I first connected with Georgina Cook last year while writing a feature for RA about Dubstep Forum. Most of the threads I trawled had no images, so Cook's insider photo album The Dubstep Years became a visual counterpart, bringing the stories and fond memories to life. Like Dubstep Forum, Cook's work and presence in the early dubstep scene was an integral part of its evolution.

Starting out by photographing a friend's punk band aged 16, Cook was soon working for the South London Press newspaper, where she was once tasked with shooting Grooverider at the Black Sheep Bar in Croydon. Meeting SGT Pokes that night, and shortly after Mala and Loefah, Cook found herself at the centre of a new, local and DIY-spirited movement.

Cook shot a vital era of UK music culture, becoming one of its most important, behind-the-scenes players. She captured the atmosphere of seminal dubstep nights like FWD>>, DMZ and Skull Disco, sharing the albums online when she got home and printing her Drumz Of The South newsletters on the newspaper's office photocopier. She took many of dubstep's iconic photographs, exhibiting her work at "Who Wants A Rewind?", an immersive retrospective at London's prestigious Tate Modern gallery. During the exhibition, sets by Digital Mystikz, Youngsta and Crazy D played on a soundsystem brought in for the occasion.

Her career diverged from the dubstep scene in the early 2010s, taking her into a variety of other photographic and artistic practices. Her website and Flickr account showcase a street-level look into dance music culture, as well as her many portraits, cityscapes and gardens. At the moment, she is working on her excellent Vision Of Sound podcast series, which explores the connections between music, art and creativity through interviews with the likes of Jeremy Deller and Emma Warren.

For this new feature series, Cook discussed five photos that have defined her career and told the stories behind them.

Kode9 & The Spaceape.

Of all the portraits you have taken, why did you choose to share this one?

It just makes me laugh really. Kode9 went through a little phase of having pictures taken with things on his head. There's another photograph out there by somebody else, of Kode9 sitting at a bus stop with a paper bag on his head. It was nice to add to that weird little sub-sub-sub genre of photography. He was messing around with the idea of anonymity.

I think I'm right in saying that there is also, somewhere in the history of photography, other portraits of people with boxes on their heads. There's a good chance he got the idea from somewhere else.

Was this photo taken for their album Memories Of The Future?

Back then I did a lot of unofficial photography. We were just hanging out as part of the same community. I don't remember why these pictures were taken but it possibly was around the time of Memories Of The Future. It's an awesome album, I love it. It was also around the time of peak "who is Burial?" There are some pictures from the same shoot with a box that says "I am not Burial" on it.

It was quite funny because Kode9 mentioned to me on the phone about boxes, so I went to Tesco and got them. I turned up to his place with boxes and a pen. I remember him saying to me, "Oh my god! This is really professional!"

They wrote words on all sides of the boxes. The Spaceape had one which said "hello stranger." One said "fuck off," one said "rocks and stones, bullets against bone," which is a Spaceape lyric. They just had fun with the concept of... boxes.

I guess it's a good time to ask about Burial. How did his anonymity play out in the shoots you did together?

I don't think it was that big a deal to anyone except The Sun. It wasn't a big deal to anyone in our community anyway. He wasn't anonymous to most of us, he was around.

In terms of photography, I didn't just take pictures of him that were shadowy. There are also pictures of his face. He chose the shadowy, anonymous ones. The puddle thing, I probably would have done even if he wasn't anonymous. We just came across it when we were out taking pictures for his artwork.

Most of the time I don't plan shots, but just walk around with the artist and find things. I like working with environments that people are already in. It worked well with that press shot because it's watery and layered, much like Untrue. In the original image, his figure is actually upside down.

Do you have to like the music for it to work?

I'm not sure about that. I'd be interested to know whether somebody who looks at my pictures objectively could tell which ones are artists whose music I have a connection with.

I've seen you are also taking photos of gardens. Is that something you have a connection with or is it a job?

Absolutely, I would consider myself a gardener as well. It's quite a recent thing, maybe the last five years. I have an allotment and I've worked as a gardener before. More to explore gardening in general than to support me financially. I mainly take pictures of my own gardens. It's like a playground, full of plants, bugs, trees and things that I'm constantly in awe of. It allows my brain to rove.

Under the Sea. DMZ @ 3rd Base, Brixton. November 2005.

Why did you choose this photo of DMZ?

I called this one "Under The Sea" because Kode9 used those words to describe DMZ. He said it's like being on the seabed, because of the darkness, the blue light and the sub-bass. It did feel like that. He's very good at describing sonic environments.

