Bridget Elliot specializes in photographing classical musicians. Her particular passion is to document and help promote Australian composers and performers of new music.

Bridget Elliot specialises in photographing classical musicians. She contributes as a music photographer to local and international media as well as undertaking publicity photography for musicians. She contributes monthly to Limelight magazine and her “Behind the Scenes” column was published monthly in Sydney’s
Fine Music magazine from July 2002-January 2007. Her portfolio includes over 200 of Australia’s leading composers and performers, plus many international musicians ranging from composers Philip Glass and James Dillon to the Kronos Quartet, soprano Sumi Jo and The Reykjavik Wind Quintet. Her collection of Australian composer photographs is to be published eventually in book form.

Her particular passion is in documenting and assisting
to promote Australian composers and performers of art music. This project is a work-in-progress that has been exhibited at the Sydney Opera House, the Australia Council for the Arts, the National Music Library and
other venues. It is on permanent display at the Australian Music Centre in The Rocks, Sydney.

Highlights of Bridget’s photographic career to date include The Company We Keep: an intimate celebration of Opera Australia, a book on which Bridget collaborated with writer Annarosa Berman. Published by Opera Australia in conjunction with Currency Press in July 2006, The Company We Keep is a behind-the-scenes insight into the people and workings of Australia’s national opera company, produced to commemorate OA’s 50th anniversary.

In August 2005, Bridget photographed OzOpera’s production of Carmen on tour in Tasmania for publication in The Company We Keep.

In May 2003, Bridget was commissioned by Musica Viva Australia to document Latin-American ensemble Tigramuna performing in schools and aboriginal communities across outback Western Australia.

The National Library of Australia started collecting Bridget’s music photography in 2007, in recognition of its “diversity and historical importance”.

Exhibitions

• Exhibition of Australian composers and performers plus photographs of Freshwater
  Beach and environs, Freshwater Chamber Music Festival, Sydney, October 2008.
• WotOpera! Exhibition of photographs documenting a children’s opera project,
  The Sydney Theatre Company, June 2008.
• Original photographic projection to accompany world premiere of Midsummer
  Night composed by Wendy Hiscocks and performed at the Riverina Strings
  Festival, Wagga Wagga NSW, January 2007.
• Photographs of Australian Jewish musicians displayed as part of An Old
  Song in a New Land ~ the 4000-year love affair between Jews and Music, Jewish
  Museum of Australia, Melbourne, October-November 2004.
• Exhibition of photographs of Australian composers in conjunction with the   APRA/Australian Music Centre Classical Music Awards, Sydney Conservatorium of Music,   July-August 2004.
• Permanent display of photographs of Australian composers and performers at the   Australian Music Centre, The Rocks, Sydney, from September 2001 onwards.
• Exhibition of photographs of Composing Women, The National Festival
  of Women’s Music, School of Music, Canberra, August 2001
• The Image of Music: exhibition of Australian composers and performers, Australia Council   for the Arts, Sydney, September-October 2000
• 11th Sydney Spring International Festival of New Music, The Sydney Opera House (August   2000), in conjunction with The New Music Network. Exhibition opened by Elizabeth Ann   Macgregor, director, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
• National Music Library, Symphony Australia, ABC Ultimo Centre, Sydney (1997-2000)
• 8th Sydney Spring International Festival of New Music, ABC Ultimo Centre, August-
  September 1997 (commissioned by artistic director, Roger Woodward)

Editorial / institutional / publicity work

• Limelight; Fine Music; Music Forum.
• Publicity and website photographs for Australian composers and performers
• Photographs of composers promoted by the Australian Music Centre, 2001 onwards
• Cover photographs and composer’s photograph for series of 12 scores of Ross Edwards’
  music published by G Ricordi London, 2004-2007
• Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA) publications
  and online material
• Symphony Australia programs
• Opera Australia publications and programs
• Pinchgut Opera artist, rehearsal and program photographs
• Musica Viva Australia publications
• Promotional photographs for Stuart & Sons pianos (1998-2000)
• The Australian Financial Review; The Sydney Morning Herald;
  The Sun Herald; The Age; The Australian; The Courier Mail
• The New Zealand Herald; The Press; The New York Times

Books

• The Company We Keep: an intimate celebration of Opera Australia, by Annarosa Berman
  and Bridget Elliot, published by Opera Australia in association with Currency Press, 2006.
• Create, the Wesfarmers Arts Commission Series, published by Wesfarmers Limited,
  2007. A series of Bridget’s photographs are published in the Opera chapter.

CDs

• CD of The Grainger Quartet, for release in December 2008
• CD montage and internal booklet photographs, Joseph Tawadros, Angel, JT 2008
• CD cover and internal booklet photographs, Joseph Tawadros, Epiphany, JT 2007
• CD cover and booklet, Saffire, The Australian Guitar Quartet, ABC Classics
• CD cover, Marshall McGuire, Rough Magic, ABC Classics
• CD cover, Coda, Passion:Pop, Eatfruitproductions
• Artist’s photograph, Gerard Willems, for CD booklet, Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas
  Volumes 1, 2 and 3, ABC Classics
• Artist’s photograph, Elena Kats-Chernin, for CD booklet, Unceremonious Processions,
  edition ZKM, Germany
• Artists’ photographs for DRIVE: Australian music for sax and piano, JLN Productions
• CD cover portrait, Jeanell Carrigan, Etchings: The Piano Music of Phillip Wilcher

Awards

Sydney Spring Award 1997: “For an Original Contribution to the Sydney Spring Festival for Photographic Exhibition of Australian Musicians.”

Commentaries

Elena Kats-Chernin, composer (C) 2004

Marshall McGuire, harpist, president of the New Music Network (C) 2004

John Davis, general manager of the Australian Music Centre (C) 2004

© 2004/2005
Bridget Eliot Photography