Maryanne

Maryanne Bilham is an award-winning photographer best known for subjects including rock ‘n’ roll musicians, celebrities, high-end advertising campaigns, hotels and resorts and personal fine art pieces. As a creative visualist, the New Zealand-born, Las Vegas-based Bilham blends an elegant pictorial sensibility with a gift for suggesting depths of feeling and emotional resonance below the surface image, as well as in the essential connection between photographer and subject.
Of the intersection between photography and music, Bilham has said that both are, “creative media that constantly explore our intuitive abilities.” Such is the spirit that has defined Bilham’s overall career, which launched after graduation from the University of Fine Arts in Auckland, NZ. Following a brief period in the fashion industry, Bilham was apprentice to one of Auckland's leading photographers, and became involved with the start of the graphic arts magazine Paper.
From there, Bilham embarked on her Hong Kong era, operating her own studio and traveling throughout the continent photographing Asia’s leading musicians and entertainers. Her fascination for documenting performance artists made the transition to Los Angeles a completely natural one. In 2005, she told Modern Guitars Magazine that, “I have always been very interested in live performance…I am also very interested in portraiture and the creative expression photography allows to capture the essence or sometimes hidden perspective of someone's persona.”
Bilham’s portfolio now includes remarkable images, alive with spirit, of artists including Carlos Santana, U2, Sheryl Crow, Skinny Puppy, The Answer, Panic At The Disco, Garbage and Blondie. A number of projects also reflect her interest in mysticism and mysterious phenomena, including her cover image for guitarist John 5’s Songs For Sanity, featuring him levitating between two parallel guitars. Her artwork for The Go-Go’s album God Bless The Go-Go’s references Bilham’s “Divine Eros” exhibition, with beatific portraits of each band member gracing the cover.
Currently, with the documentary Rock Prophecies, Bilham finds herself on both sides of the lens. The film chronicles the career of her husband and creative partner, rock photographer Robert Knight, focusing on the music artists he has shot over the last four decades, and his friendships with them. Bilham appears on camera as the dynamics of her relationship with Knight are also explored, and she is the production’s still photographer as well. During filming, she’s captured images of Knight, director John Chester and musicians including legends Jeff Beck, Billy Gibbons, Carlos Santana, Slash and Steve Vai and newcomers Joe Bonamassa, The Answer, Tyler Dow Bryant and Panic At The Disco.
In addition to the continued pursuit of fine art projects, Bilham’s recent and current commissions include a major advertising campaign for the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, portraits of music legends Herb Alpert and Lani Hall, and stills for Allee Willis’ music video of the “Bubbles & Cheesecake” song “It’s A Woman Thang. In the foreword to his Modern Guitars interview with Bilham, Tom Watson wrote, “Whether it's advertising, portraiture, live concert, or fine art, her work points to something beyond itself and breathes new life into the old phrase: Seeing is believing. Even when Bilham’s exquisitely composed and beautifully ephemeral images invite the viewer to push the limits of belief and embrace the mysterious, there is no doubt of her authentic vision.