I have said to many people, many times, that when it comes to Live Music photography British photographer Christie Goodwin is a personal favorite – a hero of sorts. She is a witty, fun, and amazingly talented photographer, that is as humble as she is talented. In fact she was one of the first people I reached out to when I started Behind the Shot, and she ended up being my third guest, way back in 2016 with an amazing image of singer Katy Perry.

She is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and she got her feet wet in fashion photography. For most of the 1990s she was an editorial news photographer for major wire agencies, and it was around that time that she developed the habit of outsmarting security to sneak her camera into venues to shoot her favorite bands. Then, in 2005, she was commissioned to shoot a live performance, and that same evening she hung up her editorial hat and became a full time music and entertainment photographer. She hasn’t looked back since.

Christie is the official photographer at the Royal Albert Hall. I will pause and let that sink in for a second… THE Royal Albert Hall. She is also a highly sought after tour and portrait photographer, having worked with the likes of Usher, Taylor Swift, Joe Bonamassa, One Direction, Ed Sheeran and more. Christie’s work has appeared on CDs, DVDs, tour merchandise, posters, calendars, and books, and now…. finally, in her own book.

Ed Sheeran: Memories We Made is going to be tough for me to describe to you. First of all, as I said above, I am fan of Christie’s work. So much so that I pre-ordered the US version through Amazon. I was so excited for the November 6 launch date, and then a gift arrived. Christie sent me a UK copy. To put this in perspective, I care about this gift so much that when reading it I was careful to not crease it too much or bend any pages. This book will stay as nice as the day I got it. So the question is, how’s the book?

I honestly thought it was going to be a coffee table book of photos, you know, just a bunch of photos. Let me be clear, these would be photos by my favorite music photographer, but I though “photo book”. This is a photo book, but man… it is so much more. The forward is written by Ed’s dad John Sheeran, and that sets a great tone. Then, as you turn the page to “look” at photos you are met with stories. Amazing stories of the 10 years that Christie has been photographing Ed. It would seem that the old saying is true. People that are talented in one area are often talented in many, and Christie can freakin write. The stories, and photo captions, are told in a fun and entertaining way. You can feel the moments as though you were there. I know, that sounds like a commercial. When I first cracked this thing open to read some I had so much much that after about 100 pages I checked the clock and it was 4am. Oh yeah, I need to add that John Sheeran didn’t just write the forward – he captions a number of the photos, describing why he likes them. It’s good. Really, really good

On this episode of Behind the Shot, I talk with my friend Christie Goodwin about her new book Ed Sheeran: Memories We Made, her history working with one of the top performers today, and how she made this amazing image of Ed at Wembley Stadium.

Worldwide Links: Ed Sheeran: Memories We Made

Personal: christiegoodwin.com