Charlie has dangled CEOs upside down, gone undercover with drug cops, set Michelin star chefs on fire and discussed peace with Nobel Prize winners – all in pursuit of a great photograph. His drive is to tell personal stories with a twist of the unexpected.
He works globally for a range of editorial and commercial clients including BAFTA, the BBC, The Sunday Times Magazine, GQ, Wired, the Premier League, Action for Children, The British Council and many others.
To keep things fresh Charlie always has a personal project on the go. From a collective portrait of British emigrants to his own mental health campaign, he experiments with different ways of creating images and telling stories.
Charlie’s work had been published and exhibited widely. You might have seen it in the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery, The Creative Review Photo Annual, the D&AD Awards, and Lurzer's Archive's Top 200 Ad Photographers in the World.
Projects
- Laura Kuenssberg for The Sunday Times MagazineSo fascinating to meet this journalistic powerhouse. For 7 years Laura Kuenssberg been at the helm of the BBC’s political broadcasting - through Brexit, Covid, and three Prime Ministers, informing the nation from morning to evening almost every day. Wow, the stories she told me on our shoot - she’s seen and heard everything and been at the heart of it all. Awesome to see in her new role at ‘Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg’ already doing amazing things. Massive thanks to Russ O'Connell for the fab
- Hannah Fry - publicity portraitsI recently photographed Hannah Fry, the brilliant mathematician, presenter and wonderful human. Photographed in collaboration with her and her brilliant team we worked together to create a variety of image styles to feature across many different articles and platforms. Not only is Hannah an amazing mathematical mind – but she is also a brilliant TV maker. She has recently released a moving and insightful documentary about her experience with cervical cancer, something I recommend everyone to wa
- Angela Gui for Die ZeitAngela never meant to be a campaigner or a human rights activist, she wanted to be an academic. But Angela last saw her father in 2014 and is doing what she can to see him again. Hit the link to find out more: https://www.charlieclift.com/blog/angela-gui-die-zeit/ Big thanks to Ludwig Ander-Donath for the commission.
- Gordon Brown - The Sunday Times Magazine“They didn’t give me a chance” was one of the first things the ex-Prime Minister said to me. A man who seemed to be looking back as much as forward. It was fascinating to meet a figure who had been so present in politics whilst I was growing up. He was more excited to hear about me than to talk about himself, and even more eager to show us his home village. “Have you seen the bridges?” he said, referring to the massive structures spanning the Firth of Forth that tower over the place. He then too
- Beyond the HorizonBeyond the Horizon, my new film, premieres today . It’s an exploration of the ups and downs of the creative process, and the fruit of my collaboration with composer Segun Akinola and choreographer Demi Rox. I’ve been lucky enough to cross paths with many brilliant creative people. Speaking to them and knowing my own process, I’ve found that bringing a project to life is always a journey with many twists and turns. You start up-beat and self-assured, but you’re guaranteed to get overwhelmed by s
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Projects credited in
- FINALIST: Charlie Clift - Portrait Category [2023 AOP Awards]FINALIST: Charlie Clift - Portrait Category [2023 AOP Awards] We are so proud to have 4 finalists in this year's Association of Photographers Awards Documentary - Steven Mark Fisher - Hannah Maule-ffinch Sport - David Vintiner Portrait - Hannah Maule-ffinch - David Vintiner - Charlie Clift1
- Charlie Clift x Self Space & CallingNEW WORK: Charlie Clift - Introducing ‘Open Letters’, in collaboration with Self Space and CALLING for Mental Health Awareness Week. Nine in ten people with mental health challenges in the UK face stigma and discrimination. And where there’s stigma, there’s silence. In a radical act of openness, Calling and Self Space commissioned real people to write candidly about their mental health in a series of letters. Five of these letters are across London on giant public billboards for all to see.
- NEW WORK: Charlie Clift x Eagle Eye Drama - Hotel Portofino Season 2Charlie Clift was commissioned by Eagle Eye Drama to shoot the International Key Art campaign for Season 2 of Hotel Portofino. The glamorous series follows the stories of a British family running a grand hotel in 1920s Italy. Hotel Portofino is being released worldwide, out now in Italy and Australia. We can’t wait to see it pop up in the UK —— Special Thanks: Photographer - Charlie Clift Media Production - Eagle Eye Drama Production - Germaine Walker | Morgan Evans | Tracy Westcott Digi / Lig1
- NEW WORK: Charlie Clift for the BAFTAsNEW WORK: Charlie Clift was commissioned to photograph the official portraits at the 2023 EE BAFTA Film Awards. “Austin Butler oozed charm, Cate Blanchett celebrated her fourth golden mask, Ariana DeBose exuded energy, and Rami Malek gave me one beautiful jump; it was a joy to have the top talent on the planet in front of my lens. Each sitting was a matter of minutes. Distilling the intensity of awards night into my portraits required a space which was both versatile and allowed a moment of co1
- Charlie Clift - James NortonCharlie Clift was commission by The Sunday Times Culture cover to shoot the brilliant James Norton to mark the new series of Happy Valley on The BBC. #celebrityphotography #portraitphotography #cover #happyvalley #jamesnorton1
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Work history
C
C
OwnerCharlie Clift Photography
London, United KingdomFull Time
Skills
- Photography
- Film Directing
Education
U
U
BSc PsychologyUniversity of Bristol
Bristol, United Kingdom
Awards
D&AD ShortlistD&AD
Let's Talk - a mental health campaignTop 200 Ad Photographers in the WorldLürzer's Archive
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