Ellie Davies

MW
What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what have been some of the most important milestones in your career up until now?


ED
I grew up in the New Forest and I spent a great deal of time outside in the woods with my twin sister.
The woods and heathland were a big part of our lives, whether we were making dens or skating on frozen ponds in the winter, we were in the landscape all year round.  When I left home and moved first to Cheltenham and then to London I missed these wild places but gradually I found a way to bring them back into my life through my work.

I’ve always taken lots of photographs but it wasn’t until about 15 years ago that I started to think about it as a career.  Throughout my teens I wanted to be a sculptor but I found the process of making something over many weeks a very intense and very solitary process.  I loved it but because of its almost obsessive intensity I wasn’t sure how I could make it into a way of life.

When I first moved to London I started to assist lots of different photographers.  I gained a great deal of invaluable experience over the next few years but also realized that my personal work, the work that I wanted to make from my heart, didn’t fit into any genre of commercial photography and that I wasn’t very happy working from commissions.

I took the MA Photography course at London College of Communication and came away with the certainty that I wanted to make landscape photography and it felt like a dream that I could spend my time out in the woods literally playing with ideas, building and making things, and capturing them as photographic images.   I love the technology and the geekiness of photography but I also like to work in a very ‘low-fi’ way.  Small kit, just me and my campervan in the woods.


MW
How do you approach editing your work, and what advice would you give to others about evaluating their photographs?


ED
I feel very emotionally involved with the images once I’ve made them because the experience is so fresh in my mind.  I usually do a rough edit after shooting but I don’t begin the final selection for at least two weeks.  This distance gives me a fresh eye, and allows a distance and an objectivity needed to separate the experience of making them from the images themselves.

The editing process can feel brutal, and it’s tough being really honest about whether an image is strong enough to stand on its own, as well as in a series.  It can be hard to accept if you have invested time and emotional energy but it is worth it in the end because you know that every image deserves its place.



MW
How do you decide on new projects to work on?  Do you always shoot with a concept in mind or do you wait to be inspired as you go?



ED
I always have a concept in mind because my work involves a fair bit of preparation. I write down all my ideas, often in the form of simple lists with lots of diagrams and sketches.  These gradually form themselves into a new concept.  Once I’m fixed on a new series I can’t wait to shoot it but first I need to gather materials, decide where to shoot, make things to be taken into the wood, decide how I’m going to light it and the time of day to shoot.  I like to work in overcast or rainy weather, the gloomier the better!



MW
What ways have you found successful for promoting your work and finding a receptive audience for it?


ED
When I left college I found it useful to have my work on art databases such as ArtSlant and Axis; various curators, buyers and gallery owners have all found my work through these sites.

Joining photography groups such as London Independent Photographers and London Photographers Association is a great way to meet other photographers who might be interested in putting together projects.  For example, I was approached a while ago by Jonathan Illingworth who is a fellow member of LIP.  He was collaborating with Tangerine Press to make a limited edition photo-book featuring four photographers working with forests.  Since then the book has been purchased all over the world and added to the V and A’s National Art Library.    This one contact lead to lots of exciting exposure for my work and illustrates how worthwhile it can be working in groups and collaborating with other artists.

Exhibiting is at the centre of my promotion.  It’s a good idea to build your mailing list by having a visitors book so that you can keep in touch with your audience.   To promote my exhibitions I send a press release to a wide range of listings sites such as ArtRabbit, Source, Re-title and Culture Shot, and to the photography blogs.   I also send new bodies of work to photography magazines and blogs, they are often interested in featuring new work so it’s a great way to reach a wider audience.   It’s also useful to get a Stat Counter on your website so that you can see how people are finding you online.

I’ve found it useful to enter competitions and submissions because this will get your work in front of curators that are otherwise hard to reach, and winning competitions has lead directly or indirectly to further exhibitions so I think it can be worthwhile as long as you look carefully at the terms.

