Image: Cross Of Disbelief Live [@thetruth_is_outchere]
For professional photographer Kayla Boshard, January 8 in Augusta, USA was supposed to be a routine assignment at a hardcore show. However, during the set of the support band Cross Of Disbelief, the night took a completely unexpected turn. The band are currently on tour with Missing Link, Haywire and Nasty, while Boshard had been hired directly by the promoter to photograph the show.
During the very first song, the singer of Cross Of Disbelief approached the photographer and ultimately smashed her camera to the ground, causing significant damage. The camera of a second photographer was also reportedly knocked to the floor the same evening. Kayla Boshard has since spoken out on Reddit and social media, receiving widespread support from the community.
Cross Of Disbelief, on the other hand, responded to comments such as:
"Yall need to pay for the CAMERAS you grabbed and threw to the floor. What happened to supporting local artists?"
…with replies like, “Photographers are not artists.”
An article by Ultraviolet Magazine reports the full story from Kayla Boshard.
Regarding the damage to her camera, she says:
“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…”
Despite this, she makes it very clear how much she appreciates the community for their support:
"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.”
“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.”
You can see a screenshot of her story here:
