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Brian Aris began his career as a photojournalist covering the civil unrest in Northern Ireland, wars in Vietnam and the middle east and famines in Africa. His photographs of the troubles in Belfast were printed in Life magazine and shortly after, in contrast, one of his photographs of Princess Anne visiting Sudan appeared on the cover of British Vogue.
After ten years of reportage he opened his first studio in London and began to photograph models and friends in the music business. So began a period in which he comprehensively covered the explosion in British music throughout the eighties and early nineties. These sessions included David Bowie, Sting and The Police, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Blondie, Boy George, Madonna, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Bob Geldof and of course the late Paula Yates who was one of Brian’s favourite subjects.
He was the official photographer summoned by his friend Bob Geldof to take the now famous Band Aid group pictures and continued in the following years by having backstage studios at Live Aid, Net Aid and most recently Live8. Credits on CD’s include George Michael, Sting, Dire Straits, Michael McDonald, Human League, Linda Rondstat, Boomtown Rats, MikeOldfield, Kenny Rogers, Rick Springfield, Eurythmics, Pet Shop Boys, Moody Blues, Cliff Richards, Tina Turner, Elton John, The Who and of course Blondie.
His studio work expanded to cover photography on actors, authors, musicians and politicians. He was asked to take official photographs of Her Majesty The Queen to mark her 70th birthday and later the official pictures of the golden wedding anniversary with Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh. He has also photographed other members of the royal family including Princess Margaret, The Duchess of York, Viscount Linley, The Duchess of Kent, Peter Phillips and recently The Duke of York.
On the editorial side he has taken the official wedding pictures of Sir Bob Geldof and Paula Yates, Sting and Trudy Styler, David Bowie and Iman in a cathedral in Florence, David and Victoria Beckham at the now famous castle in Ireland, Joan Collins and Percy Gibson, Liza Minelli and David Gest in New York and in 2008 Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly at Windsor with all members of the royal family in attendance.
Two coffee table books were completed in 2003. One on the joys and history of the famous Whitstable native Oyster. (The town is close to Brian’s home in Kent.) The other on the colourful island of Sardinia.
In 2008 he accepted an invitation from two Michelin starred chef Michael Caines of the Abode group to exhibit his photographs at the ABode hotel in Manchester. There are plans to follow that with images on show at ABode in Canterbury and at the new flagship hotel currently under construction in Chester due to be open in 2010.
This year (2009) he has expanded his online archive and website www.brianaris.com and in October had photographs published in a new book celebrating the career of supermodel Twiggy. He also has images in the current (Oct 2009) National Portrait Gallery exhibition celebrating Twiggy’s life as seen by a selected group of the worlds leading photographers. In her comments about working with Brian Twiggy says. “He is the ultimate professional. I love working with him because he’s fun and generates a relaxed, informal atmosphere and I always know the results will be great. We’ve done so many shoots together we have a kind of shorthand. He has a great eye for composition and his lighting is superb.”
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Contact: info@brianaris.com
Tel: 01795 890187
