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For the past decade, downtown-New York indie dance music innovation could be summed up in three letters: LCD. The brainchild of frontman James Murphy, LCD Soundsystem grew from a solo project into one of the most highly regarded live bands in contemporary music.
In 2011, at the height of their career, LCD Soundsystem decided to end the band.
From 2004 to the day they quit, photographer Ruvan Wijesooriya navigated through both private and public moments with the influential, Grammy-nominated, NYC indie band. Ruvan was a fan, first and foremost, and quickly became a fly on the wall and instigator who brought new meaning to the term, “I’m with the band.” His access and friendship with LCD is something rare in the commercialized and controlled music industry of today, and this close relationship can be seen in the rapport between photographer and subject. The locations include Hyde Park in London, various New York institutions, Coachella, Rick Rubin’s recording mansion in the Hollywood Hills, Way Out West festival in Sweden, Miami Art Basel and more. In addition, the scope of the book goes beyond just photography and features various album art and original interviews with members of the band and showcases an exciting design by James Timmins, art director of Dossier magazine. A handful of these photographs were featured in the recent LCD film, Shut Up And Play The Hits, and others have appeared in Rolling Stone, Spin, The New York Times Magazine, and The New Yorker, but the vast majority have never been shown before, making this the ultimate must-have for every fan to remember the band.
“All of Ruvan’s pictures remind me of that feeling: that you’re geographically fucked, and its all happening right now, somewhere else, without you. There’s an enormous amount of intimacy in them, and promise, and intrusion…” -James Murphy, LCD bandleader
Ruvan Wijesooriya is a photographer based in New York City. After starting a skateboard company, working for fashion stylists, and becoming a freelance music journalist before the age of 25, Ruvan picked up analog photography as a means of storytelling. Ruvan is known internationally for his interactive exhibitions and bridging the gap between art and commerce for a clientele ranging from architects like Renzo Piano to fashion brands like Burberry and tech giants such as Samsung. Ruvan’s work was prominently featured in the book and exhibition, Meet Me In The Bathroom. The access and candidness of his photography place the viewer inside of and behind the scenes. Ruvan’s work has been published in dozens of magazines including The New Yorker, New York Times, and Vogue. Since Covid-19, Ruvan has been documenting the various NYC protest groups similarly to how he documented the bands and clubs of NYC’s early 2000’s.
