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Actor Mickey Rooney and Mission Impossible star Dougray Scott are just some of the celebrities that Neely has worked with.

© Picture of Dougray Scott taken by Neely

Neely is in talks with Ben Stiller and is already planning to make the trip to LA to photograph the star. In August 2009 she will be photographing Robert Vaughn when he returns to the UK to film the next series of 'Hustle'.

So how did a twenty seven year old from the Black Country manage to make it in the world of celebrity photography?

Getting started

The start of Neely's life hasn't always been easy. Throughout her childhood Neely always found it really difficult to make friends. She spent a lot her school life being bullied:

"I always felt that I never belonged anywhere, I was picked on for not fitting in. I always felt worthless and less important than everyone else."

It was this story that The Prince's Trust charity decided to invest in. In 2006 they gave her a small loan to help set up her own modelling and photography agency.

For three years she worked tirelessly seven days a week from morning to night to build up her business. At times it seemed like the hard work was never going to pay off. But then in 2006 she was awarded Black Country Young Entrepreneur Inspirational Women Awards organised by Business Link.

In 2007 she received a bronze medal at the Chamber of Commerce Business Champion Awards. Then finally for the first time in her life she felt she was being recognised and was determined to succeed.

© Picture of Linda Barker

The Celebrity Project

In 2008 Neely approached various celebrities for her Comic Relief fundraising idea. She wanted to create striking black and white portraits with the celebs each wearing a red item:

"We went to Linda Barker's home and also took shots of the Chuckle brothers in their own homes. I had great fun taking these pictures."
 
In 2008 Scottish actor and Lord of the Rings star Billy Boyd agreed to pose for a photographic portrait:

"Both my business partner and I decided that we really wanted to create a huge photographic project to put our names on the map. So we worked literally for a month preparing a proposal for actor Billy Boyd. Our proposal caught Billy's eye and we made plans with him to shoot in Scotland."

© Picture of actor Billy Boyd

Other celebrities became much more responsive once they saw the shots of Billy and Neely felt she was slowly entering the world of stardom:

"It's so surreal, sometimes it feels like I'm leading a bizarre double life. One minute I'm outside the big royal palace in Paris photographing a Hollywood actor, then the next day I'm queuing up in the local chippy for a cone of chips and curry sauce!"

Unique photography

Neely explains that she tries to make her photography stand out from the crowd:

"Our technique is very different from other photographers and I think a lot of it has to do with our background. We are still grounded in reality and our secret is capturing celebrities in a real light or in a way that's not been seen before by their fans."

When taking Mickey Rooney's portrait Neely says she tried to create a shot that hadn't been seen before:

© Jan and Mickey Rooney

"Mickey is a true Hollywood legend but after a lifetime in front of the camera the instant a lens is pointed at him his natural reaction is to either wink or give a cheeky grin. Of course there's nothing wrong with that, but as a contrast to this we managed to capture a rarely seen off guard shot of him and his wife Jan. This worked really well it really captured a wonderful moment of affection between them."

Inspirational role models

"With the economy the way it is at the moment you read stories of mass redundancies and collapsing businesses almost every day, but I am hoping that in my own way both my buisness partner and I can act as an inspiration to other young entrepreneurs - or even those thinking of setting up in business for themselves. I want others to know that it's possible to succeed as long as you have a goal, work hard and never give up."

Take a look at Neely's work by visiting the following websites:

Find out more about the Princes Trust charity here: