For this month’s News, Sports and Entertainment Spotlight, we got the chance to speak to news and events photographer Matt Crossick, who has been in the business for 25 years, and uploading his images to 17³Ô¹ÏÔÚÏß since 2006. Shooting across a vast array of events from the BAFTAS and Oscars to royal weddings, fashion weeks and arena concerts, Matt’s career has allowed him to travel across the world and gain clients such as Virgin Atlantic, EE, Saatchi and PA Images.
Read on to find out how Matt started his successful career in events photography, the challenges he faces when covering events and the best advice he would give to those just starting out in the world of events photography.
LG: How long have you been a photographer and what made you want to get into photography, particularly into your specific area of events and music?
MC: I’ve been a full-time photographer for 16 years, but I’ve been getting pictures published for about 25 years… I was photographer on my student newspaper and loved it so much I decided I wanted to make a career out of it. It took several years of portfolio building around day jobs to get there though.
LG: What was your first job within the news, events and music sector?
MC: I started off working for magazines – shooting bands in the studio for teen magazines, then covering gigs and shooting bands for the music press. It never made me enough money to be a full time photographer though; so when I decided to go all-in and give up the day job when I was in my 20s, I approached PA. They needed a freelance entertainment photographer at the time, and were patient enough to train me up shooting red carpet events and big gigs for the news wire. I had to learn how to edit live, shoot red carpets amongst a crowd of other photographers, and a host of other new skills… but I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would and am still working in the industry 16 years later.
Some of the most challenging events I’ve covered have been the big royal ones. For something like a royal wedding, or the Jubilee, you can be in position as early as 5am…at the coronation last year I had been standing in the rain up a ladder for 9 hours before I took a shot!
LG: What has been the most challenging event you have covered?
MC: Photographically – almost any event can be a challenge; I often have no control over the lighting, my shooting position or the background, so you learn to be quite creative within a fixed setting. But I think some of the most challenging events I’ve covered have been the big royal ones. For something like a royal wedding, or the Jubilee, you can be in position as early as 5am, and you’re often stuck in the same spot at the mercy of the elements for hours. It becomes a physical challenge as well as a photographic one.  At the coronation last year I had been standing in the rain up a ladder for 9 hours before I took a shot – maintaining concentration and getting good pictures when you’re in that state is quite stressful!
LG: What do you think is the best way to get your photos noticed by the media?
MC: As a press photographer, think about your market. If I’m shooting as an 17³Ô¹ÏÔÚÏß contributor, I will often shoot events in quite a different style to what the main wire agency photographers produce. I might shoot most of my set landscape, to cater for the online news outlets; or try and capture wide shots from high up that will offer the papers something different. Or choose an event that isn’t a big deal here, but will appeal to one of our bigger foreign markets – like a foreign designer’s fashion show. Even if I’m shooting alongside a lot of other photographers, I’ll try and make mine better or differently lit; or supply them quicker; or pick a different angle, to make them stand out a little bit from the crowd.
LG: How do you get the attention of celebrities over the other photographers on the Red Carpet?
MC: It depends on the size of the event. It’s much more civilised than people think in the press pen – we all draw cards out of a hat for positions, and there is no jostling for space. On smaller events you can call out to people to get eyeline – but at something big like the Bafta awards or the Oscars there is no point; either they’ll look at you or they won’t. You just have to be ready to capture the moment when it happens, or create a nice set of pictures without it.
LG: How do you know which events to photograph and get accreditation for?
MC: I analyse my sales reports quite a lot and over the years I’ve learnt to spot which events will sell well. Some things will be a big deal for a week or two, then drop out of the news; the best events to cover are ones where the pictures will be used again and again all year – or better still, have some kind of historic value that will see them used for years and years. I have shots such as the Queen attending a fashion show, or the Rolling Stones headlining Glastonbury, that still crop up on my sales reports regularly 10 years after I took them. A lot of this job is about access, though – so picking an event to cover, and actually getting in to it are two different things!
LG: What advice would you give to a fellow photographer who is just starting out?
MC: Don’t pigeon-hole yourself into only shooting one thing. You may decide that you want to be a football photographer, or fashion photographer, etc. – but lots of people narrow themselves down too early and end up giving up as a result. I wouldn’t have picked shooting entertainment when I was starting out, but I gave it a go – and not only have I enjoyed shooting it, it’s allowed me to build up a career shooting all sorts of interesting stuff, from fashion weeks, film festivals, Glastonbury, royal weddings, general elections – not to mention giving me the skills to shoot commercial work too. If I’d been stubborn and stuck to just shooting music as I originally planned, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have made it as a photographer. So try a bit of everything and see where it leads you.
Hopefully you found Matt’s insight into the world of entertainment photography interesting and informative. If you did, make sure to check back for the next installement of our News, Sports and Entertainment Spotlight. In the meantime, you can check out Matt’s images on 17³Ô¹ÏÔÚÏß here, follow his Instagram , and visit his website .ÌýÌý