Paolo Brillo

Paolo Brillo (b. 1961, Bolzano, Italy) is an Italian music photographer whose work is rooted in a lifelong passion for rock music and live performance. He began taking photographs as a teenager and started photographing musicians in the early 1980s.

Brillo works from within the audience rather than the press pit. Photographing without credentials or backstage access, he studies the venue, waits through the performance and looks for the moment when gesture, light and emotion come together. This independent method has produced an unusually intimate record of musicians onstage.

Bob Dylan has been the central subject of Brillo’s career. He first photographed Dylan in 1984 and has followed him across concerts in Italy, Europe and the United States. His book Bob Dylan: No Such Thing as Forever brings together more than 250 photographs made during thirty years of the Never Ending Tour, from 1989 to 2019.

Beyond Dylan, Brillo has photographed many of the defining performers of modern music, including Iggy Pop, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Patti Smith, Neil Young, Lou Reed, Lady Gaga and Joan Baez. He has contributed to music publications including Buscadero and ISIS magazine.

His photographs have been exhibited in Italy and internationally, including presentations at Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea, MIA Photo Fair, Proud Galleries and the Royal Albert Hall. The Music Photo Gallery presents a curated selection of Paolo Brillo’s live music photographs for collectors worldwide.