While music is most definitely an auditory art, the act of branding and ‘getting your face out there’ is largely a visual one. The importance of photography to use in such branding is important for all businesses and creatives (myself most definitely included); but between album covers, advertisements, and social media – the need to have high quality photography content representing your band and brand is almost more important for musicians. And while I definitely wish I had the talent to need such things (I’m definitely a wanna-be singer at heart), my passion for Edmonton musician photography is as close as I am going to get.
This session is of the gorgeous and incredible Emmet Michael (click his name to check out his IG!), an Edmonton-based singer-songwriter. I initially had the pleasure of hearing him speak at a Rotary youth camp I was working at just outside of Edmonton – and then had the great of capturing these images for him.
Emmet is an alternative artist (check out some of his beautiful songs like God Shaped Hole, Hang Love to Dry, Man in the Moon, Locksmith Hands, The Ugly, or Snow). A large portion of his music centres around his growing up, and the internal conflict he felt between his fundamentalist Christian upbringing and him being transgender. He is such a beautiful representation of queer Christianity and the ever-growing religious LGBTQ+ community that exists all across the world. This is a group of our queer community that is often forgotten, as they seemingly exist within a world that has historically been at odds with their very identities, but are now showing how capable and compatible they can be.
Please do check him out on whatever streaming platform you use, or send him a follow on Instagram @emmetmichaelmusic. And if you are looking for some branding images of your own.. I would love to capture some more gorgeous Edmonton musician photography (I have an idea involving a hollowed out piano… and would love to chat dreams with you!).
