Bearcat Creatives: How photographer and artist manager Aman Avvaru broke into the music industry

Aman Avvaru | Special to The Ticker

Lauren Lee

Aman Avvaru is constantly collecting new creative titles. Aside from being a full-time marketing student at Baruch College, his expanding list of occupations include photographer, musical artist manager, director and more. He currently works with models, brands and musical artists on photoshoots. Avvaru also works in creative direction, management and event planning.

Photography was Avvaru’s first creative pursuit.  He took a photography class in high school but is mostly self-taught.  Avvaru developed his craft by organizing photoshoots with friends during his senior year of high school.

“I just really enjoyed taking pictures,” Avvaru said. “I would reach out to so many people and just make sure that every week I would have four or five photo shoots, just so I was working.”

During the same period, Avvaru experimented with combining his photographic talent with his love for music. He brought his camera to concerts and captured lively photos of performing artists. 

“I would go out to my car, edit the pictures and send it to them,” he said. “[I would] DM them on Instagram and be like… ‘Post these pictures, tag me if you like them.’”

His photography became an entryway to engaging with artists and their teams. After sending his first concert photos to platinum producer DOC, Avvaru established a relationship with DOC and the GStarr Entertainment team. He began receiving invitations to concerts, listening parties and other music events from newfound mentors soon after graduating high school.

Avvaru began to make efforts to network after becoming aware of the opportunities to introduce himself to music industry professionals.

“[I was] learning how to market myself and get my name out there,” he said. “Whether it was just simply like ‘make sure that person tags me’ or ‘make sure I go to all these events.’”

Avvaru’s networking introduced him to new people and interests. After a photography collaboration in summer 2022, artist Jay Divino offered Avvaru a position as his manager.  This marked Avvaru’s first artist management role. Since taking on the  role, he has begun to manage artists Carter Brown and Apollo Rai.

“A lot of it is direction and planning the rollout,” Avvaru said. “The music is made… so how is this going to look? How is this going to reach the audience? How am I going to translate this to the public?”

As a manager, Avvaru coordinates music videos, listening parties and public outreach. With his variety of accumulated skills, he has recently been able to take on new projects including directing  Brown’s upcoming music video and traveling to Tampa, Florida to manage a collaborative artist camp with the collective PXVI Club on April 22.

Although Avvaru’s industry experiences may seem out of reach for typical college students, he assured that those who are motivated can enter similar work. “If anything, really just put yourself out [there] and do it,” Avvaru said. “Do it in real life and show people…You could tell people a million things, but if you show them, even if it’s not like the best thing in the world… it holds weight. Not a lot of people do things in real life.”

Avvaru posts his work on Instagram and  frequently shares updates on his upcoming projects.