Lily lands job on Louis Tomlinson tour during final year of Film degree at York College

But that was the legitimate reason given by Lily Ajaib as she juggles the final year of her BA (Hons) Film Production & Professional Practice with a burgeoning videography and photography career that has already seen her tour more than 70 cities in 13 different European countries.

That has included working in some of the continent’s biggest indoor arenas last month with Louis – the former One Direction megastar who Lily had posters of on her bedroom walls growing up.

She has also worked for the likes of Bring Me The Horizon at the Leeds Festival and taken pictures of Billie Eilish.

Louis’ tour promoted his latest album “How Did I Get Here?” and Lily might be forgiven for pinching herself whilst asking the same question, given the exciting life she is now leading. 

The answer is multi-layered and includes academic excellence during her five years at York College, having first enrolled on our Level 3 Creative Media & Production Technology course at the age of 16.

It also entails expert teaching, guidance and support from her tutors and, outside of her studies, a determination to succeed in the industry by taking every voluntary and (eventually) paid opportunity that has come her way.

Lily’s opportunity to work directly with Louis for two weeks in cities such as Barcelona, Madrid, Lyon and Munich came after she had impressed photographing support act Only the Poets on his tour.

She went on to picture Louis performing and in more relaxed shots away from the stage - a genuine bucket list moment ticked off by Lily at the age of 20.

“I went to six of the shows on his last tour three or four years ago, just because I enjoyed it, but I also took small digital cameras in with me and took photos,” she revealed. “In terms of the big dream and somebody I had photos of on my wall, then it was Louis, so I had to compose myself a little bit when I met him!” 

Lily quickly transitioned into professional mode, however, appreciating the importance of gaining an artist’s trust and respect when working so closely with them – even if your client once belonged to one of the world’s biggest-selling boy bands of all time.

“Being the photographer for the artist, you need to have a good relationship with them and get along,” she explained. “You do pre-show warm-ups and you can be in the dressing rooms with them and you’re shoving a camera in their face. 

“Personally, I’d hate it, but some artists love it and will really engage. Others don’t really want to be a part of it and see it as just part of the job.

“What I have found out, though, is although they might be big and famous, they’re generally very normal human beings. They just do a really strange job and you have to blend in with that.

“Doing a tour with somebody like Louis Tomlinson, the scale of it is so big, but you still have to be very normal about it. You’re kind of like a family for four weeks on tour, but you always have to go home at the end of it and then start a new job.

“I hope to do that size of arenas in Europe again and, whilst you know it’s a big deal when you’re doing it and everybody’s saying it’s a big deal, I just try and tell myself, ‘This is normal’. It’s so exciting but so work heavy as well and you have to make sure you’re delivering for the management team.”

A typical gig day on tour will see Lily and the rest of the crew members start setting up their gear at a venue from 3pm.

Depending on the stature of the artist and how they prefer to work, discussions with them or their management team will then take place to ascertain what kind of film footage and still shots they are targeting for the upcoming show.  

Lily will then attend sound check and sometimes upload clips or images from there for social media, before the main event starts.

When the concert is over, the hard work continues as she quickly loads up her hard drives and backs up all her files straight away.

Typically, she is then up until around 3.30am, identifying and editing the best video clips and images, so they can be forwarded for the artist and their team to view them at 9am that morning. 

Social media assets might also needs designing with Lily adding that she would normally wake up at 8am before having another nap just after lunchtime and, then, repeating the process again. 

The nature of the work can also vary – sometimes she will be asked to use an iPhone for raw looking footage and, on other occasions, she will be operating a £5,000 camera as part of a multi-camera shoot.

Earlier this year, Lily also worked on Robbie Williams’ tour with his support act The Lottery Winners and she has just finished touring Europe again with American pop-punk, singer-songwriter Taylor Acorn.

The Festival season is now around the corner and Lily is rapidly getting used to life on the road, adding: “It’s luxury in a way, but then you’re also sleeping in a bunk on a bus with 14 other people, so it can feel like a hostel and the 19-hour drives are the hard bit!

“It’s all about combining working hard, with trying to get some sleep and seeing a bit of everywhere you go. I don’t like being sat at home, so I love it. 

“I really like doing shows in Munich, because the German music scene is amazing. I also liked Oslo and Scandinavia and I can’t tell you how many places I’ve been to – there’s too many! There are only a few odd places in Europe now that I haven’t done.”

Remarkably, Lily has combined this hectic lifestyle with completing the final year of her degree studies at College and confesses this would not have been possible without the support and understanding of BA (Hons) Film Production & Professional Practice course lead Josh Roberts, who she has been taught by throughout her time at Sim Balk Lane and credits with being “more than 75%” of the reason why she has progressed to this point in the industry.

In between travelling to different European cities, Lily has been working on her final dissertation this month and Josh has helped considerably by advising how her work commitments can be incorporated into coursework modules of her degree studies.

On managing such a difficult balance, she said: “I’ve managed to hand in all my assignments and have just dedicated certain times in the year to my degree work. Josh has allowed me to go out and do things, but says, ‘Just make sure you get this done before you go’.

“He’s also helped me come up with plans. It’s been unbelievably difficult and I wouldn’t recommend it, but it means I can go straight into industry when I leave College.

