Fort Worth photographer's connection to music's biggest stars
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - When Fort Worth's Leon Bridges saw his career take off in 2015 with his first hit song 'Coming Home' much of the video was filmed in his friends Fort Worth home and had that same friend co-starring.
Fort Worth photographer Rambo Elliot says, "I really loved my friend and I loved dancing and singing with him. I just thought he was beautiful and we would have these mini field trips and adventures. Even, we didn't know we were building a brand."
Elliot saw Bridges rise to stardom through a unique lens. After all, she was part of it... becoming his official photographer on tour.
Elliot recalls, "This label comes to my house and says we haven't hired a photographer in your capacity since the 60's. Do you understand this work? Can you continue this work? Do you know where you are? I was like…ya'll are asking if I'm smart, and if I know boundaries. Ya'll are asking me if I know how to work every minute I'm standing. The answer is yeah, I can do that."
And work relentlessly, she has. Rambo's work has been featured on all of Bridges album covers, except one, and in countless magazines. She describes her connection with Bridges as,
"...if we're in the same room. Something about the two of our minds can make dancing, breathing work. Even album two, we shot it over there in that room.... on some red paper. He wore the gloves from my wedding night on the back of the cover. He's just an iconic person and I want to make sure the people I love are represented like high art."
With 11 nominations entering the Grammy's, many know Jon Batiste as the band director for the Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS. Rambo knows him as another dear friend she met in Fort Worth. One of his album covers is also one of her masterpieces. It's just a snap shot of her connection to two of the biggest stars at this year's Grammy Awards.
Elliot says, "I'm immeasurably proud. They have such gifts, and their gifts really help the world. Both of their gifts… it helps the culture feel celebrated and safe. They make other men feel safe to be vulnerable. I'm really proud of them."
To be proud of them, Rambo also has to be really proud of herself. As the profiles of Bridges and Batiste have grown, so has hers. "It's nice to remember my work has been wide spread," she said. "It has been going everywhere. It just don't slow down enough to see it."
Another portrait of Rambo's world is her collection of vintage telephones that she says honors family members who worked for Southwestern Bell. Her calling to amass countless Stetson hats. Her wall of dead roses. Never wanting to get rid of one, because they were all given to her by her husband.
The self-admitted quirky photographer says even the way she got her name has special meaning. "I'm the last of the girls. There's no more Rambos after this. I'm making my family name my first name. When I got married, I had it changed to Rambo Elliot. It's every single human who helped me get right here… it's represented with Rambo. No one has gotten here alone. None of us."
With Leon Bridges not winning an award this time around, it was Jon Batiste who snatched five gold trophies… including Album of the Year. When it comes to knowing both of the great talents, Rambo remarked, "I'm just grateful. I'm grateful for them. I'm grateful for me. They won."
