Amy Brammal was perhaps, more excited than most when she picked up her 60th anniversary copy of NME magazine. This particular issue featured the Sex Pistols front man, John Lydon, sitting crossed-legged in a chair – and Amy took the picture.
29-year-old Amy from Leicester said: “I’ve done a lot of work for NME, all over the UK and as far afield as Serbia in the past. John Lydon was lovely to direct through the shoot and I was ridiculously happy when my picture it was selected for the cover. It’s definitely a career highlight to date and hopefully will be the first of many.”
Amy started taking photos at friend’s music gigs and soon found that she had a natural talent. She studied for both an A-Level and Foundation Degree in Photography with Leicester College, before ‘topping-up’ to a full BA at De Montfort University.
Meeting music promoters earned her more work, which she fitted in around her five years of study. By the time she graduated in 2009, Amy had enough work to keep her busy as a full-time freelancer – and she has done ever since.
“When I first started, I was shooting bands in abandoned warehouses standing against walls and that sort of thing, which is pretty typical. By about my third shoot, I decided I wanted to do something different and really developed my own style,” says Amy.
Amy’s striking style has taken her all over the world; behind the scenes with bands on tour, in front of soap stars on TV sets and in the photo pits at some of the biggest festivals on the planet. Although she does a lot of work with bands, she wouldn’t describe herself as a music photographer.
“I’d say my work is commercial photography. It’s predominantly music-based based because of my love of music and the work I’ve done for NME. For me it’s all about portraiture, I love capturing people. It can sometimes feel like you’re intruding on a private moment, but then you remember it’s your job. I really enjoy shooting people who are enjoying it and communicating with me the most,” she explained.
“I didn’t know anyone in the industry when I started and I think that was one of the hardest things as half the battle is working out who you need to speak to and when. Gaining formal qualifications at College and University was really important for me though and definitely helped. I was really nervous on my first few shoots for NME, but with more experience; comes more confidence.”
Amy is currently working in Leeds for ITV; a role that has seen her on the sets of Emmerdale, Coronation Street and Celebrity Juice. She doesn’t want to stop there though, with ambitions to do book or album covers watch out for more of Amy’s work in the near future.
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