Probably the best way to reach a receptive audience though is to work with a commercial gallery because they already have a wide and established audience for the work they promote.  The relationship can continue long after the exhibition with further sales, a wider audience for new work and continuing opportunities to work together.

 Between The Trees 1, 2013

 Between The Trees 2, 2013

 Between The Trees 3, 2013

 Between The Trees 4, 2013

 Between The Trees 5, 2013

 The Dwellings 3, 2012

 The Dwellings 4, 2012

 The Dwellings 11, 2012

 Come with Me 1, 2011

 Come with Me 2, 2011

 Come with Me 7, 2011

 Smoke and Mirrors 1, 2010

 Smoke and Mirrors 7, 2010

 Smoke and Mirrors 5, 2010

 Islands 1, 2010

Islands 2, 2010


© copyright all images Ellie Davies, all rights reserved.

Two Way Lens and Bokeh Magazine

I am happy to announce some exiting news!

I have teamed up with Bokeh Magazine to feature a Two Way Lens interview from the archive in every new issue, starting with the current one.

Bokeh is an international photography magazine based in California and published exclusively on iPad and iPhone, available through iTunes.

The first interview from Two Way Lens in Bokeh No. 11, is with James Friedman and it looks terrific.

More about Bokeh and how to get it can be found here

Klaus Pichler

MW
What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what have been some of the most important milestones in your career up until now?


KP
My first attempts in photography happened in the early 1990s, when my parents gave me a compact camera as a present, but the spark did not ignite then. Eight or nine years later, when I was studying landscape architecture, I bought a Minolta because I wanted to have a camera to document the excursions I had in my studies. And, almost instantly, I noticed that I really enjoyed taking pictures and I felt that I had just discovered a powerful tool. After some time, in an honest moment, I admitted to myself that I enjoyed photography much more than my studies and decided to make a profession out of it after my degree. Retrospectively, I could not say that something particular 'inspired' me to start taking photography. It was more a feeling that I, as a creative person who is neither able to draw nor to design things, had found something to put my creative energy into. In the first phase, I did not have access to photo books or exhibitions, so it was a very unaffected way of getting into photography.
Once I had made the decision to focus on photography (when I had three years of studying ahead) I consciously refused to look at other people's pictures or to get in contact with other photographers, because I felt that it would break my heart seeing other people making exhibitions or books while I was bond in my (sometimes much hated) studies. But quitting the studies was not an option, so there was only one solution: photographic hermitage... Same was when I started my first more serious attempts to create 'projects': I have been showing them to almost nobody because I was not sure if they were good enough, and spend nearly five years working on some series. Finally, I got a strong feeling that I had to go public with them, just to check if they were good or not. And since then, a lot has happened and I more and more began to consider myself as part of the (international) photo scene. Although it was a quite hard way, I am really happy about the fact that I am self-taught, because I had the opportunity to develop an own approach towards photography and towards working on different topics.
Of course, there were some 'milestones' which were really important for me - mostly because in my solitude phase I lost the belief that any of these events would ever happen in my life, for example the first gallery exhibition or the first book release. But more important are the pictures that I have not made yet - I always try to look into the future and to think about new ideas.


MW
How do you decide on new projects to work on? Do you always shoot with a concept in mind or do you wait to be inspired as you go?


KP
It maybe sounds like a stereotype phrase, but I don't search for new topics, the topics just find me. Since I have gotten into photography more seriously, there is some kind of 'Pichler universe' in which my topics are located. Although sometimes the aesthetics and the outcome of the series are quite different, the topics itself have strong connections with each other. It's all about everyday life and it's strange aspects - sometimes within a special group of people, sometimes represented by artifacts. And I think, since society will exist as long as humans exist, I won't run out of new topics, since people are strange sometimes - and this strangeness is what inspires me, attracts me and appalls me at the same time.
In a way, there is a slight idea of a concept when I begin to work on a new series, but I love to step back to a quite naive position in the beginning, to pretend that I don't know anything about my subject and that I have to start from the very beginning. This helps me not to be preoccupied and to get a sense for a variety of possible directions. In the end, I always have the feeling that every topic requires it's own aesthetic and that it is my job to tease out which one.


