Wes Davis is a Sacramento-area music photographer, videographer and musician who has documented and participated in the local music scene across multiple roles, associated with Beatnik Studios.[1][2] He co-founded the local music-video project Live in the City of Trees and later became a founding member of the indie-folk band Güero.[1][3]
His full name is Wesley Owen Davis; he was born in late October 1980 in Reno, Nevada.[4] His father introduced him to photography during family road trips, handing him a Pentax K-1000 camera — an experience Davis credits as the start of his lifelong commitment to the medium.[4] He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Photography from Sacramento State University.[5][6]
At a glance
- Photographer affiliated with Beatnik Studios in Sacramento.[1]
- Co-founder, with Devon Carsen, of the local music-video project Live in the City of Trees (active by 2011).[1]
- Featured photographer in the SN&R Sacramento music-scene photography retrospective "Eye-Fi" at Bows and Arrows (Jan. 2012).[2]
- Founding member of indie-folk band Güero, alongside Rik Krull; plays banjo and charango.[3]
- Connected to the local band ZuhG, whose Submerge cover he shot.[1]
Role in the scene
Photography
Davis is described by Submerge as a "talented photographer" associated with Beatnik Studios in Sacramento.[1] He shot the local band ZuhG for their Submerge cover, photographing them at a "secret spot in Old Sac."[1] In January 2012, his work was included among the featured photographers in "Eye-Fi: A Retrospective of SN&R Sacramento Music Scene Photography," an art show at Bows and Arrows (1815 19th Street); other photographers in the show included Amy Scott, Shoka, Jesse Vasquez, Nick Miller, Carlos Amaya, Don Button, Jon Hermison, Sean Stout and Steven Chea.[2]
Beyond the local music press, Davis also shoots for Comstock's Magazine, a Sacramento regional business publication, and Sacramento News & Review.[6][5] His editorial subjects for Comstock's include prominent regional figures such as Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper and Congresswoman Doris Matsui.[6] He spent approximately 12 years directing an art gallery and managing a mixed-use photography studio — a role tied to his work at Beatnik Studios — and is based in Northern California.[6]
Skateboarding photography and "Step Free" exhibit
Davis is an active skateboarder who has photographed skateboarding as a long-running passion project.[5] His first public exhibition of that work was "Step Free," a show at Beatnik Studios that ran January 14–25, 2012, co-presented with painter Jayme Goodwin.[5] According to the Beatnik Studios announcement, the show marked the first time Davis had publicly exhibited his skateboarding photography.
Live in the City of Trees (video project)
Davis co-founded Live in the City of Trees, a local music-video project, with his friend Devon Carsen; it was newly underway when Submerge covered it in May 2011.[1] The project paired with local and regional musicians, filming "stripped down" live performances in unique-sounding and visually distinctive locations in and around Sacramento, with the stated aim of being "a window into the music scene in Sacramento and the surrounding area" and avoiding an overproduced or commercial look.[1] Early subjects included Be Brave Bold Robot (shot at a secret spot in Old Sac), Exquisite Corps (in the century-old, reputedly haunted Maydestone Building at 15th and J streets), and Justin Farren (in a graffiti-covered building on Q Street); further videos with Blvd Park, Musical Charis, James Cavern, ZuhG and San Francisco's Fierce Creatures were in progress.[1] Videos were posted to the project's Vimeo page, with a website planned at the time.[1]
Musician — Güero
By the early 2010s, Davis had become a musician himself as a founding member of the Sacramento indie-folk band Güero.[3] Submerge credits Davis with giving frontman Rik Krull the encouragement to perform publicly, stating the band "wouldn't exist" without that push; the two were friends and roommates who began by playing open mics around the city.[3] In its original form the band was just Davis and Krull, an acoustic-and-banjo duo, before expanding into a five-piece.[3] Davis plays banjo and charango in the group.[3] As of the band's self-titled debut album release (celebrated Oct. 13, 2018, at Old Ironsides), the lineup was Krull, Davis, Mike Ruiz (drums), Russell Volksen (bass) and Shea Ritchie (keyboard).[3]
Local status
Davis is consistently presented as a Sacramento-scene insider: Submerge calls him "our good friend and talented photographer Wes Davis (of Beatnik Studios)" and describes his work as documenting "the music scene in Sacramento and the surrounding area."[1] His band Güero is identified as a "local indie-folk band."[3] These cues place him squarely within the Greater Sacramento region.