About a year ago, photographer Kerry Tasker began clearing out some of his old hard drives and began rediscovering decades of pictures, some of which had not been seen in a long time, he said.
“It was printed once in a newspaper or magazine or whatever, and then it was gone, so I thought it would be really fun to bring some of this stuff back,” Tasker said.
Tasker’s exhibition, “Three in the Pit,” is a culmination of photos highlighting Alaska’s music scene over the last 20 years, and is on display at Akela Space for the month of October. The exhibition name, “Three in the Pit,” is a reference to photographers taking shots of the first three songs that a musical act typically performs.
“It depends on what type of event it’s been, but I’ve been seeing the same people for 20 years, definitely,” he said.
Tasker began taking photos at shows in the early 2000s, eventually teaming up with local promoters and DJs in 2007 to feature their own events.
“I think Anchorage — and this sort of applies to most of Alaska — you can’t expect a fun thing to happen, you have to make it happen,” Tasker said. “I think a lot of that energy is represented here, different festivals and events, and the promoters and the bands, it wouldn’t happen at all without them.”
After working for the Anchorage Press and other media outlets in town to cover live music, his portfolio began to grow — from Portugal. The Man and Medium Build to Wu Tang Clan, Imagine Dragons and Steve Aoki, Tasker’s collection showcases Alaska’s most popular music artists as well as larger acts who have performed in Anchorage over the years.
“Me and my friends would go to raves, which don’t exist anymore … I had an old film camera and I would bring a tripod, and I would set it up in the middle of the rave, and I would take long exposures of the glow sticks and lights and everything,” he said.
Now a father of three, Tasker says he doesn’t get out to cover events nearly as much.
“This was a little swan song to what I used to do,” he said.
All framed prints from “Three in the Pit” are available for purchase. There is an end-of-show party for the exhibition at Akela Space on Oct. 25.
Sam Davenport is a writer residing in Anchorage. She's a leo and a plant-person, and loves spending quality time with her dog, Aspen. She is a Real Housewives fan and has been called a Bravo historian.
