The son of a classical-music teacher, Jérôme Brunet grew up in a house full of music, but his visual skills led him to study photography at the EFET School of Arts in Paris. There, at a 1994 Peter Gabriel concert, Brunet became inspired by a woman photographer capturing the show in the “photo pit” in front of the stage. “My mission became clear,” he recalls, “to combine the two things that got me up in the morning—live music and making pictures.”
"I wanted to get this side that nobody else saw, which is the innocence of a person."
Now Brunet can often be found in “the pit,” shooting such legendary performers as BB King, Eric Clapton, Santana and Jeff Beck, as well as contemporary stars like Ben Harper and John Mayer. “I’m usually able to choose my assignments,” says the Bay Area-based Brunet, who’s represented internationally by Zuma Press. “I’m a bit of a guitar enthusiast myself, so I have a tendency of leaning more toward guitar gods.”
But with a client mix ranging from the New York Times to the Discovery Channel, Brunet also shoots hard-news documentary work in the style of masters such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Sebastião Salgado, both of whom he met while studying in Paris. He says his range of work calls for gear that’s both portable and versatile. “In my bag I now have the Nikon D3, which is an absolute dream to work with,” he says, “with its high ISO, speed range and full-frame capabilities.” For lenses, he cites what he calls “the power trio”: the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF-S NIKKOR; the 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S NIKKOR; and then the 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR. “At concerts, I use the latter lens 50 to 75 percent of the time to really get up close,” he says.
A Nikon devotee since using an FM2 back in his school days, Brunet’s also “a Fender Stratocaster man,” he says. “In everything from guitars to camera equipment, I try to get the best I can get my hands on. For me it’s all in one package: music and photography—my real passions.”
View Jérôme's photos | Visit Jérôme's official site | View Jérôme's shots of Gov’t Mule
Discography
From guitars to cameras, Jérôme Brunet tells American Photo about his great taste in equipment.
