It can be easy to accidentally fall into a certain line of work. So easy, in fact, that one job can lead to another and before you know it – bam! – you wake up one day wondering how the heck you got there. For Michelle Pitiris, though, the path that led her toward music photography was one that she whole-heartedly paved on purpose.  

“It was a very specific decision,” Michelle says about taking on photography as a profession. “I was 30, working in a retail job that I despised and feeling unfulfilled. I didn’t want to be 40 and working in retail, so I took some time to think about what I really wanted to be doing, what I could see myself doing long term, and what I was actually good at.” 

Describing Michelle’s work as simply “good” is a whopping understatement. Under the moniker She Is Aphrodite, Michelle has photographed some of the biggest names in music. From going on tour with The 1975 to taking live performance snaps of Taylor Swift – plus a bucketload of other ripper performers in between – you might struggle to find a musician you love that Michelle hasn’t worked with.

 

 

 

 

 

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The idea to go down the music photography route came to Michelle by way of thinking pragmatically. “I wanted to work in music as it was something I genuinely adored, but I was not a musician,” she says. “I knew I could take photos, so I had the epiphany to combine the two.” 

When adoration is so embedded into a chosen career, it can be difficult to tango with the tension of turning a creative passion into a job. Money and creativity don’t always go so happily hand-in-hand – especially when a creative calling becomes a livelihood. At the start of her career, Michelle struggled to place value on what she was producing. “Eventually though, I got to a place where I felt comfortable charging for my work. Even then, it took years of shooting to get to the next level of price increases, and then more time again to get to the point where I could do it as a full-time job,” she says. “Because I didn’t do any proper tertiary studies in photography, I felt like a fraud for a long time. I struggled to grasp that my work had value regardless of my education. I still feel like a fraud, but I don’t charge like one!” 

Imposter syndrome has a habit of rearing its head no matter how successful you are, and Michelle is a prime example. Not many frauds are able to win an ARIA Award for Best Cover Art, travel on tours with rock stars or be hand-selected for endless cover shoots.  

For Michelle, one of the highlights of her career so far has been just that – working with the rad punksters from Amyl & The Sniffers on the band’s recent Rolling Stone cover. “It was such a fun day,” Michelle says. “I had the BEST team. Amy, Dec, Gus and Bryce were so easy to work with.”

 

 

 

 

 

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Because of the collaborative nature of the job, working with talent on shoots – especially when they’re famous folk – can sometimes prove tricky, Michelle notes. “I’ve worked with more well-known artists who have been difficult to work with because, by that stage, they’re used to getting what they want. I have to oblige, or they treat people like shit.”  

“In saying that,” Michelle continues, “I have worked with big-name artists who are super-down to earth (Amy Taylor is the BEST). It’s always good to go in with zero expectations and be malleable to whoever you are shooting.” 

The top-notch photographer offers some more advice for any budding shutterbugs wanting to jump into the game: “Get a somewhat decent camera and just shoot, shoot, shoot,” she says. “You get better by experience, so just hit up smaller artists who you like and ask to shoot their shows. The more you shoot, the more you meet people, and then more people will be aware of your work as it’s posted online. 

“Also, hit up music blogs and ask to shoot gigs for them. That’s exactly what I did. I took every gig I could while I was working my full-time job and I just kept going and going. Stop thinking, start doing.” 

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