MW
How do you approach editing your work, and what advice would you give to others about evaluating their photographs?


KP
In my opinion, editing is almost as important as taking photos itself, especially when you work on a topic. Not only to select pictures, but to get a good feeling for the whole thing, the strengths and weaknesses of the series and the gaps which have to be filled. I spend long hours with the photographs of a new series, selecting them, arranging them, trying to get a feeling for the role of every single picture in the complete series. And also to find out, when one or more new pictures are added, if (and if yes, how) they change the whole series. I think in every series there are some 'pillar images' - the ones that carry the whole series - and it is very important to find out which ones take this function. When I am in the final stage of a new series, I sometimes get the feeling that every picture is like a close relative for me whom I know for a very long time. And I consider this as extremely important.
In my opinion, following advices are very important: Rome has not been built on one day - so take your time when you work on a series, allow yourself some breaks (even if they are months long) and settle your own emotion towards everything. Also, try to look at your pictures with a distance view, with the eyes of a stranger, probably of a stranger who is hypercritical. Be honest to your self, painfully honest. If it hurts, it's good, because you find out that there still is some potential.


MW
What ways have you found successful for promoting your work and finding a receptive audience for it?


KP
I think it is difficult to answer this question in general, because I think the way one promotes his or her work is deeply linked with one's personality. There are the real-life networking kings, the Facebook- queens etc. The most important thing is to find a way one really feels comfortable with, because it is easily noticeable if one is authentic or not.
In my case, I just do know one way of promoting my work, because miraculously the first attempt of promoting my series (after five years of working in silence) worked out fine and still is working: when I finally decided to go public, I sent some self-introduction messages to the blogs I liked then (around 10 blogs, as far as I remember), and almost every blog I contacted posted my works. I did not expect that before, and I was amazed and shocked at the same time then. Now, three years after, this is still my way I do promotion, especially if I am introducing a new series - I just send the info to some of my favorite bloggers and hope that the word on my series is spread by them and that other people get aware of the series. Besides that, I am a lucky one because I cooperate with two galleries - one in the field of photography, the other one in contemporary fine art - and plenty of promotion is been done by them. Luckily, because I am not considering myself as a businessman, especially not when it comes to my own work...

PINEAPPLE
Sort: Pineapple 'Nana'
Place of production: Guayaquil, Ecuador
Transport distance: 10.666 km
Mode of Transport: Aircraft, Freight vehicle
Cultivation: Outdoor plantation
Harvest time: all- season
Carbon footprint (production & transport) per kg: 11,94 kg
Water requirement (production & transport) per kg: 360 l
price: 2,10 € / 1 kg

STRAWBERRIES
Sort: Strawberries 'Elsanta'
Place of production: San Giovanni Lupatoto, Verona, Italy
Transport distance: 741 km
Mode of Transport: Freight vehicle
Cultivation: Foil green house
Harvest time: June – October
Carbon footprint (production & transport) per kg: 0,35 kg
Water requirement (production & transport) per kg: 348 l
price: 7,96 € / 1 kg

 LEMONS
 Sort: Lemons 'Lapithkiotiki'
 Place of production: Limassol, Cyprus
 Transport distance: 2050 km (linear distance)
 Mode of Transport: Ship, Freight vehicle
 Mode of Production: Outdoor plantation
 Production time: October to February
 Carbon footprint (production & transport) per kg: 0,72 kg
 Water requirement (production & transport) per kg: 448 l
 price: 1,99 € / kg

TOMATOES
Sort: Cuore di Bue
Place of production: Albenga, Italy
Transport distance: 1035 km
Mode of Transport: Freight vehicle
Mode of Production: Foil green house
Production time: all- season
Carbon footprint (production & transport) per kg: 0,31 kg
Water requirement (production & transport) per kg: 215 l
price: 8,90 € / 1 kg