This one is kind of abstract and the lights give it some movement. You wouldn't necessarily know what it is. It's my attempt at capturing the vibes of DMZ visually. It brings me back there when I look at it.

Do you have memories of that particular night?

That was November 2005, so it would have been the fourth DMZ. It's all a bit of a blur but it was a brilliant time and a brilliant era for music. DMZ was a real event. We all looked forward to it and talked about it for two months until the next one. You would get there bang on 11 PM and stay until the end.

Were you partying as well as working there?

Yes! I used to put my camera behind the DJ booth and boogie. When you're taking pictures at a rave, you’re experiencing it through your camera. On one hand, it's like a key, it gives you access to something. On the other hand, it's a barrier. It helped me to access a lot of places and gave me a role in the community. But it also meant that I wouldn't always experience the music in the same way as others who were totally in it. When I had my camera, I was framing what I was experiencing and thinking about it. So, I always made a point of putting it down and just enjoying the music. It's hard to switch off though, because you're also thinking about missing shots.

I'm looking at pictures of that night now. I only have pictures of Mala and Loefah's set and Skream. That's a good indication that I was having too much fun.

I imagine you might be wary of taking photos of people's faces depending on the event. How did you find DMZ in this respect?

Well, at DMZ, I knew so many people who were there. A lot of them would look forward to my pictures coming online, so I'd often go home afterwards and upload them straight to Flickr. People would expect it, it was a nice thing.

But it was really dark, so that made it difficult. I didn't like to use my flash too much because it can jolt people and kill their vibe. It was a forgiving environment, though, and they forgave me when I had to flash up the room.

Did you like to get right in among the crowd?

I definitely got in there. That shot we're talking about is right in the middle of the room. There's some from the same night of Plastician throwing some funny moves right into the camera.

There weren't mosh pits then like there are now. There was a lot of head nodding. People joke about it. You had people wiling out as well but not to the point they were knocking people, and DMZ was usually not so packed that you couldn't move.

BBK meets DMZ, FWD>>, 2006.

This one is legendary.

This was Skream's "Midnight Request Line" getting dropped at FWD>>, in front of Boy Better Know. That's Jammer on the left, JME, Wiley. Skepta was there as well. You can see Skream in the back left looking a little bit nervous, or excited, biting his nails.

There were a lot of FWD>> nights that were mostly dubstep, and a lot that were mostly grime, and occasionally the two came together. Especially if Plastician played. He played everything. He is such an amazing DJ and we owe him a lot.

This was a night where Digital Mystikz were playing, and Wiley was DJing, too. Mala dropped "Midnight Request Line," which had only just been released as a dubplate. It was a game changer.

Looks like everyone is chilling pretty hard to the side of the booth.

Yeah but there was also a core of people, the most energetic, who would dance regardless of what anyone else was doing. Right in the bottom left corner, that's a guy called Chris—Engine Room was his forum name. He'd be at every FWD>> and would be going crazy. Shackleton was one of the craziest, funniest dancers too. It was pitch black so you could really let go. I miss that so much.

How deep into grime were you compared to dubstep?

I wasn't that deep into it and I regret that because I really like grime now. It just took longer for me to appreciate it as much. Plastician and Kode9 were playing stuff like "Functions On The Low" and I'd love it but I wasn't pursuing it afterwards. I guess I was busy enough keeping up with dubstep, but that's a lousy excuse!

Also, I'm from South London, so I was more entrenched in dubstep there. A lot of us lived around the same hill in South Norwood. I lived at the top, Loefah lived at the bottom, Mala lived down and around a few corners, Chef was up a bit and around another corner.

How much did you feel that this scene was a male-dominated environment?

Personally, I've always been comfortable being around a lot of guys and I can't recall having any real negative experience on the dance floor. But, it was really nice when more women got involved. Most of the friends from that time who have really sustained have been the women. It's an interesting one. Also, the night which this photo is from, FWD>>, was run by a woman, Sarah Lockhart.

When I looked back through Dubstep Forum for an article, the amount of sexism and racism was shocking.

Man, I cannot get my head around it when people who like dubstep, or claim to like dubstep, are racist. How can you not join the dots between the origin of this music and the fact that it's essentially rooted in music and sounds from places like Jamaica?

Green Room, Transmusicale du Rennes festival, France, 2010.

What's the story here?

