Iam Tongi at the San Diego County Fair

This project started with a simple ask from a friend. Corrick reached out to see if I could photograph Iam Tongi’s performance at the San Diego County Fair, and that invitation gave me access to a night that felt both big and intimate at the same time.

Photographing live music is always about timing, but this performance needed more than clean stage shots. I wanted the photos to hold the feeling of the band supporting Iam, the crowd responding to him, and the quiet moments between the bigger musical peaks. Each musician brought something different to the stage: George Russell III grounding the arrangements on keys, Uncle Tau adding vocal depth and warmth, Corrick Watson carrying melodic texture on guitar, Erik Mendez locking in the low end on bass, and Josue Pierre Raymond driving the set from the drums.

The challenge was to stay alert without getting in the way. Stage light moves fast. Expressions disappear in a second. A singer looks away, a guitarist leans into a phrase, the drummer catches a cymbal hit, the keys player locks into a groove, and then the moment is gone. My job was to anticipate those pieces and make images that felt alive without over-polishing them.

What stood out most was the feeling of family around the performance. Iam Tongi’s music connects because it feels sincere. It does not feel manufactured. The band mirrored that same energy. They were not just playing behind him; they were carrying the songs with him. For Blas Creative, this is the kind of project that matters: documenting culture, friendship, music, and memory in a way that feels honest to the people who were there.