MELON
Sort: Water Melon ‚Reina de Corazones’ red
Place of production: Pilar de la Horadada, Alicante, Spain
Transport distance: 2442 km
Mode of Transport: Freight vehicle
Cultivation: Outdoor plantation
Harvest time: June – August
Carbon footprint (production & transport) per kg: 0,54 kg
Water requirement (production & transport) per kg: 1490 l
price: 0,99€ / 1 kg

 from the series Just the two of us

 from the series Just the two of us

 from the series Just the two of us

 from the series Just the two of us

 from the series Just the two of us

from the series Skeletons in the closet

from the series Skeletons in the closet

 from the series Skeletons in the closet

 from the series Skeletons in the closet

 from the series Skeletons in the closet


© copyright all images Klaus Pichler, all rights reserved

Helen K. Garber

MW
What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what have been some of the most important milestones in your career up until now?

Dad with camera


HKG
This is my favorite photo of my dad, Alex Kolikow, taking his self portrait in 1941 with his Argus C-3 camera.  The camera he taught me how to shoot with.  He was an enthusiastic amateur with a darkroom in a closet in our basement in Brooklyn.  I wasn't  interested in spending time in the dungeon-like darkroom, so didn't process my own film or print until the 1990's...when I really became serious about my art.  He also had a twin lens reflex Voightlander which he got while overseas in WW II.  I recall him saying it was a Nazi souvenir, but I could be wrong.  He had a German rifle, a bayonet and a luger in the darkroom, so it is possible. Anyway, he taught me how to use the Voightlander for a science project in elementary school.  I grew onions in different conditions and documented their growth.  We printed the photos and attached them to poster board for the display, so my first photo exhibit was in 1966.  I won at the elementary school level and it was featured at the Brooklyn Borough Science Fair that year..where I believe it earned an honorable mention.  I still have both cameras in my closet.

My dad died in 2005.  He enjoyed photography all his life and taught his fellow retirees in his complex in Century City Florida as well as photographed and printed the photos for the community newspaper.  He also learned how to use the computer very well and taught classes in that until he became ill.  He was very creative and had a lot of fun with all his "hobbies".  Didn't ruin his fun with trying to make a living with it...the money part kind of ruins the fun unless you are opening an envelope with a nice fat check in it!!!

In the late 1960"s, I started to shoot my friends with easier  to use Kodak Instamatics with the square flash bulb which rotated for 4 flashes.  My parents gave me a Minolta srt 101 for my high school graduation present and I aimed it mostly at my friends in college as that is what my dad did with his camera.  And began adding landscapes as I went to school in the beautiful Hudson Valley in upstate NY.

I was more a film history nut than photography and didn't study the history of photography until the early 1990's.  Although we had subscriptions to  Life, Look, Newsweek and National Geographic magazines, so I absorbed great photography on a daily basis.  But when asked, I say I was more influenced by great visual filmmakers, Hitchcock being number 1, Woody Allen, Orson Welles, Carol Reed, Billy Wilder, etc. and their cinematographers.  Film Noir of course.  German Expressionism and Surrealism in art, film. and theatre.  Music and literature have always been great influences on my work.  My college degree is in scenic design which is why there is a theatricality to my work.

Milestones:

1. 1989 - 91
My husband was the chiropractor for Le Cirque du Soleil and I get access front and backstage.
Documented the troupe in Santa Monica, Orange County and Manhattan.
Showed the members of the amazing troupe my photos and was accepted as a fellow artist.  Through the time spent with them learned one must follow their passion to lead a fulfilled life. Decide to drop all the other mediums I was working in and become a professional photographer.

2. 1993
Grand prize 20th Century photo contest.  Use the $3500.00 prize money to build out my first professional studio in Venice across from Gold's Gym.  Shot editorial and portraits commercially. Documented the visually extreme members of Gold's Gym and perfected my portrait skills.