“I had Josh in my first year and have had him right the way through to the final year of my university course. He’s been the biggest help and genuinely the most unbelievably supportive person I could have ever had.

“He’s also given me all the equipment and gear I’ve ever needed and he’s the reason I’ve been able to do what I’m doing now. Him encouraging me is probably more than 75% of the reason why I did it.

“He always tells us the importance of being on time and organised and, then, the stressful part of the job is much easier. He also helped us find work with filming companies and I remember leading on some filming projects for College at 17 or 18, which I was really excited about.”   

Josh’s presence was a big reason behind Lily choosing to stay at College for her Higher Education when the Distinction she achieved on her Level 3 vocational course opened up a large number of possible destinations for her university studies. 

She also felt it would be more affordable to combine pursuing voluntary working opportunities with a degree better if she was still based at her family home in Wheldrake, whilst it was an important factor, too, that she knew “the university equipment is 100% industry standard for video”. 

Lily recognises, meanwhile, that she is now employing technical and interpersonal skills on tour that she first nurtured during those formative College years as a Further Education student.

“I definitely use a lot of the skills now 100 per cent, especially pre-production with all the planning and organisational skills that you need and that I first learned on the course when I was 16 or 17,” she pointed out. “I also learnt how to work with, communicate with and adjust to other people on the course and that has helped now I am working with different crews all of the time. When I join a new tour, I turn up not knowing anybody and, then, have to live with them for four weeks! 

“I remember the final project being something we worked on for four months, too, and, while we obviously had briefs, we were given full creative control. I really enjoying that feeling of being able to do whatever I wanted, whilst having that support if I needed it. 

“You could build your own crew and really zone in on what you liked, but we were also able to experience every step of making something. I was a camera nerd and Scott (Langford) and Josh – my tutors – advised me to use the best cameras that I could find. 

“I was very technical with everything, whereas other people might have really enjoyed the writing part of it. We did gaming, radio, film and TV, so it felt that I was getting a steady base for the full range of skills you need in Media Production, whichever route you wanted to take.”

That first course also saw Lily take the first steps on her current pathway – one that she hadn’t even anticipated was an option before enrolment. 

“I started out wanting to be on film or TV sets, controlling cameras and assisting ADs (Assistant Directors) but, then, anytime I had off College, I’d be at gigs, so things transitioned a little bit when I found out that I could mix both and, from there, I felt I knew what I wanted to do,” she declared.

Lily added that going down a vocational route rather than progressing onto A Levels proved the perfect choice for her.

“I didn’t do that well in my GCSEs and didn’t feel I really had an academic brain,” she said. “I was more creative and I knew I wanted to do something that involved the arts. 

“I had a massive interest in film and TV and knew that York College did a good course in Media Production and, as soon as I heard more about it, I knew I wanted to do it and nothing else really. I always felt A Levels were not the right route for me, because I’ve never been too good at tests, but I worked so unbelievably hard to get my Distinction. 

“I couldn’t have given anymore and, after not doing very well in my GCSEs, it was also proof that I could achieve something and be creative and have that freedom in an academic environment at the same time, which I didn’t really think I had when I was doing Maths and English. I was so relieved with the grade that I got and proud of myself.”

Once she had a clearer idea of her desired career path, Lily then set about assembling a portfolio of work that would give her the best opportunity of carving out a future living from the industry.

At the age of 18, she approached magazines, such as Taped, Indie Boulevard, CLUNK and Karma, asking if she could take pictures for them at certain shows. 

This led to voluntary photography work and Lily made herself even more helpful by offering to write gig reviews and interviews with bands and singers. 

“It was hard work because the reviews would often have to be done by the next day,” she pointed out. “But, in that time, I was also building connections and getting jobs, which is how I started being paid. 

“Before then, I was working part-time so I could afford to travel to the gigs and do all of it whilst I was at uni as well but, the way it worked was, if an artist liked the photos I took for a magazine, some might get in touch and say, ‘Can you come and take something for our social media and we’ll pay you to do it’. 

“I got those opportunities the longer I was doing it and, being in those rooms with promoters, tour managers and other photographers, also helps you form a network of people.”

The filming skills Lily has acquired at College, meanwhile, have considerably helped with the demand for her services, as she is often required to work simultaneously as a photographer and a videographer on tour.

She is pretty much booked up with back-to-back touring assignments before the Festival season starts this summer.

Having worked at nine during 2025, she is now looking forward to capturing images and video at her first European festival this year and admits such shows represent some of her favourite jobs. 

“I really enjoyed the Leeds Festival with it being so close to home,” she declared. “I’d like to work for the Leeds and Reading Festival’s media teams. That’s a goal that I’d like to hit in the next three years.”

And, finally, offering her advice for anybody wanting to make similarly exciting inroads into the music industry, Lily said: “It sounds so silly, but just show up in the right places. Then, if you’re in that environment, look for the sound engineers or tour managers.

“Talk to them and be willing to listen. You’ll find that 90 per cent of people are way more friendly than you perhaps thought.

“Most people just want to help, so be social, work as hard as you can and be dedicated. If you can make friends and make yourself available and useful, even if it’s just offering coffee, it goes a long way.” 

To learn more about our BA (Hons) Film Production & Professional Practice degree, please click here

Details our Level 3 Creative Media & Production Technology course can be found here

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