FORCED RETIREMENT FROM MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY….

My main personal project while I restructure the studio & move into a different client base, will be continuing to periodically write ‘The Feedback Loop Theory’ (which was a short preface within my photography retrospective Super Sharp Shooter). This will be my second book, and is the whole complete theory in long form. It will carry on my music related work via writing only, after my forced retirement from music photography.

 This is due to events previously published on the Sarah Ginn XX Sub Focus page of this site, which finely details evidence of my IPEC civil claim of IP theft against Sub Focus’s manager Sebastian Weingartshofer (director of Worship Artists) & photographer Sam Neill (also under Worship Artists & Kode Media). Unfortunately there have been a number of serious & unlawful retaliation/intimidation incidents from the defendants. This included implementing a complete dance music industry blacklisting/smear campaign since March 2023, attempts to remove me from events in person via smear campaigns to security teams, civil legal threats of defamation & harassment (never filed) & attempting to hack into my social media/sending multiple external 3rd parties to bully me online. Finally, excessive reports were made to The Metropolitan Police accusing me of harassment over a period of 1.5 years.

This resulted in me being held in custody over their allegations in October 2024 (6 months into their reporting), where I received no charges. However, this police reporting was attempted for over a year after the investigation was concluded & still continues to this day. It occurred while my XX webpage was still viewable & also for publishing any of my personal & factual experiences of the dispute (like I’m doing here), all in a concerted effort to take it offline. These attempts weren’t successful in silencing me & no further action had been taken. I’m very thankful about this & feel protected by the authorities. The issue with this incident, is that people won’t hire you (or get too nervous to do so because it might negatively affect them), if the managers and/or agents of the biggest acts in the industry are accusing you long term of harassment (even when it’s not true). Which is why character assassination is so effective, and often used against informers.

Excessive & false police reporting of this type, in a ongoing campaign to criminally charge me after a formal investigation (along with the other incidents I’ve experienced), exactly matches the government definition of harassment/coercive control. Another reason for the ongoing police reporting (apart from attempting to hide the evidence), is that Sebastian/Sam didn’t get the investigation outcome they originally wanted. Which was to have me criminally charged to fit in with their fabricated version of events, so they just kept trying. In addition, their attempts to weaponise the authorities to halt a civil case, is ultimately a serious crime (& falls under Perverting the Course of Justice). Therefore, my own counterclaim reporting was logged on the record with The Metropolitan Police. Currently this dispute is now aimed to be primarily resolved via an IPEC civil court, & logging this counterclaim should hopefully halt the vexatious reporting. At this present time, contents of the Sarah Ginn XX Sub Focus page has been locked as per civil procedures until the case concludes (after being publicly viewable for over 2.5 years).

This followed (& amplified) a chronic lack of bookings/enquires in music for over 6 years, which was caused by an over saturated market & purposeful gender biased gatekeeping/bullying (from my largely male photographer peers & hirers). Minority creators often experience discrimination in the freelance world, and this is an inherent structural issue. This affects female DJs too (and some genres are better than others). But it is substantially worse in the more technical ‘background’ jobs such as photography/sound engineering/light engineering etc. In my case, this glass ceiling has stopped me working almost entirely since 2021. It was mainly implemented due to the quality of my work which caused insecurity among other photographers. They then all professionally (& personally) excluded me via ‘top down’ sabotage. It’s a highly competitive market anyway for both genders, so if your peers can’t surpass you via their own photographic skill, they will often resort to underhand tactics instead. Adding to this 80% of the time I’m only booked/recommended by women, meaning only approx 20% of the work was available to me in the first place. This bias hasn’t really been known to many people in the music industry, who believe photographers are hired only by talent and assumed I wasn’t short of work. But the reality was, I wasn’t getting any opportunities at all. Unfortunately, this silent prejudice that stops minority creators working (while ignoring their professional experience/skill), still exists strongly within this sector. But it is something I hope will change in the future.

I’ve not been able to overcome these challenges, and consistent marketing didn’t gain any bookings. Ultimately, I deserve to feel safe, respected, given equal career opportunities & paid in line with my experience & talents. I shouldn’t have my civil freedoms threatened & have my career destroyed for legally protecting my original concepts. Or experience extreme & unwarranted discrimination/bias that has now fully halted all my music photography. Subsequently, due to the negative actions levied against me, I’ve currently lost all my passion for it. These were dangerous & acutely frightening situations, that have naturally caused anxiety/depression around shooting music. So until this case is settled in my favour financially & public accountability is achieved (where I’m also helped above the aforementioned glass ceiling), I am unable to return to the music industry. However if that does not occur, I’ve fully accepted that this part of my visual creative journey is now over.

