Draft:Soulla Petrou

Soulla Petrou is a British photographer specialising in portraits, music, fashion and beauty

Early life and education
Born March 1964 in Leeds, United Kingdom, Petrou moved to London in 1983 to obtain a degree in Fashion Design at Middlesex University. She went on to take night classes in photography at Central St. Martin’s College of Art and Design.

Career
Petrou's Photography career began in 1994 working for dance music magazines Mixmag, DJ Mag, Touch, Muzik and The Face. Early work with the UK drum and bass scene in the 90s included Goldie, General Levy, Grooverider and DJ Rap and club photography at Awol, a jungle night at the Ministry of Sound. Magazine covers include Orbital, Underworld, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Kathy Sledge from Sister Sledge, Judge Jules, Paul Van Dyk and Masters at Work (Kenny'Dope'Gonzales and Louie Vega).

In 1997 The Saturday Times newspaper commissioned Petrou to shoot Blur for the inaugural cover of its culture supplement Metro during the band's trip to Sweden to perform at the Stockholm Water Festival. Petrou photographed further covers for Metro featuring Britpop band Supergrass and Kula Shaker, as well as actors Kevin McKidd and Ewen Bremner from Trainspotting.

In the 2000s, Petrou photographed Blue, Mis-Teeq, Sum 41, Nick Carter and Lee Ryan for teen magazines Smash Hits, Bliss, Just Seventeen and Sugar. She photographed classical-music girl band Bondfor record company Decca Records. Whist working for the NME she photographed Oxide & Neutrino, Mr.Shabz (all former So Solid Crew members), and More Fire Crew.

In 2007 Petrou photographed “The Godfather of House” Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Satoshi Tomiie, and Hector Romero to commemorate the 20th anniversary of DJ agency Def Mix.

Petrou won a Fuji Distinction Award, and a merit in the Fuji Fashion Collective, both in 2002 and won third prize in the International Photographers Awards (IPA) in 2008 for her music portraits. She won silver and bronze prizes at Prix de la Photographie (PX3) in the advertising category for her Ted Baker campaign in 2014, and in 2022 won BIPP Photographer of the Year National Print Competition Award for her image Siren

Petrou is one of ten photographers to feature in'The World’s Top Photographers – Celebrity and Performance'' published in 2009 by Rotovision. ISBN 2940378401 / 9782940378401 In 2022 Petrou published her debut book "Rewind - Journey of a Music Photographer".

Petrou has shot portraits of Tony Blair, Dermot O’Leary, Bill Bailey, Ant & Dec, Noel Fielding, Billie Piper, Fearne Cotton and Al Murray.

Petrou has shot for brands Ted Baker, Ernest Jones, H. Samuel and Apricot

Books
Rewind – Journey of a Music Photographer published in 2022 by Anastasia Publishing ISBN 9781739116606. Foreword by Alexis Petridis, Rock & Pop Critic at The Guardian

Exhibitions/ Auctions
2022 Art Aid Ukraine at The Auction Collective.

2023 Milestones – Favourite Club Tracks Exhibition at MOMEM (Museum of Modern Electronic Music) Frankfur