#WorldPhotographyDay: Tyrone Bradley, photographer at Red Bull SA

Tyrone Bradley, photographer at Red Bull SA. Image supplied

Tyrone Bradley is a prominent South African photographer known for his work in documenting extreme sports, music, and lifestyle scenes. His photography often captures the vibrant and dynamic culture of South Africa, from skateboarding and surfing to music festivals and everyday street life.

Bradley's work has been featured in numerous publications, and he has collaborated with major brands and artists. His unique style blends authenticity with creativity, making his images stand out in both commercial and artistic contexts.

This World Photography Day, we chat to Tyrone Bradley, photographer at Red Bull SA...

What does World Photography Day mean to you?

As a photographer, World Photography Day means I am recognised and honoured for my work. The day celebrates photography and recognises the incredibly talented photographers out there, while educating the public about the real work that goes into getting what people see as the perfect shot and final product.

How would you describe your photography style, and what inspires your work?

I’d say emotive action best describes it. At least that’s what I am striving for.

Can you walk us through your creative process, from concept to final image?

This varies a lot. A lot of what I shoot requires documenting moments where you can’t direct things, so there isn’t really a creative process other than finding angles that tell the story you want to tell.

If it’s a brief from an agency, then I think about what style of photography, lenses and lighting will communicate the theme best. If it’s personal work, I find a feeling or theme and then make decisions that work to express the vision clearly.

Which photographers or artists have influenced your style, and how?

In the early days, which is probably where the biggest influence comes in, I’d say skateboarding photographer Atiba Jefferson and BMX photographer Rob Dolecki made me look at how to use flash and compose skate/BMX shots that tell the whole story in a single image.

As time moved on, I started getting more influenced by local photographer Liam Lynch with his journalistic influence of narrative in images. His portraiture also cemented the archival value of a portrait for me.

I was always looking at Richard Avedon, Nadav Kander, Stanley Kubrick and Annie Leibovitz.

Nowadays, I am heavily influenced by film DP’s as I am often shooting alongside video and so now, I am fascinated by how you can use light to manipulate tone and convey mood.

Current photographers whose work I admire are Christopher Anderson, Sinna Nasseri, Thomas Prior and Ethan Gulley, to name a few

How do you approach capturing an emotion or a story in your photos?

This can take form in different ways. If there is emotion being expressed by a subject, I really just need to anticipate it and be in the right place to capture it.

If there is a certain mood, I want to convey then it’s about how I light and expose something. The brighter the image, the lighter it feels, the darker the image, the moodier and heavier it feels.

Subtly add colour to that and you can subconsciously bias someone’s experience

Image by Tyrone Bradley.

What type of photography projects do you enjoy the most, and why?

For me so much of it is about the experience of shooting as much as it is about crafting an image.

I really enjoy going on an adventure to capture something with an athlete who wants to try something that has consequences. It’s a privilege to be trusted to document milestones in an athlete’s career and when an adventure to capture that moment is required then I’m where I want to be creatively.

You're a photographer at Red Bull SA. Tell us how this came about.

I was a sponsored BMX rider and used to photograph the scene and our travels to Blunt Magazine back in the day. I had approached Red Bull to help cover my travel fees to the UK in exchange for photographing their athlete, close friend and travel mate, Buddy Chellan.

Red Bull liked the way I worked and a few months later contacted me to photograph a BMX event, alongside Craig Kolesky, which they were putting on in Soweto.

It was after that event and working well as a team with Craig that the opportunity to work full time with the brand opened. A lot of photographers often ask how you get to work with Red Bull and for all the photographers globally I know who work for the brand, they have all come up through the cultures / sports Red Bull is involved in.

You're currently working on a project with Murray Loubser. Can you elaborate on this?

We’ve finished it, and I am very happy with how it all worked out.

There was a derelict pool on the rocks looking straight over the sea, which I happened to come across in 2016. I had tried to make plans to shoot there back then, but it all fell through.

The spot has always been on my mind, and when work slowed down earlier this year, I found a gap to try to make it happen. I reached out to Murray, and he loved the idea, so we got to work.
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When we went to look at the spot, we found a lot of rubble had been put into the pool, but there was still enough space to ride a section. The manager of the property told us they were going to fill the pool in that week, so we had to be quick.

To make it rideable we needed to pile rubble and cement a quarter pipe. A friend of ours, Jamie O Brien lived near and builds concrete skateparks and thankfully he was keen to come help us.

Without his knowledge, it would have been a lot harder to pull off, but over three days, we built the quarter pipe and managed to shoot a whole gallery of images in two days.

The shape of the ramp being made D.I.Y. with no templates is a bit sketchy, but Murray is so good, he adapted super-fast and was doing all kinds of tricks in no time.

I figured sunrise would be the best light, so we headed back on day two at 4am to get set up and ready for first light.

Image by Tyrone Bradley.

Where do you see your photography career in the next five years?

I’d suspect much the same, but hopefully with bigger commercial jobs that are creatively challenging and pay well so that I can focus on funding more personal projects.