Full Metal Jackets

Since childhood I have had a deep love and fascination for heavy metal culture. After finishing college I embarked on my first longterm photo project, which brought me to Norway a number of times over a few years and resulted in the publishing of True Norwegian Black Metal in 2008.

One of the most interesting and personalized elements of visual heavy metal culture that I observed both growing up in the United States and during my time in Norway is the Battle Jacket, cut-off or Kutte. This word ironically derives from the German word for a monk’s religious habit.

Like a monk’s garb, the metal head’s jacket is a revered and highly significant personal item that comes to define the owner’s artistic and even spiritual (or lack thereof) inclinations. After several years of working on other non-heavy metal related photography projects, I recently began to delve back into this world with the goal of creating a photo book documenting heavy metal culture through photographs of this one of a kind piece of clothing. Below is a small selection of this work in progress.

Click the smaller jackets to enlarge and see further jacket credits.