Tour Tales | Tyler Fuhrmeister watched Chris Brown rehearse tirelessly and give fans his all
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History can be captured in a second, but acclaimed photographer Tyler Fuhrmeister has toured with Ella Mai and Chris Brown enough to know bringing fans the photos they love is a full-time job.
“We shoot the whole show, and then after the show, Chris doesn’t have to go perform anymore. He can relax a little bit. We have to edit for four or five hours. Then we sleep, wake up, and do it all over again,” Fuhrmeister told REVOLT.
In this installment of “Tour Tales,” Fuhrmeister explains how Chris Brown balances touring with fatherhood, why shooting Ella Mai’s set during Mary J. Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous Tour” was challenging, and the difference between photographing Ella Mai shows compared to Breezy’s. Read the exclusive interview below.
What was the first concert you photographed?
The first concert I ever photographed was Chance the Rapper’s concert. It was one of those gigs I snuck into. I had my business partner now write up a fake email. We went backstage and showed it to the security telling them I’m supposed to be there. We ended up being told no (laughs). But, then I just walked around to the general admission area, pulled my camera out, and just walked through like I was supposed to be there, and then I just hid the whole show. I was never in one place too long. I was shooting photos, videos and all of that. That was in 2018. After I did that, I knew that was what I wanted to do for a living. I never saw anything like that show. I was mind blown.
You eventually started photographing Chris Brown shows officially. How’d you make that transition?
Travis [Colbert] got a random phone call overnight saying, “Yo, can you jump on this tour tomorrow?” He started the “Under The Influence Tour” and during the last five shows, he had me come out. At first, I didn’t have a relationship with Chris. He didn’t even know who I was.
After seeing enough of the same show, what did you notice about the types of photos you could get of him?
The very last song of the set has all the crazy sparklers going off. We move around because you’re not going to do the same shot every show. But, for the last part with the sparklers, we may shoot it in the pit with a big fisheye, like a big panoramic shot. Then, we may be behind him tomorrow with the sparkler coming down, so we can match cut it and all that. You have to keep learning things like where the fire lines up with him when it’s shooting off and where he stands usually. He also dances differently every time. He’s not in the exact same spot during the exact same second of every night. He may go this way instead of that way.
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What do Chris’ rehearsals say about his show preparation?
He spends hours and hours at rehearsals. He could come to the show, just stand up there, sing, and not do all this crazy stuff, and people would still probably be happy. But he wants to give his fans a show.
He had his daughter at a few shows. How have you seen Chris balance fatherhood with touring?
During the U.S. tour, he had his daughter at a lot of the shows. But, for this tour, he had his son with him. He’s a good dad. It’s super funny because before he goes on the stage, sometimes his son’s like, “Come on, let’s go!” And Chris says, “I’ll see you in a couple of hours, man.” Then, his son will be off on the side stage watching and dancing. Super cool.
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One candid moment you captured was Chris watching Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance after a show in Dublin. How did that watch party come together? What was his reaction?
Everyone wanted to see the Super Bowl, so they rented out either the whole bar at our hotel or just the corner section of it. They had a big projector come down. We’re all watching the Super Bowl, and I had my camera set up recording him. He was very supportive of it. He was saying, “Yo, that was hard.”
What’s the hardest part about being a touring photographer?
There’s no sleep, so after the show, we’re still working. We work full time. We shoot the whole show, and then after the show, Chris Brown doesn’t have to go perform anymore. He can relax a little bit. We have to edit for four or five hours. Then we sleep, wake up, and do it all over again. We have a one to two-hour timeframe to get him something for posting because he’ll post at four o’clock in the morning. We’ll send them to him, and 10 seconds later he’ll be posting them.
What fan interactions stuck out to you?
It’s really cool to see people crying during the show. I love shooting that.
How long after shooting on Chris Brown’s “Under The Influence Tour” did you start shooting Ella Mai on Mary J. Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous Tour”?
It was probably a month after. Travis alley-ooped that one, too. They reached out to Travis while he was on tour with Cordae, and he recommended me to them.
What’s the difference between shooting Ella live versus Chris?
That tour wasn’t Ella’s tour, so there were a lot of limits. The set was 30 minutes long. So, it was hard to shoot a full set to get content. It tested my ability to capture content because you have 30 minutes to run around an entire arena and capture five to seven songs. I don’t remember. But, every night I’d have to make a recap, along with giving photos.
What was your relationship like with Ella? Was she involved in the content you captured?
We had a great relationship on tour. We just sat and came up with ideas. I didn’t know what to expect. But, I fell in love with it to the point where I decided I was good on shooting the EDM world… I’m ready to shoot this side of music.
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The photos you shot of her looked glamorous and dreamlike. Was that something she spoke with you about?
It came from me looking at her page before the tour started and seeing she likes very clean and pretty-looking shots.
You were also there when she and Babyface rehearsed their live performance for the “TODAY” show. That’s R&B history. How did they work together?
So, earlier that day, we did the “TODAY” show, and they performed. I was recording it even though I wasn’t supposed to. I was just sitting there hiding but recording. After they did that, I heard, “Hey, he’s coming out at your show for a song tonight.” What was cool to me was that I could match cut together them performing on TV and them performing live. We talked about it. I saw them in rehearsals talking about it. It was really cool the way it all came together. I was super proud of it. He appreciates her a lot. They were joking a little bit and having fun. They have great chemistry together.
What do you have coming up for the rest of 2023?
I’m shooting Ella’s “Heart On My Sleeve Tour,” which ends in June. I also work with Shaquille O’Neal. We do a lot of things with him, and we’re working on something special right now that’s been in the works for a while. So, I’ll be focusing on that full time, probably for the second half of the year full time.
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