Corbin C doesn't think of himself as a photographer, even if Buckman Publishing just released a 170-page book of his snapshots, Choice Cuts: Disposable Camera Archives 2015-2023. "First and foremost, I'm a showgoer," he says. "I love going to shows. I love dancing at shows. I love being at the front, right up by the band."

Visitors to his web archive, corb.in, will clock aesthetic echoes of freakscene.us—a DIY show message board he co-founded with developer Nico Daunt—in its black background and blocky neon-green text. They'll also notice the artist's 13-week-old baby features prominently in recent uploads, but even new parenthood hasn't slowed his love for live sets. He says his son has "been to five or six shows already."

Pulling from nearly a decade of work, Choice Cuts captures Spoon Benders floor thrashing, rosy cheeks at Nonbinary Girlfriend, Reyna Tropical in a ski mask, and multiple nude drummers behind their kits. However, the artist's lens isn't limited to music; you'll also find indie wrestlers stunting, Raging Grannies ready to counterprotest fascists, and show house pets staying stoic amidst the chaos.

Choice Cuts' book release, on September 25 at Tomorrow Theater, boasts rapper Karma Rivera as emcee, HI8 music videos onscreen, and plenty of behind-the-photo tales. We spoke to Corbin C about his new collection, and he revealed that we'd met at a show house called Human Flesh Body World years before. It rang a bell.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

MERCURY: In your eyes, how is the house show scene in Portland doing?

CORBIN C: You know, the great thing about house shows is that there's a very low barrier to entry. You don't need to own a house. You don't have to have a fancy sound system. When I threw shows at Crush House, the musicians brought their own.

Off the top of my head, I can list a handful of active show houses right now, but the DIY community is in many other kinds of places—an empty parking lot or an abandoned warehouse. There's plenty going on; I'm always finding out about new stuff.

Courtesy of Buckman Publishing

This collection isn't just photos; there are band names, dates, and stories behind the images. How much research goes into your work?

I love going into a show totally clueless. If I see four bands on a poster with an address I've never been to before, that's gold. When I get photos back—it takes a while to get the pictures back—I create pages for new artists on my website, and I do whatever amount of research I feel like doing at the time.

[Buckman Publishing co-founder] Rich Perin, who wrote the intro, curated the book. He went through my website, chose photos, and then he would email them to me. The words that are in the book are my replies. The captions are my thoughts about what's going on in the scene.

How did you start working with disposable cameras?

I grew up using a small digital camera. Then I went on to a DSLR, which I never really loved. I'd pick up a disposable camera here and there, and use it at a party. You develop it eventually; you don't think about it again for a while. Then, back in 2014, I was going to a party, and I figured I'd drop by the pharmacy on the way and grab a disposable camera. It ended up being $15 per camera, which seemed way too expensive, so afterward, I looked at some online auctions, and the first auction that I found was something like 32 cameras for $48. I just got into the habit of putting one in my pocket as I left the house for the day, like: phone, keys, wallet, camera.

Choice Cuts captures some beautiful scenes—perfectly suspended in time—thanks to use of flash. Do people get mad at you for using flash in the pit?

I've been in situations where photographers are using the flash, and I'm like: For the love of God, stop taking pictures. The flash on a disposable camera is bright, but it's fast. So it hits quick, and then it's gone. To be honest, when I started uploading photos of shows, I was influenced by Facebook thumbnails. I would generally only take five pictures because five pictures are what Facebook would show for each upload.

And that stuck?

Yeah, I ususally take no more than five pictures of a band. I sort of feel like I'm taking pictures the whole time. but I'm just only pressing the button once.

Jeff Tuyay of Dim Wit Corbin C

The book is dedicated to Ricardo. Who's that?
That's my dad; he passed a couple of years ago. He's a big part of why I got into photography in the first place. He wasn't a professional photographer himself, but we just had cameras around the house because of his interest. It wasn't a particularly artistic household, so photography was the one medium that was always kind of around.

Do you have a favorite Portland band?

I kind of lean away from having favorites, but there's a lot of artists that I love. I mean, several will be at the book release party. Karma Rivera is going to emcee and host—I reached out to her because I love her performances, love her music, love her crowd control. There's no one in Portland who can manage a crowd better than Karma. Dim Wit is going to perform too and James from Nonbinary Girlfriend. If people haven't seen their solo performance, it's really, really wonderful stuff.

Choice Cuts Book Launch: An Evening Celebrating Portland DIY is at Tomorrow Theater, 3530 SE Division, Thurs Sept 25, 7 pm, $25, ticket includes a copy of the book, more info, all ages.