Kirk Hammett - Metallica

4th February 1989 – Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas

Artwork Title: Kirk Hammett – Metallica – Houston 1989

There is a completely different energy to this photograph from the more explosive frames I captured from the same show.

Kirk is almost lost inside his performance, gazing out into the void and completely absorbed in his playing while the light picks out his long, curly locks and the shape of his guitar.

Kirk had joined Metallica in 1983, replacing Dave Mustaine, having previously co-founded the Bay Area thrash band Exodus. He was only 20 when he got the call to join Metallica, flying to New York and finding himself playing alongside Lars, James and Cliff within weeks.

This was six years later, on the Damaged Justice tour, just a few months after the release of ...And Justice for All.

Metallica were becoming an arena band, but photographs like this still have the feeling of a much smaller room: no posing, no looking for the camera, just Kirk concentrating on what he's playing.

I particularly like the way the guitar seems to emerge from the darkness along with him.

For all the noise and spectacle around Metallica, this is really a photograph of a musician completely disappearing into what he's doing.

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