A professional art photographer documents the contemporary underground music scene: the case of Arnis Balčus
The lecture examines the relationship between Latvian photographer Arnis Balčus and Rīga’s new-generation underground music scene. Emerging around 2019 and centred on punk and DIY culture, the scene reached its peak in 2022–2023. In early 2024, Balčus published “Scēna”, a 240-page A4 photobook containing around 200 colour photographs.
Belonging to a different generation from most members of the scene, Balčus became involved in its activities beyond his role as a photographer. He helped promote the scene within the wider art world and public sphere and organised events inviting bands and individuals to present music, poetry readings, art, DIY crafts and performances.
The lecture reflects on the symbiosis between a professional photographer and a young underground scene: how it could have emerged, what it gave to or took away from both sides, and whether there were two clearly separate sides at all. Balčus enters the scene as an outsider: he has never been a musician, punk is not among his favourite genres, he belongs to a different generation, and his social and cultural capital differs significantly from that of most participants. At the same time, he has been associated with alternative and underground culture since his youth and, like many teenagers in the new scene, comes from an urban middle-class background. Rīga provides another shared point of reference. Finally, the lecture considers how unique or typical Balčus’ approach to documenting a music scene is within the context of Latvian art history and cultural heritage.