3. 1997
Hired by American Photo Magazine to shoot and star in Freeze Frame San Diego for the Travel Channel, Travel Holiday, American Photo and Pop Photo Magazines.  30 minute travelogue (on youtube and my website) and large photo spread in all three magazines)

4. 1997
Hired by Random House, Clarkson N. Potter to illustrate Parents at Last..

5. 1997- 2007
Went up to the Empire State Building at night and snuck a mini tripod to the Observation Deck.  Begin the 10 year project, Urban Noir. Shot images in LA, NY, Portland, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Amsterdam, Paris, Venice and Rome.  Still want to continue adding cities

6. 1998
first one person show, book signing @ Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles

7.2000 - 2001
Learn photoshop through Master Printer, Jack Duganne

7. 2002
Read that Vintage Books were re-issuing Raymond Chandler Books , begin reading pulp fiction and adding text using city as character to caption my images, thus begin the multi -media portion of LA Noir.

8.2004-2005
Move my studio to Ocean Front Walk , document the area with the first Nikon dslr, manipulate the images in photoshop and self publish what will become the official publication of the Venice Centennial, Venice Beach, California Carnivale

8.2005-2006
Invited to shoot on the Heli-pad of the US Bank Tower. Commissioned to turn A Night View of Los Angeles, the 360 degree panorama of the entire city of LA into a 40 foot long print on silk for the 2006 Venice Biennale of Architecture.  Attend the Biennale and shoot Venice, Italy at Night

9. 2007
Night View of Los Angeles is printed on banner vinyl, exhibited outside at the front entrance of Photo LA, then partner with Duce to invite the most notorious Graffiti Writers to lay their tag on the print.
Exhibited at the entrance of the Venice Art Walk, FADA LA Art Fair (2010).

10. 2007
One person show at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, NY (my alma mater) of Urban Noir, LA-NY that includes 20 silver prints that are acquired by the museum, first projection prototype of Urban Noir/LA-NY  incorporating images, text and existing music.

11. 2008 - 2013
Direct 50 artists around Southern CA to document their neighborhoods and present them in multi media installations designed by Internationally renowned architectural firm minarc.  Installations are opening nights for Month of PHotography, Los Angeles 2009, 2010 and Autumn Lights Festival, 2010.  Also Medium Festival of Photography, San Diego, November 2013

12. 2009
Present Urban Noir- LA-NY at the Annenberg Space for Photography with original music played live by Grammy-nominated jazz musician, John Beasley

13.2010
Urban Noir/ LA-NY is transferred to HD, projected at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Samuel Goldwyn Theatre Oscar Noir Festival

14. 2012
NoirFest Santa Monica
Direct 3 month integrative arts festival with Noir as the central theme.  At the same time, have one-person show, Encaustic Noir @ dnj Gallery, Santa Monica opening during Photo LA Weekend

15. 2012 - present
Begin teaching photo workshops at Otis College of Art and Design, Photo LA Emerging Focus + other venues I am starting to have conversations with.

16. 2012
Venice Yesterday, Today or still crazy after all these years. Diptychs of images past and present, working with the Venice Historical Society and printer Titano Cruz.

17. 2014
Santa Monica Arts Fellowship, from Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Department, Santa Monica, CA.  My project will be to photograph waves shot from the Santa Monica Pier and incorporating them into mixed media assemblages along with reclaimed wood from the pier and encaustic wax medium.

MW
How do you approach editing your work, and what advice would you give to others about evaluating their photographs?


HKG
You need to learn how to tell the story.  Shoot as if you are making a movie. Master, medium and close up images of the your subject matter and put them in a sequence that has great rhythm and design.

Learn history of photography, design, composition, color theory, art history, listen to music, read literature, get a great background in art and design and shoot, shoot, shoot.  Work with mentors or go to school to learn what creates a great photograph.  Then you can feel confident about your own editing capabilities.

But it is always best to do the rough edit and have a second or third eye to look at your work.


MW
How do you decide on new projects to work on?  Do you always shoot with a concept in mind or do you wait to be inspired as you go?


