Family and a newfound love for photography: Club Spotlight on Star
Dazed Club member Star talked to us about how she recently discovered photography as a passion. She picked up her first camera earlier this year and started documenting her younger family members, who've served as a source of motivation for her creative and life pursuits. Her photos reveal a tender look at what makes her happy and what's inspired her.
This summer I got my first camera and spent time teaching myself photography and photo editing. For me, I was drawn to having my family members, such as my little cousins and my little brother, to act as my subjects to create a personalised chronicling of my life.
When I first started editing photographs, my approach and style would be very spontaneous. The art style I had created through these images happened in a spontaneous moment; I had no intentions to create a unique look but when I did, I realised, "there’s potential in this, I think there’s something special here." The bright colours that are seen in the images in contrast to the black and white/low saturation point towards finding beauty or hope within something essentially dark. In some images it’s about highlighting parts of the picture that stand out and to place more emphasis on them – so creating this juxtaposition between black and white can make the moments in the images really stand out.
The choice of setting is purposeful in my work. When I started photography, I chose my back garden to shoot in as it always had the most wonderful sunlight during the summers, and it allowed the kids to have fun and feel free whilst I took their photos. They always like to play outside, and so I felt it was best to capture their happiest moments in the place they enjoy the most. To have my family in the shots means everything to me – my family has always supported everything I’ve chosen to do. To feature my younger family members in something that is now shaping the future of my creativity is something I see as a blessing.
Regarding my process, I take images with a bright flash and a small aperture, and then I use a low ISO setting. This makes the faces in focus on the images, particularly with the flash, and creates shadows in the background. In some images this contrast is inverted so there’s a bright background and everything is amplified. Essentially there’s just a large focus placed upon the person. I then go into DaVinci Resolve and work with colour grading tools to add those colours and subtract the saturation until I have my final piece.
I never save and use my own presets, so the post-production can take me anywhere between 2-3 hours to complete as every image is edited from scratch. I like working from scratch every time as my style may change with each new image I work on. Every time I feel an image is finished I go back again and I keep changing and refining my work until I believe deep down inside it’s done. I never rush the process.
I realised that life should consist of things that you want to do and things that make you happy. Time doesn’t wait for anyone, so I get up and try new things all the time. I know that may sound quite melodramatic, but that’s my biggest motivator.