Covering crime thrillers in glory

Leading music photographer Christie Goodwin also shoots cover images for crime thrillers - and you may well own one of her bestsellers

- Niall Hampton

Christie Goodwin

Music & portrait photographer

One of the world's leading live music photographers, Christie has captured a galaxy of global megastars, including Ed Sheeran, Celine Dion, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and many, many more. Christie is also a judge for the world's biggest photo competition, the Cewe Photo Awards.

www.christiegoodwin.com

Have you ever picked up a crime thriller and wondered whodunnit - not the dastardly deed itself, but the actual cover image? Chances are that one of the bestsellers you blazed through on holiday might have featured a photo by Christie Goodwin. For almost a decade and a half, the music and portrait photographer has been supplying shots that have graced the covers of novels published around the world. You'll know the ones I mean - where there's an enigmatic figure, very often a silhouette, walking or running away into the distance.

As a visual motif, it works on several levels, subconsciously inviting you to follow the figure into the story and adding a layer of intrigue. If you don't know the book or the story then you might just take a chance on buying it based on the front cover design.

Christie is that comparatively rare thing - sad as it is to have to say this in 2022 - a successful female photographer on the live music circuit. She has brushed aside old-fashioned gender stereotypes and many a sharp-elbowed male peer to have captured performances from some of the world's biggest artists and acts, but this wasn't what she planned to be shooting at the start of her career.