Andy Hollingworth

Andy Hollingworth is a British photographer, renowned for his portraits of figures from the world of comedy.

He took up photography in 1986 whilst still at college in London and began documenting comedians in 1995. One of his most vivid childhood memories is seeing grandfather sitting watching television and laughing at Charlie Williams on The Golden Shot. Williams became his first subject.

To date, Hollingworth has photographed many hundreds of comedians and comic actors from all schools of comedy, and his vast portfolio includes Bill Bailey, Steve Martin, Jo Brand, Ken Dodd, Victoria Wood, Ricky Gervais, Eddie Izzard, Beryl Reid, Rowan Atkinson, Eric Idle, Stephen Fry, Flight of the Conchords, Ross Noble, Paul Merton and the Comedy Store Players. He was the sole photographer granted access on the set of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's seminal show The Office, staged a solo exhibition at the National Media Museum and Hollingworth's work is now recognized as an important archive for the medium.

Outside the comedy industry, he has photographed an eclectic range cultural figures; Ian McKellen, Billy Bragg, Simon Armitage, Ken Loach Jim Broadbent, Jarvis Cocker, Carol Ann Duffy, Willy Russell, Richard Dawkins, Roger McGough, Anthony Gormley and Brian Cox.

His work has toured in several major exhibitions and he has been published in The Independent, The Big Issue, the Daily Express, The Times, the Journal of the Royal Photographic Society and has twice been featured in the British Comedy Awards. In January 2011 his work was featured in a two-day conference on the art of comedy, held at the British Library. He rarely gives interviews and has described his work as 'just a Sunday hobby'.

Hollingworth's photographs are also included in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery.