Capturing the nightlife scene is nothing too novel. Making it look natural and raw? Well, that’s a different story. If anyone has mastered this art it would be Frank Weyrauther, aka Phrank, who has been capturing the ever-thriving Ibiza scene since 1999.
The art of capturing the essence of the dancefloor should garner a gold medal. Few can do it like Phrank (Cobrasnake, who cut his teeth by posting candid photos of the world’s “coolest kids” and Hollywood stars online, comes to mind). While Instagram and TikTok allow just about anybody to take photos and post them online, the art of using a true camera and capturing a sweaty-dancefloor-moment-in-time from the point of view of a clubgoer is something of a lost art.
But Phrank is keeping it alive. If you go to his Instagram profile, you’ll see he highlights what he calls “Ibiza flashbacks since 1999,” cementing the fact that Ibiza has been an extraordinary, world-class partying destination for over two decades.
Originally working as a graphic designer for record labels in Germany, it was when Phrank came to Ibiza in 1998 as a true electronic music lover that he saw his life and career blossom. After smuggling his camera into his pants in order to bring his camera into clubs and take some never-before-seen photos, he got a call from Holland Playboy with a photo request of “sexy girls dancing in the club.” From there, he started taking exclusive Ibiza club content for DJ Mag, Mixmag, and other publications around the world to capture the the coveted Ibiza partying scene at the tail end of the millennia. Shortly after, he even became a partner and creative director of an Ibiza scene magazine, Dub.
Today, Phrank works five nights a week at basically every club on the white island. With every subgenre of EDM dedicated to a specific night each week during the summer season, every night looks completely different.
“I’ve been to a lot of parties over the years,” Phrank tells Uproxx. “Jamie Jones residencies full of beautiful dancers, Amnesia’s famous opening and closing parties, tINI & the Gang’s colorful and women-centered parties…I adapt to each one. Every show might get a different shooting style, whether it be in candid style, black and white, or only behind-the-scenes. I say I’m an “embedded photographer” where I’m there to close the clubs. I’ve been embedded in the scene for 25 years at this point.”
To commemorate over two decades of capturing the rise of Ibiza’s as the globe’s most famous party island, Phrank curated nearly 50 photos that capture his passion for the moments and people that make up his life’s work.
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