Conservative Rapper Topher takes the stage at the We the Free Fest. Photo by Portrait Photographer Bryan Wark of Silent portraits. — Topher takes the stage at We the Free Fest, Taken by Bryan Wark

I've been a photographer for a long time, and I've had the chance to shoot some pretty interesting things—from weddings to sports games to concerts. But I don't think anything has ever been as exciting as my recent trip to Illinois.

A couple of weeks ago, I got the privilege of heading to Illinois with a photography friend of mine to photograph the We the Free Fest. The headliners are good friends of mine: Topher, TMR (the Marine Rapper) and D.cure collectively known as Space Force.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with them before, and the portrait work we did together made headlines! It even landed me a plaque from the National Billboard 200 charts as a contributing artist when their song, which used my photography for the cover, went number 5 for Hip Hop several weeks running. So it's fair to say that when I got the call asking me to photograph some of their shows - as they are starting up their tours…I was all over it!

My new Murano vs my old Versa Note (replacing cars mid roadtrips is fun)

The Trip In Photos

The trip was off to a rocky start when my car decided it didn't want to do what a car is supposed to do. The transmission decided it was going to go on an adventure and try to ruin everyones day quicker than Leeroy Jenkins leading a raid.

So I had limited options and several photo shoots were cancelled including getting formal portraits of Space Force. The way I saw it, I had three options. The first solution would be to call the trip a bust and miss the concert entirely, unless I could find someone to come pick us up. However, that certainly wasn't going to happen as we were 12 hours away from New York without stops.

Option two would be to put 8k worth of work into my car by taking it in for repairs, which I already hated.

The third option was to go all in Get Rich or Die Tryin’ style and drop down a suitcase full of cash at the dealer, demand they give me a car, and make it to the concert on time!

I mean, obviously I chose to 50cent it because c'mon you only live once and I wanted to be able to say that I did. But since cars need to be registered, it took six hours at the dealer before I could drive off the lot. 50cent would not have been impressed.

Rapper D.Cure aka Andrewraps takes the stage at the We the Free fest. Photograph by portrait photographer Bryan Wark — D.Cure Lays out some verses at the We the Free Fest, Photo by Bryan Wark

The We The Free Festival

I knew I wanted to write about this story for the next issue of “the Adventures of Camera Head.” I just needed to find a way to include it.

So Jen and I grabbed our press passes, cameras, and headed out to the venue. It was time to get down to business.

Now, whenever you're photographing an event like this, you never really know what to expect. From far right to left, and up and down, North, East, South and West—everybody stands with their own beliefs. And when it comes time for me to photograph such an event? Well, let's just say there's a lot of pushback from people who don't quite understand why I choose to capture such a wide variety of artists who sit everywhere on the spectrum.

But in reality? I love it! The We the Free fest is a prime example of why I love it: You get surrounded by passionate people surrounded by their ideologies, and then get a chance to listen first-hand how they feel about things—who they are, what they're doing there, when they got involved… and then finally: Why did they become involved?

I think this kind of thing is so important because it allows you to put yourself in someone else's shoes —and that's what makes it so powerful. It's easy to get caught up in your own bubble and forget that there are other people out there who have different perspectives than yours, but when you're able to interact with them on a personal level, it gets easier to understand where they're coming from.

USMC veteran The Marine Rapper aka TMR at the we the free fest, photographed by portrait photographer Bryan Wark — The Marine Rapper Ripping up the stage, Photo by Bryan Wark

Totally Worth It!

I was so excited to get out there and see the guys perform, and I was not disappointed. From the speakers to the talent, it was an amazing time. I'm so glad I was able to spend some time with them, catching up and getting shots of them performing.

Even though formal portraits didn't happen, we got some amazing shots of everyone performing. It's been awhile since I photographed the recording of Space Force: Retreat Album which made quite a splash on itunes sales—and it was great to hear part of the album live. Plus, I got to hear them perform "Lets Go Brandon" for the first time since it earned me a Billboard plaque! That's really cool in itself—a lot of artists never really know if they've made it or not, but I get this really cool privilege of hanging with multi-hit Billboard artists performing live on stage, songs that I got to photograph the cover art for. And getting to know them as people makes it even more special—it's nothing short of eye opening!

I've been lucky to have a lot of opportunities in my life, and I'm grateful for every last one of them. We the Free Fest was definitely a highlight of my life. It was such an honor to be invited out, and I'm glad it came with an adventure to add to the long list of life events I'll get to share with my children.

It's not just because of the music and food—although they were both great—but because of how much this festival reminded me of what it means to be human.

I don't know if you've ever been surrounded by thousands of people who came together for one purpose: freedom. But it's something special.

We are all different, but we are also all connected by a common desire for freedom—for peace and love and happiness—and that's what makes us human.