Louder Than War are very sorry to announce the passing of one of our talented photographers Svenja Block. Svenja was admitted to hospital in May of this year, due to complex health conditions, and sadly she did not recover and died on 23rd May 2024. We held back on reporting too early out of respect for her family.
Svenja although German lived in London for over 20 years and was involved in live music photography from 2012, she became a well-known face on the music scene. Her live rock show photography was second to none. She captured the glamour and energy and physicality of the gigs with her photos of up-and-coming glam-punk bands like the Healthy Junkies and Barb Wire Dolls. The latter she followed from gig to gig taking photos, from which she published a photo book. Svenja’s work has been exhibited in London & Liverpool, used for promotional work on posters and artwork on album covers, and featured in Vintage Guitar Magazine, LA Weekly, and Vive Le Rock Magazine amongst others. She was an official photographer for the Camden Rocks Festival in London from 2017 to 2019.
She seemed to relish capturing the female strength and power in performers such as Amyl and the Sniffers, Lauren Tate of Hands Off Gretel and Texas Terri, as well as big full-on theatrical shows by bigger artists, such as the Rolling Stones, Depeche Mode and Alice Cooper. It’s no surprise that she was nominated for the best photographer by the UK Heavy Music Awards in 2017, as she was the consummate Rock’n’Roll Photographer. She looked as much like a Rock Star as many of the people she photographed and was a passionate and fierce woman in her own right.
Svenja also enjoyed capturing portraits of people, still life, Landscapes, Urban Life and Current Affairs and creating Fine Art Photography, which can be seen on her Instagram alongside her live photography.
Svenja relocated back to Berlin in 2020, during the pandemic to be with her dad. She continued to use her skills in photography for Louder Than War and also became a freelance artist for the ShotByWomen photo agency, where she photographed sports and political events.
We have spoken to a few people who Svenja had close relationships with or worked with over the years and they wanted to write their own tributes.
John Robb (boss of LTW) – With her fiery passion, her eye for a great shot, her emotional attachment to art and music and her understanding that image and music are merged into a complete and perfect whole it was great working with Svenja. She was a treasured part of the Louder Than War family.
Melanie Smith (LTW editor/ photographer) – Svenja and I spent a great weekend together photographing at the Rebellion punk festival back in 2013 and shared many conversations over the 10 years we were in communication. She was fun, passionate and dedicated to her art, it was a pleasure to be her friend. “Svenja, du warst eine fantastische Mitwirkende und Freundin und wir werden dich sehr vermissen.”
Tabitha Roberts (shotbywomen agency) – There are no words to express how heartbroken we are to learn about the news of Svenja’s passing. She was one of the first contributing photographers at shotbywomen who signed up ahead of the launch. I had the pleasure of meeting with her back then, albeit on a Zoom call, and very much felt her positive energy from the start. She was passionate, determined and a very talented photographer who threw herself into all areas of photography with such enthusiasm. My understanding is that she primarily loved to shoot music and fashion, so when she asked about covering the Rolling Stones concert in Berlin, which was the final show of their Sixty Tour in August 2022, there was no hesitation in assigning her. As with all the content she submitted her coverage was of the highest standard, including at the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023. I firmly believed that Svenja would become a hugely successful photographer in her lifetime and am devastated that she has been denied this opportunity by being taken so soon. Our thoughts go out to her family and friends.
Nina Courson (Healthy Junkies) – Svenja was incredible, a creative talent with a keen eye for capturing special moments both at live concerts and still shots. She was also a dear friend and I am grateful to have spent time socially with her on many occasions. We first met in 2010 when she was starting taking photos of bands. She was always bubbly and fun and I believe I still owe her a JD and coke although that was an ongoing private joke between us. Svenja did the best album cover for our Box of Chaos album and some of our best band photoshoots. She really got the spirit of every band she photographed. She was always so supportive of the band and I’ll always remember hanging out with her for the last time at our gig in Berlin in November 2022 and in the summer of 2022 when she visited me in London. A huge loss that will never be forgotten. RIP
Phil Ross – (writer and musician) – I knew Svenja for 10 years, we were housemates for a couple of them. During this time she persuaded me to write for LTW, this opened doors and experiences in my life that I’ll always be grateful to her for. She had a sharp eye for beautiful and inspiring images, which occasionally was matched with a sharp tongue, but we were close friends and I came to understand her humour and her sensitivity. Svenja’s fiery creative soul will live on in her impressive and varied body of work.
Jude Rawlins (musician and film director) – Svenja was mysterious, shy, passionate, funny, intelligent, original, polite, honest, direct, creative, reliable, and incredibly loyal. She loved music and art, and her photographer’s eye was one of the two best I ever worked with. I tried more than once to tempt her into the world of cinematography, but she preferred the magic and grace of capturing a moment in a single frame. She loved the kinetic energy of concert photography, and she was the very best at it. When you spotted her shock of blonde hair down at the front of the stage you knew you were in safe hands, that the shots from that show were going to be awesome. She not only took my very favourite on-stage photo of myself, but she took all of my favourites. When we went to the National Gallery in London she was transfixed by Caravaggio’s Supper at Emmaus because it seemed to capture a split second in time, for all time, and that was really her thing (although her still life photography is also magnificent.) I miss her deeply already. London and Berlin will not be the same without her.
Svenja has left such an amazing legacy of photographs behind and we share a small selection of these below, taken for Louder Than War. Svenja will be much missed by everyone here at Louder Than War.
We’d like to send our heartfelt condolences to her dad Wolf-Dietrich Block (pictured with Svenja)
You can find Svenjas amazing photography website here:
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