØ. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

MØ. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

MØ. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

MØ. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

MØ. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

MØ. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

MØ. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

MØ. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Rebel Stage. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Rebel Stage. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Hans Philip of Ukendt Kunstner. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Hans Philip of Ukendt Kunstner. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Festival Attendees. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Festival Attendees. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Ukendt Kunstner. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Ukendt Kunstner. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Ukendt Kunstner. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Ukendt Kunstner. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Ukendt Kunstner. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Ukendt Kunstner. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Ukendt Kunstner. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Ukendt Kunstner. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Audience at Ukendt Kunstner. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Audience at Ukendt Kunstner. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Ukendt Kunstner. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Ukendt Kunstner. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Ukendt Kunstner, post show. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Ukendt Kunstner, post show. Photo: Charlene Winfred

When Saints Go Machine pre show prep. Photo: Charlene Winfred

When Saints Go Machine pre show prep. Photo: Charlene Winfred

When Saints Go Machine pre show backstage. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

When Saints Go Machine pre show backstage. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

When Saints Go Machine. Photo: Charlene Winfred

When Saints Go Machine. Photo: Charlene Winfred

When Saints Go Machine. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

When Saints Go Machine. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

When Saints Go Machine. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

When Saints Go Machine. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

When Saints Go Machine. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

When Saints Go Machine. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Festival crowd. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Festival crowd. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Turboweekend. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Turboweekend. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Rumpistol. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Rumpistol. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Rumpistol. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Rumpistol. Photo: Flemming Bo Jensen

Festival End. Photo: Charlene Winfred

Festival End. Photo: Charlene Winfred


Thank you so much to Scott Cooper from ArtRebels.com for giving us free hands and access to create this essay and all the wonderful crew and volunteers and artists at Trailerpark Festival 2013.

2 Comments on “Trailerpark Festival 2013”

  1. Great set from both you and Ms Charlene. I try some of this myself with friends who perform in local bands at small clubs, and have some appreciation for the challenges involved.

    There’s a slightly different vibe between the two of you, but the whole is uniformly wonderful. My favorite shot, however, is Charlene’s finale with the folks sitting on the window ledges, round window, and moon. I think the photographer decompresses like the on stage performers from being on the edge, so maybe you’re still high, but sitting now, not jumping out there, and the cool of natural light slowly seeps back into reality. Anyhow, I enjoyed these a lot; hope you both had a blast.

    1. Thanks Greg, very happy you enjoyed these so much. We work very well as a team, Charlene shoots an awesome street-photography-style artist portraits and crowd shots and I tend to hog the stage (where everyone can see me!) in diva-like fashion and capture the artists on stage.

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