HKG
Venice, CA has amazing creative energy and the successful artist is one that is able to absorb and focus the energy to create great works.  Think of my neighbors, John Baldessari, Ed Ruscha, Ed Moses, Frank Gehry, Peter Alexander, Lauren Greenfield...the list goes on and on.....We are attracted to this area as it feels wonderful and has amazing light.  I always have a list of projects that interest me....It is just a matter of prioritizing.

You have to find a subject matter that you are passionate about as you will spend enormous time conceptualizing, photographing, printing, editing, attracting support, exhibiting, and promoting it.  So it better be something you love.

In the case of the Parents at Last book, it was about adoption and the new ways of making families.  I never had an interest in having children...even after doing that project.  And I was a hired hand, recommended by a mutual friend who worked at People Magazine.  Although I was paid a nice sum of money to do it and enjoyed meeting and documenting the families,  when it came to promotion, found people wanting to tell me their own stories, which did not interest me very much at all.  And while they also complemented my images as I was signing books for them , I sat there wishing it was a book about adopting dogs instead of children.  So that lesson was learned pretty early on... And ended my editorial career.  I became a fine art photographer and only shot projects that I initiated.  I charged a lot of money for the  few commercial assignments over the years as I did not enjoy working on assignment.

Now I don't have to worry about that as there are so few assignments out there.  Maybe it was a prophetic understanding which allowed me to continue working, not waiting for someone to tell me what to do, but I have always been very self motivated and controlling about my work.


MW
What ways have you found successful for promoting your work and finding a receptive audience for it?


HKG
I am liking Linked In at the moment.  I lecture and do photo workshops as well.  10 years ago it was Photo Reviews.  Before that printed resource directories.  Depends where you are in your career and what the fashion is. You always have to stay ahead of the curve.  The internet allows your work to be seen around the world 24 hours a day.  Which is amazing exposure.  You just have to figure out how to stand out from the pack.  My mixed media work is a different nut, and although it is no longer straight photography and might limit me in the photographic world, it also opens up to the possibility of fine art galleries interested in mixed media work.  Building a strong network is essential...which is why I like Linked In at the moment.  I just picked up a show in Italy by reading an announcement of a new gallery opening and connecting with the owner.

 Griffith Park Noir  ©2009 from the series Noir Diptychs

 LACMA Lamps ©2009 from the series LA Noir

 Shrine Oscars ©2000 from the series LA Noir

 Getty Tram ©1999 from the series LA Noir

Disney Hall Noir ©2004 from the series LA Noir

 Second Avenue Subway Station ©2005 from the series NY Noir

St. Marks 3 ©2006 from the series Euro-Noir

Erdilin ©2003 from the series Euro-Noir

 Windmill Ghosts ©2003 from the series Euro-Noir

 Full Moon 6 ©2012 from the series Arizona Moon

 A Night View of Los Angeles Detail (with full image inset) ©2006

Leigh Flying ©1994 from the portrait series

 Disney Noir Two ©2011 from the series Encaustic Noir

 Ghost Girl ©2013 from the series, New Mixed Media with Encaustic

© copyright all images Helen K. Garber, all rights reserved

Julia Fullerton-Batten

MW
What inspired you to start taking photographs, and what have been some of the most important milestones in your career up until now?


JFB
My father is a keen photographer. He started photographing earnestly when we children were born. He took his camera, then an old East German Praktica SLR, with him wherever he went.  As well as family photographs he enjoyed street photography. After a shooting session he would disappear into his home darkroom to develop and print B&W film. We would later find the prints floating in the family bath for us to examine. I can claim to have grown up with   washed off fixing solution and photography in my veins!

I had to make a career choice when I was sixteen. My parents were amazed when I told them that I was aiming to become a photographer.  The die was set and milestone after milestone came and helped to build up my career. Frankly there are too many important milestones to list; I’ll choose a few just to illuminate that my passion for photography, hard work and perseverance were a constant reason why I also, to a certain extent, created the luck that seems to have accompanied me over the years.