It's a picture of pure hedonism. That lady just looks so in it at that moment. It was at Transmusicales Festival in Rennes, North France, while I was living in Paris for two years. It was in a space called the Green Room and Manaré was playing.

I've experimented with trying to get rid of the hand in the background, but it doesn't really work. Maybe I could have shifted myself slightly down and got the hand behind her arm. I might have lost something else. You can't mess around in a moment like that, you have to just get it there and then. I love that there's another hand coming in from the left, trying to get what I presume is a spliff.

How did the UK smoking ban in 2007 affect you?

I didn't come home stinking of tobacco, which was nice, and a hazard of the job was removed, but you could smell other people more. That was something to get used to. The flow of the nights changed, too. Before the smoking ban, you would have a full dance floor right from the beginning until it was just "the stamina gang," in Pokes's words. Then, after the ban, half the crowd would be outside smoking. It brought this whole other experience. You realised you can go outside and have some really great conversations which inside was too loud for. We lost something and gained something.

DJ Storm @ Sherelle Invites, Boiler Room, Electric Brixton, 2019.

The videos from this night, of Sherelle in particular, are iconic.

This night was so good. One of the best recent events that I've been to. This photo was taken during DJ Storm's set. It was special for so many reasons. I feel like I'm quite out of the loop with what electronic music is like now, and what going to the nights is like. I felt really hopeful when I went to this Boiler Room curated by Sherelle. Really nice, mixed and happy crowd.

The mix of music being played blew my mind. When I was at the peak of my going out era, it would be one, two or three connected genres being played. This night was all of those plus footwork, jungle and all of these new genres I don't even know the names of.

It was amazing seeing so many women behind the decks, obviously having a great time. It's come a long way from moody guys or over-the-top bros. I felt proud that this is the state of electronic music.

There's some serious bassfaces.

I know! This photo was taken when the strobes were going off so you really capture them. This is one of my favourite pictures. I want a poster of it for my house. Right now, especially, it makes me miss the club.

As a photographer at an event that's being livestreamed, are you looking to get something that the video footage can't?

Not really, it's just the added challenge of working around the camera crew. You can also see people taking pictures or videos on their phones in this photo, but not many.

How does it affect you that phones now have such good cameras?

I feel like I need to up my game, there's more competition. There were some really great pictures taken at this same Boiler Room night by another photographer, who just had a compact camera. He could get up really close without carrying something heavy. He got some amazing shots of Sherelle and Six Figure Gang losing their shit. It made me reevaluate my own kit and whether it might also be good to have something smaller. Your arms are a big part of your kit as a photographer and being able to easily get them where you need them is important.

Do some photos get ruined because there are so many phones in the air?

I'm used to it now. I have a photo from Hideout Festival in 2014, from one of the boat cruises, where the whole front row has their phone out. From an anthropological point of view, it has been interesting to me in the past, but I'm really used to it now. It's funny that people take their own videos at Boiler Room though.

They want the memory from their own point of view, I guess. And it's also about ownership. You can send that to your mates however many times you want.

I feel like a lot of people use professional photos without permission, anyway.

It's a big bugbear for me. It might be something to do with the fact that I've been doing this for a long time, pre-digital, so I'm from a world of photography in which licensing the image was the normal way to do it. I still consider that the best way, but the way people use pictures has changed.

They don't always realise that you should seek permission before using somebody's image, or even don't credit them. People make mistakes, it happens. I don't get annoyed straight away but if they carry on using my work without credit, then I get annoyed.

What can you do about it?

You can report it to Instagram and request that they take the post down. I've never had to come down too hard on anyone but I've let people know that copyright is a thing.

I saw a thread about a photographer whose picture had been used, and altered, by Ted Baker. She saw it on a competition on their Instagram and called them out. They were like "Oh, we'll send you a £200 gift voucher."

How is the satisfaction of publishing photos in the age of social media compared to when you started with zines?

It's not as satisfying, but I don't blame anyone or anything for that. I could still make zines if I wanted to. A lot of photographers now are using newsletters to put their pictures out in a more slow, considered way and for a smaller audience.

Everything is always better when you're part of a community and you have a role to play. With Instagram, you can develop a community but you don't necessarily know them in the same way as you did with a forum, for example. The people you're meeting on a forum, you're meeting on the dance floor as well.

I can go to New York now and I know people there from Dubstep Forum, which I was on 15 years ago. Brazil and Australia, too, all around the world there are people I know I would be comfortable with. I'm interested to get back to that myself, somehow.