16 |
Opening Act
John
Mayer’s
All-Access
Pass
JOHN MAYER SPENT the summer tour-
ing as a guitarist in Dead and Co.
and on his own solo arena run, but
he still makes time for his side gig:
photography. Mayer has taken his
camera on the road for more than
a decade. (He prefers a Leica M10,
as seen in this portrait.) In 2007, he
wrote about his hobby for Nikon’s
website, and has said he likes to
post on photography blogs.
“There’s a certain retelling of the
truth when you see [your pho-
tos],” Mayer has said, adding that
he counts Jim Marshall and Annie
Leibovitz as his heroes. The guitarist
has compared photography to
hunting: “Lining up a shot, taking the
shot — and [instead of] hanging up
what you killed, you hang up what
you gave life to.” Plus, he said, “It
forces you to make more exciting
things happen in your life.”
Mayer is on his solo tour into
October, and he’s been taking
inspiration from the Grateful Dead.
At Madison Square Garden in July,
he debuted a cover of “Deal” and
thanked the crowd for sticking with
him through the rocky parts of his
career: “I hope... the people in your
life are as patient with you in your
coming-of-age... as you have been
with me.” PATRICK DOYLE16 | PHOTOGRAPH BYDaniel Prakopcyk