The 6th Floor Blog: Who Has the Most Exclusive Backstage Pass?

This past weekend's article about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs features portraits by Robert Maxwell. But for a more candid look at the band, we asked the guitarist Nick Zinner to send us some of his most recent pictures of the group's performances and travels. Zinner's photography has been exhibited in art galleries and collected in four monographs. I asked him a few questions about his work.

Do you always take photos while you're on tour with the band?

Yeah, I studied photography in college, so it's something that I've always done. I've been taking photos of these guys for 13 years now. Being on tour, there are so many moments packed into one day that when I get home, everything is a big blur. So I'm just documenting everything for my own memory and sanity, and having proof of all these crazy moments is an added bonus.

What are your favorite things to photograph when you're on the road?

There are three ongoing projects. The first is obviously Karen O and Brian Chase, who are my perennial subjects.

Do they like being photographed by you?

They've gotten used to it, and they trust me. It can be annoying having me buzzing over their shoulder, but I think they've grown to respect what I'm doing and actually in some cases cherish having these images.

And what's your second ongoing project?

No. 2 is I take a photo of every crowd that we play to. There was a book I put out around 2004 that was like 40 percent crowd photos. By now I have hundreds and hundreds of them, so for my next project I want to do just all crowd photos.

Is it a habit at this point?

It's documentation, and it's also contact with the crowd in a slightly different measure. I'm still somewhat shy, so it's my way of saying hi and giving appreciation to everybody there. The crowds like it when I take their picture. My favorite crowd photos are the ones where they don't see me and they're just lost in the music. That's really hard to do. Sometimes I have to get sneaky with it. Then the third ongoing project that I do is I take pictures of every hotel bed that I've ever slept in — actually every bed or sometimes a couch or floor. This is probably a 15-year project by now. I have hundreds, maybe thousands.

Where were the photos you gave us taken?

They're from a recent week-and-a-half trip where we did some rehearsals in L.A., then played at SXSW, then an insane festival in Mexico City called Viva Latino that had 50,000 people in the audience and then a show in Guadalajara.

What's going on in the photo where Karen's getting into a car — are those people mobbing her?

Yeah, that was leaving the Guadalajara show.

Do you guys always get mobbed after shows?

No! Mexico is actually the only place that we've been to where we have to hire security. Our fans in Mexico are incredibly passionate.