Unfortunately my own experience isn’t an uncommon one in this cutthroat field, specifically with ‘middlemen’ & the aforementioned competitors. Music is a well known ‘dirty business’ and particularly treacherous for all creatives to navigate. The industry is historically also a place that’s highly controlling & unscrupulous for even its biggest artists. Frustratingly Sub Focus (always known as a forward thinking artist) has been requesting to resolve this matter amicably, but is routinely ignored. The chronic refusal to settle this dispute at his continued request, shows that Sebastian is consistently breaching his managerial contract for over 3 years now. Therefore demonstrating an authoritarian/conservatorship type of arrangement, that requires thorough independent (& criminal) investigation.

Financially abusive & corrupt management is very prevalent in the music industry. In recent years both Eric Prydz and Calvin Harris have suffered huge monetary loses from management theft, which were well documented in dance music media. This has been going on since the inception of the business, as it was originally formed as a money laundering/racketeering operation for the mafia. So little has really changed in the decades since, and it’s still extremely unregulated. So it’s a surprisingly easy pitfall for many artists, & financial exploitation/intimidation was present in managers like Lester Melrose in the 1940’s (Blues Artists), Colonel Tom Parker in the 1950’s (Elvis Presley) and Don Arden in the 1960’s (The Small Faces/Black Sabbath/ELO). Sharon Osbourne was in fact Arden’s daughter and when she married Ozzy, sparked a 20 year family feud. Because she then gained full control of his solo career management from her father, and subsequently straightened out Ozzy’s finances. This carries on all the way up to Britney Spears conservatorship in the 2010’s via her family, orchestrated in tandem with her TriStar management. That case sparked the ‘free Britney’ movement from her own fan base to finally dissolve it, and prompted a long overdue change in the law. Due to my own situation, and knowing there are other victims of this team out in the music industry (which I discovered in hindsight), I strongly believe Worship Artists operate in exactly the same manner as these famous examples.

https://djmag.com/news/eric-prydz-accuses-former-business-manager-of-stealing-over-269000

However, despite my position now, I really did dodge a bullet. Teams of this kind that show this type of ideology, are obviously not who I align with for potential (& long term) creative partnership, and it’s best to completely avoid at all costs. In this case even if I’d been hired, it would have been a highly risky endeavour personally and financially. Shown distinctly by the abuse/manipulation aimed at me by Sebastian & Sam, over the last 3 years. Sadly, this manipulative behaviour has actively been utilised against Worships artist roster. With all the artists either blindly accepting management reasoning for their damaging business practices, or being totally ignored if they question it or disagree. So until all the artists chose to leave, they won’t be able to fully gain clarity on how much they’re all being exploited. Unless that occurs, these DJs/Producers are unfortunately just as hazardous to engage with as their management. This is due to still being under contract with Worship Artists. They just haven’t ’woken up’ yet and seen for themselves, the predatory nature of this business arrangement. Evidence of this will be strategically hidden from them, or brushed over as an issue with the whistleblower, rather than management themselves (via DARVO tactics).

Ultimately there are no winners here, and this has been a very complex set of circumstances to explain fully. But as I’ve fully detailed before, this isn’t an unusual occurrence within the entertainment sector. Unfortunately for me I was just unlucky & lost everything due to pitching to a management team that exhibited, in my opinion, criminal behaviour. And they did all they could to quash evidence of that via ruining me. Unfortunately a very common consequence for whistleblowers, and this was especially acute when I also called out not only IP theft, but suspected embezzlement (due to the huge sums involved). However, this kind of wisdom has now resulted in hardened due diligence on my part. Being able to spot toxic group dynamics within business (now and in the future), is especially important when it comes to the ethos & future of the XX projects. As they are designed purely via a utopian perspective for the greater good. Only clients (from any industry) that conduct themselves in a principled & inclusive way, would be deemed suitable for this work. Anything other than that is a complete waste of my talent and time. It’s an experimental commitment, that requires strong ethics, mutual trust and true equality to implement successfully. So this useful lesson via a harsh learning curve, really isn’t the worst outcome in the end.

So, shifting my attention away entirely from this topic is now highly beneficial. Attempting to battle issues I cannot rectify, also continually puts my attention on the problem. It then acts as a pendulum thought form (strengthening the predicament & stealing my energy). BUT…I must be an excellent photographer to get this much kickback, which is something for everyone to think about. The healthiest (& happiest) option for me now, is to make no further efforts to participate in this system, one that has currently done everything in its power to victimise me, for being different, for being talented, expecting equality & protecting my art.

‘Everything you fight has power over you, and everything you accept, loses it’s ability to cause you unnecessary suffering’ 

THE FUTURE…THE REBUILD

To counteract this situation, my visual work will be trying out various experimental photographic processes instead, as a side project to standard 9-5 employment. Creating new art that fits alongside my writing & expanding out my skillset is the most exciting way forward. It also uses my time effectively, to form unique pitches to aim at other more equal industries in the future. Becoming a more versatile & proficient photographer in my own time, also stops any pressure on radical experimentation. Its time for me to have some fun with my work. The plus side of these issues, has been a huge jump in my photography ideas. I also started academic writing back in early 2022, having never written anything of this nature before. So I will concentrate on refining & exploring both those areas further.