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Katy Cummings is the photographer capturing music legends in her signature, saturated style. We spoke with her about her passion on the job, working in the music industry and her favourite moments from her career to date.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m a music photographer based in Brighton. I worked for a record label and toured with The Hunna for three years, and was also lucky enough to travel to the US on tour with Two Door Cinema Club in 2017. I am now freelance since having my baby who is nearly two now! He still doesn’t sleep though, so excuse me if I start to not make sense, I have the ultimate mum brain.

Your portfolio is so distinctive and features many prolific artists in the music scene such as The Hunna, Wolf Alice, Two Door Cinema Club and Billie Eilish. When did you first start to venture into the music photography scene? How did you first plant your feet in the industry to get to where you are now?

Thank you so much! I was never sure what I wanted to do, I went to university to do journalism and media and just stumbled upon a photojournalism module. I then realised that photography was my thing and spent the rest of my time at uni organising shoots instead of doing uni work, trying to teach myself. I started off doing more fashion as I was learning and soon realised that I could combine my passion for live music with my love of photography. I got myself to London and was working as a retoucher at ASOS by day and shooting any gig I could get a pass for at night. I remember shooting Catfish and The Bottlemen at Brixton Academy in 2015, (when you have a photo pass you get to shoot the first three songs only) I saw Jordan Curtis Hughes up on stage with them as he was their photographer at the time, and I just knew that was what I wanted, I needed to be touring with a band capturing these iconic moments in time. I wanted more than those first three songs! I wanted those sweaty backstage moments too.

My first break was with The Hunna. I contacted them through Facebook and they put me in touch with their management. The band were recording their first album ‘100’ at the time at Angelic Studios in Oxford. The management sent me straight there to meet them and start shooting. From there I was asked to go on tour with them, I left ASOS and spent the next three years touring the UK, Europe and Australia with them and shooting festivals in the summer. I really had the most amazing times I will never forget. When I first made it to that Brixton stage with The Hunna, where I had seen Jordan Curtis Hughes with Catfish years before, it was a real moment for me.

What are your experiences as a female photographer working in the industry? In a surrounding that is often male dominated, what challenges do you face that you feel needs to change?

Being a female in such a male dominated industry of course comes with it’s challenges. Constantly hearing ‘groupie’ comments is something you learn to phase out, always having to prove that you are meant to be there. I have once had to have my tour manager come down to confirm to security that I was actually with the band, by which point I had missed half of the set as they wouldn’t let me shoot despite my pass while yet again, a groupie comment was made. There are also practical issues that come up in touring such as hotel rooms on the road. I know female tour managers who have been turned down for work because management wouldn’t pay extra for them to have their own hotel room on tour, without even asking them if they would be okay with sharing in the first place. I do feel like the world of music is becoming more and more accessible to women and I have seen more and more female crew emerging which is amazing to see! Women still aren’t recognised as much as men at the same level, though, for example - there have been recent awards that have emerged such as the iHeartRadio Music Awards that have created a ‘favourite tour photographer award’. Such an incredible moment for music photographers to be recognised like this, however all of the nominees this year were male. This was such a shame as there are some beyond incredible passionate women in this field at the same level.

What piece of advice would you give to young photographers wanting to work in the music scene?

Shoot as much as you can, really keep an eye on what’s going on in local venues around you and start building up your portfolio so you have something to show managers when you ask for passes. Also reaching out to any local publications or blogs that are up and coming, it helps when you ask for a pass if you are shooting it ‘for’ someone so that the management knows that the images will be used somewhere and benefit their artist in some way.

What are the most important tools you bring with you to photograph artists on stage?

Just being ready to get sweaty with the crowd and be in amongst it all, those small sweaty shows are some of the most enjoyable, and the muddy festivals! I remember I had my camera professionally cleaned after one festival season and they couldn’t believe how much mud was inside the camera. If you are passionate about music and photography you can’t go wrong, being respectful to the other photographers in the pit and to the fans that have paid to be there. Touring with one band for a long time like I did with The Hunna gives you a real ability to know what shots you can get when, as you start to learn the routines of the sets and when the best action shots will happen. There is something amazing in touring with one band for a while and getting to see them grow and capture it all from day one.

As an artist who is also a mother, how do you find working in a world that rarely sets up space for women to have both a career and a baby? How do you feel there could be changes in the industry and society that reconciles ways for both?

I had a real shocker unfortunately when I came off the road in 2018 to have my baby, I was told at the time by the label I worked for that they were super progressive and wanted to support me completely. I was given the role of creative director and I was to oversee other photographers touring with their bands. However, once I went on leave to give birth, they then stopped communication with me and stopped paying my maternity pay. I know that this was a real extreme case, however from what I have seen there is not a great deal out there to support mothers in the music industry. Maren Moris a country musician and along with one of her band members, they recently became first time mums at the same time. One of her posts on Instagram said:

‘​I know there are so many  women who feel like they have to choose between being a touring musician + starting a family. I never wanted my people to choose. I think it’s a great conversation to have if you’re an artist who employs women. So let’s shred for 90 minutes and then go rock these babes to sleep on the bus with a glass of wine.’ - Maren Moris

Obviously I know that not many artists are in the position to have the facilities to support women touring with babies, however the realisation that women in the music industry shouldn’t have to choose between either or is an interesting thought. I remember I went to do a behind the scenes shoot at a music video when my baby was 4 months old and I was still breastfeeding. I kept having to sneak off to pump in the bathrooms and I was really exhausted thinking how on earth do women do this. I started to feel really emotional and isolated whilst trying to be on top of my game with the job at hand. On one of my trips to the bathroom though I heard a breast pump from another cubicle next to me and waited for her to come out - it turned out the stylist at the shoot was also in there, pumping away and had a newborn at home. I won’t forget that moment because I didn’t feel so isolated anymore and it really made me so proud to be a woman and think about what we are capable of in this professional environment whilst having so much to juggle.

Your photographs are beautiful – wrapped up in a signature high contrast with distinctive creative production. In photographing, you provide a visual perspective unique to you – I feel this is so important, the more perspectives we have in photography, the more representation we can achieve. In seeing artists like yourself working fiercely behind the lens, it encourages others to feel a part of the conversation too. What advice would you give to those trying to express their point of view? How would you advise artists starting out to be comfortable in their voice and style?

Thank you so much! I think I accidentally landed a style along the way. For someone who wears way too much black, I love playing with colour in an image. I initially approached music photography in the same way that I was approaching my fashion photography. When I was teaching myself how to use a camera and how to retouch and grade, I learnt more through fashion and portrait shoots and I was really interested in learning how to retouch skin in a professional way and focus on how to be really creative. I think this really came in to play when I first started shooting music as I really loved getting super close-ups and almost transporting the artist away from the gig and creating a portrait. I love getting that one image I know I can play with for hours and create a piece of work with, rather than just a raw journalistic snapshot. Though I do love those big wide shots that freeze a whole venue of people in time as well. What you shoot and the images you create are already so personal to the photographer’s eye. When you are first starting out, that’s the best time to start experimenting with how you can approach things differently. Your style will naturally emerge the more things you try.

Lastly, what does visibility mean to you?

Visibility for women in the music industry is incredibly important, to start really allowing women those opportunities but also to show what women are already achieving in the industry. To really acknowledge and bring to light what we are already capable of.

You can follow more of Katy’s beautiful work through her website or Instagram.