Annalisa Bruno

ANNALISA 
BRUNO 

Do it with passion or not at all!

Annalisa loves music and shooting music documentaries, live events and artist’s press photos. A heavy involvement in the Dance music industry has led to collaborations with many dance music related organizations such as Loveland, Awakenings, Chemistry, ADE, 365Mag and Elevator Passion; as well as almost all the main nightclubs of Amsterdam. The sky is the limit and her talent has taken her to many countries from London to Ibiza,Italy, Holland, Turkey and Dubai. Currently she is Resident Photographer at East Village Club in London where she has the pleasure of working with a number of artists she really loves, including Hernan Cattaneo, Danny Howells, Paul Sparkes, Stuart Patterson and many more..

What inspired you to be come a DJ and event photographer? How did it all start?

I've always been heavy involved in the dance music industry simply because I love dance music :) Loving photography as well made the combination happen quite naturally. 

You need to be a party person to be able to really capture the true spirit of a party. I know dance music, I know where it will take the crowd and exactly when :) I Love anticipating every break to catch the perfect moment. 

Your love for photography and dance music has led you on some incredible journeys, we know you are currently the resident Photgrapher at EastVillage in London, how did that begin ?

I started shooting at East Village pretty much as soon as I moved to London and soon became weekly resident as the club immediately recognised not only the value of regular event photography but also the benefits of having a unique and recognisable style by choosing one photographer to represent them. They loved my style so that photographer was me :) I know the club well now and what they are about, which makes it easy to portray that in my images I also know all the regular clubbers and they know me, it's fun (Oh yes, I do love my job :) and if not personally, they know my pictures. It's such a pleasure when I'm stopped on the dance floor by people who follow the club's life in pictures and always have compliments for my work. I always feel a little embarrassed but very happy. Good feedback really drives

 The positive feedback seems to be taking you really far, like Turkey and Dubai far! Can you tell us about your international shoots with Elevator Passion and what went down while you traveled?

Haha.. I can’t tell you ‘everything’ that went down of course :) But I can tell you it was fantastic! I joined the team to Dubai to shoot a reportage of the whole experience and of course of the event where Lisa and Cenk where performing. 

And we went with an even bigger team to Antalia, Turkey to produce a very large outdoor event. I love travelling with the team, such a talented and creative group of professionals, all very much driven by that passion for what we do. It's all about passion! We share and learn more from each other at every trip and as the Elevator Passion family grows bigger..as we do as individuals. It makes working together inspiring, not to mention lots and lots and lots of fun!!!! These kind of experiences always make me say again "God, I love my job!" We are privileged to do what we do in life and being surrounded by like-minded professionals artists is a wonderful place.

On top of the travels we also hear that you’re also in popular demand for artist press photography, and for some very high profile djs too. Do you feel this is due to the culmination of all your hard work
and experience and now its time to enter new leagues?

Yes, it sure is. Many djs have seen my events photos and liking my style, have asked about press shots. I like these shoots as I enjoy every stage. I do everything starting from the research.
creative concept development and locationscouting, to full production, styling and make-up,photography in studio or on location and finishing off with editing. It's a very creative and exciting process.

We did a big one with Elevator Passion last summer, shooting press shots for all the artists of the agency, so the usual job times 12, in one day! A lot of hard work but so much fun! From developing the concept with Lisa to achieving the end result. Lisa put together a great enthusiastic team here in Amsterdam to make it happen. And of course teamwork with EP is always such pleasure. What a great day!

After that, I did a solo production in London this winter that I am very proud of.

I met Hernan Cattaneo at ADE 2011 while working for Elevator Passion and 365mag. I took a quick shot of him in a car park after we interviewed him backstage during a gig. He liked that shot enough to hire me a year later for his new press pack. What he didn't know at the time is that he is my favourite dj, I adore his music, so you can imagine how that feels :)

More press shoots are already being planned, but you'll just need to watch this space to find out which artist is next..... :)

If you want to see the press shots, or want to know the possibilities of a conceptual photoshoot? check the video on the right!