Portfolio Review: 19-Year-Old Chris McCoy Shares Photographs of 2 Chainz, RiFF RAFF, and Pusha T

19-year-old photographer Chris McCoy captures big artists in their natural element—immersed in the bright lights and intense energy of being on stage. Based in Miami, the young artist has shot some of the best known musicians in the industry, including 2 Chainz, Lil Boosie, Macklemore, Ke$ha, RiFF RAFF, and Fun. His portraits of them performing or just after shows are both intimate and removed; they capture the individual subjects' personalities, but they're also portrayed with an untouchable aura of fame, keeping them at a distance.

We got in touch with McCoy about his photographs and asked him to recount some of his favorite moments from different shoots. Check out his work below with Portfolio Review: Photographer Chris McCoy Captures Some of the Biggest Names in the Music Industry. If this is what he can do as a teenager, we only expect more from McCoy, who says he plans to branch out into other genres of photography soon.

“I got to do a short portrait session with Lil Boosie backstage in Miami, Fla. on his recent Touch Down 2 Cause Hell tour. He’s a really nice guy and also really fun to work with! This photo was used for the artwork for one of his newer songs.”

“This is a live photo that stuck out to me the night after our shoot. I got to shoot some pictures of him playing live, and it was hype.”

“This was just a quick shot I took as RiFF was walking offstage at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami. I liked it because it seems like a profile shot, but it doesn’t have a staged or posed feel.”

“This is another photo of RiFF from Ultra in Miami. He walked backstage for a second and took a sip of champagne, and I got the most baller shot. He thought so, too.”

“Shooting Pusha T was so cool. He had so much energy. It was my first time watching him live, and I loved every second. I got a lot of good photos from his set, but this one is one of my favorites. "

“This photo of Fun. was shot in Nashville, Tenn. They’re one of the bigger pop bands I've gotten to shoot.”

“2 Chainz was so hype to photograph. I really want to have a real portrait session with him. I got accepted to shoot some live photos of him last minute at his show in Miami, and I ended up taking one of my favorite live photos that night.”

“Shooting Ke$ha was my first real ‘big’ show. I went from shooting little bands to Ke$ha, and it's been up from there since. I took one of the BEST pictures in my portfolio that night. "

“Mac had an amazing light show on his Space Migration tour back when he was with Rostrum. It was a super fun show to shoot, and I never got bored during his set. "

“This was a super rough show to shoot due to the fact that the pit had restricted access as to where I could go. I got a lot of other photographers head's in my photos, but I also captured something I thought just looked iconic.”

“This was probably the biggest show I've ever photographed and one of my favorites to shoot, as well. There were so many different outfits and a lot of different subjects. It was just fun to shoot. The shooting condition was easy. I was in the crowd with my telephoto zoom lens and got to have some backstage catering at the show.”