We can all name a few famous photographers, but what about famous people who happen to also be photographers? You might be surprised to learn that a startling number of celebrity photographers are indeed celebrities themselves.
We're about to blow your minds, as we've rounded up 30 of some of the top names from Hollywood and the music industry who count photography as their main hobby and give new meaning to the term 'celebrity photographers'.
Are they the world's best photographers? Probably not, but some of them are indeed quite talented. Below is our first group of 10, and we'll update every Friday with 10 more until our list of celebrity photographers who are actually celebrities is complete.
1. Leonard Nimoy
Style: Black and white and fine art nudes
Most famous for: "Live long and prosper." Donning pointy ears and eyebrows as Mr Spock in Star Trek.
Although most people know him as the logical Mr Spock, Nimoy has also made a name for himself as a photographer. His first experience of photography was during his teenage years when the family bathroom in his family's small Boston apartment was used as a makeshift darkroom.
He then made the logical progression to study photography at UCLA under photographer Robert Heineken, after which he received an 'artist in residence' appointment at the American Academy in Rome. Since then his work has been exhibited in numerous museums around the US. His photographic books include The Full Body Project and Shekhina.
From self-portraits, to fine art nudes, to eggs, Nimoy's photography aims to go where no man has gone before.
2. Bryan Adams
Style: High-profile celebrity photography
Most famous for: "Summer of '69," "Everything I do, I do it for you," 'That' song from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Canadian singer-songwriter Adams' talents aren't just limited to music; he is also an actor, producer, and photographer. He has had his photography featured in numerous magazines including British Vogue, L'uomo Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Esquire. He has an impressive string of advertising campaigns to add to his list of photographic commissions, including Guess Jeans, Sand, Converse, Montblanc, Fred Perr, and more.
Along with having a massive string of impressive A-List musicians to add to his photographic portfolio, Adams was also invited to photograph Queen Elizabeth II for her Golden Jubilee. As if that wasn't enough, he then had the honour of having one of the pictures from the shoot featured on a Canadian postage stamp in 2004 and 2005. One of the pictures is now also on display in London's National Portrait Gallery.
Needless to say, Adams is good. We could continue to list more of his photographic successes, but we think you get the idea!
3. Jeff Bridges
Camera: Widelux F8
Style: Documentary-style, behind the movie scenes
Most famous for: "The Dude abides." His role as The Dude in The Big Lebowski. See also Tron, The Fisher King and much, much more.
With his successful career as an actor and an interest in photography that began during high school, Bridges has brought these two disciplines together by taking behind-the-scenes pictures on film sets since 1980, starting with John Carpenter's Starman.
Since then Bridges' continued to shoot in between the scenes on the sets of the films he's worked on and always with his Widelux F8 camera. In 2003 this collection of pictures was published in his book Pictures: Photographs by Jeff Bridges.
Casual, impromptu, and honest, Bridges' images show the 'real' people behind the movies.
4. Moby/Richard Melville Hall
Style: Architecture
Most famous for: His massively successful sample-based electronic album 'Play' released in 1999
The musician's interest in photography began when he was just ten years old and was given a Nikon F camera by his uncle who was a photographer for the New York Times
- want to learn more about famous Nikon cameras? See Nikon at the movies: top 10 appearances by our friends over at N-Photo.
A predominantly black and white photographer who developed his own film in darkrooms, Moby was influenced by photographers such as Irving Penn, Dorothea Lange, and Andre Kertesz.
This passion for the art has remained with him, and in 2011 he released his first photography book entitled 'Destroyed', featuring photographs that he has taken while touring with his music. He released an album by the same name in the same year.
5. Henry Winkler
Camera: Sony A100, Nikon D3100
Style: Outdoor photography
Most famous for: "Heeeeey!" The Fonz in American sitcom Happy Days
Although a keen amateur photographer, Winkler admits that he doesn't understand how to use manual settings on his camera and relies on it being automatic.
However this lack of technical knowledge hasn't held him back; in 2011 he released a book entitled I've Never Met An Idiot On The River: Reflections on Family, Fishing, and Photography, which - although predominantly about fly fishing - features Winkler's outdoor photography.
PAGE 1: Celebrity photographers who are actually celebrities - 1 to 5
PAGE 2: Celebrity photographers who are actually celebrities - 6 to 10
PAGE 3: Celebrity photographers who are actually celebrities - 11 to 15
PAGE 4: Celebrity photographers who are actually celebrities - 16 to 20
PAGE 5: Celebrity photographers who are actually celebrities - 21 to 25
PAGE 6: Celebrity photographers who are actually celebrities - 26 to 30
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