The first and significant milestone was, without a doubt, the career path for me, to decide to go to college to study the basics of photography and then follow this up with five years ‘apprenticeship’ assisting many professional photographers. During those five hard but rewarding years I developed many skills.

My efforts to enter and do well in photographic competitions and develop a strong portfolio and keep it constantly up-to-date led to me getting a German agent and, from them, my very first large commercial contract. I became a fully fledged professional photographer.

After a couple of years of commercial engagements I began to exercise my passion for shooting non-commercial, personal work. Through this I got from the National Portrait Gallery in London a prestigious commission to photograph portraits of sixteen very important people in the UK’s National Health Service. These were hung prominently for several months in the NPG, helping to establish my growing reputation further.

At the same time as my portraits were exhibited in the NPG I had my first solo exhibitions of my project ‘Teenage Stories’  in galleries in London, followed by my images being exhibited around the world. I also continued to win prizes for both my commercial and fine-art work, as well as for my website. I was also profiled in many national and international photographic magazines, both amateur and professional.


MW
How do you approach editing your work, and what advice would you give to others about evaluating their photographs?


JFB
After shooting a project, I find I need to distance myself from it. So I put it aside for a few days, or weeks, and keep coming back to it. I welcome opinions from other people, who may or may not be photographers.


MW
How do you decide on new projects to work on?  Do you always shoot with a concept in mind or do you wait to be inspired as you go?


JFB
I always have a concept in mind; on the day of the shoot I have everything prepared and planned. Obviously if something goes awry, I am flexible enough to adapt to the circumstance.

New project ideas occur to me constantly, some never see the light of day, others are put onto the back-burner so that I can concentrate on the specific one that I have chosen. Once my mind is made up for a particular project and I have budgeted the project, the gradual process leading up to the shoot commences. This frequently taking several months before the actual shoot. The shoot itself can take just a couple of days, but also be fairly extended, depending on the project.

The planning phase involves hardening up my ideas on scenes, choices of location, models, clothing, props, etc. The day or days of the shoot also require considerable preparation – selecting my team, hiring additional lights or equipment that may be needed, arranging the logistics of getting my team and the models to the location and for accommodation (if needed).

I plan meticulously all details of the project and the shoot itself. Post-production work, including editing (if needed), releasing the images to my agents, the public, the media, and handling all sort of enquiries is supplemental to the above. However once the project is put to bed, it’s not long before the creative juices start working anew, and the entire cycle begins again.


MW
What ways have you found successful for promoting your work and finding a receptive audience for it?


JFB
Very early in my career, still an assistant, I decided to enter photographic competitions and develop a powerful portfolio. After my first agent found me, I now have agents in many countries, who are not only responsible for drumming up business, both commercial and fine-art, and also for getting my work exhibited.  I have already alluded to my success with photographic magazines, which also is a powerful tool for promoting my work. I have also had a book published.
In the meantime, I have continuously expanded my promotional activities with a website, and occasionally by using Facebook.. I frequently change the front-page of my web-site. This avoids the viewer getting bored with seeing the same front-page every visit.  I also include information about forthcoming exhibitions of my work anywhere in the world, and have added a blog which gives up-to-date news about awards, details of exhibitions, and anything else of relevance.

 Custody Battle, from the series Mothers and Daughters

 Departure, from the series Mothers and Daughters

 Pretty New Thing, from the series Mothers and Daughters

 Miriam, from the series Unadorned

 Ava, from the series Unadorned

 Jessica, from the series Unadorned

 Night Dress, from the series Awkward

 Yellow Dress, from the series Awkward

Yuen, from the series Blind

Anna, from the series Blind

Harajuka, Tokyo, 2013

Shimo, Tokyo, 2013

 Vlada, Egoiste Magazine

 Client: Renaissance

 Client: Renaissance

 Client: Schizophrenia

 © copyright all images Julia Fullerton-Batten, all rights reserved