About me
Ray Burmiston is above all a photographer of performers and his client list is a ‘who’s anybody’ of music, comedy, and TV.
His music credits run from the Spice Girls, Boyzone, and Kylie to recent work with Rizzle Kicks, Stooshe and Jake Bugg. He has also photographed every major comic talent of the last ten years including Lee Evans, Michael McIntyre, Miranda Hart, Bill Bailey, Al Murray and especially Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, with whom he has worked on Extras, An Idiot Abroad and Life’s Too Short. He has shot myriad TV presenters and personalities and some very serious actors including Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet and Helena Bonham Carter.
It’s no accident that Ray engages with performers, he began his career on the other side of the lens, as the lead singer of a band called the Passion Puppets. Formed while Ray was still a photography student, the band had enough success to make a series of singles, an album and tour extensively. But when the band split, Ray returned to photography working first for music papers and later for record companies as well. He still works for them today, while in TV he works for the BBC, Sky and Channel 4 and he has a string of editorial clients.
Ray actively supports Comic Relief and Sport Relief both with celebrity shoots in London studios and trips to Africa, which have taken him to aids clinics in Uganda and South Africa and the slums of Nairobi. Make Poverty History held an exhibition of his celebrity portraits for their ‘Click’ campaign in 2007.
In 2012 Ray’s exhibition ‘Jokerface’, portraits of the British comedy A list, was staged at the Edinburgh Festival to a reaction of both mirth and acclaim.
Projects
- Gareth MaloneRay Burmiston shot national treasure and national choirmaster, Gareth Malone, for Sunday’s Event magazine. The idea of the shoot was clearly to cast off Gareth’s twinkly choirboy image and to release his inner Ziggy Stardust. To this end he was pictured in one of Camden Town’s sweatier rock venues and the cover of the magazine promises revelations of what he gets up to on tour. Apparently he drinks white wine and wears a onesie! But the ever dapper Gareth really cuts it. He looks super sharp in the pictures and the Les Paul really suits him. We especially like the houndstooth check suit! Gareth Malone’s current TV series The Naked Choir, a competition to find Britain’s best amateur acapella singers, is on Tuesday nights on BBC2
- Billy IdolRay Burmiston recently photographed rock music legend Billy Idol for his interview with Event Magazine. Idol spoke to the magazine about his recent performances, upcoming album, and the difficulty of writing an autobiography. ‘I had to look at myself dispassionately at times and confront addiction and my various demons. I really thought I was indestructible. When punk rock proclaimed, “There is no future”, I took that pretty seriously.’ The new album, Kings and Queens of the Underground, is set for release on the 20th of October. Idol’s memoir, Dancing With Myself is available here. One Response to “Billy Idol – Ray Burmiston for Event Mag”
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Projects credited in
- Jack Osbourne's Haunted HomecomingWe had just a one week window to get promotional images of Jack Osbourne and his co-host Kate Cherrell, which saw two photographers on two days shooting with limited time. This was a priority marketing campaign for Discovery + so we planned for post production work on the hero shot, which was ultimately used as the series shot. The images were used across social media, press and featured on the D+ product as a top performing show for multiple weeks. Ray Burmiston: Key Art/Specials Gary Moyes: Un
Skills
- Commercial Photography
- Photojournalism
- Retouching
- Editorial
- Photoshop
- Lightroom
- Portrait Photography