A year on: Laura Joy Photography
| August 13, 2012 | Posted by Alaa Jasim under culture, interviews, lifestyle |
Just over a year ago TSR met up with Laura Patrick to talk about her photography business, Laura Joy Photography, which she has been running alongside her A-levels. With hundreds more likes on Facebook since then it’s clear that Laura’s work has been increasing in popularity and success, and there’s really no question why once you flick through the amazing galleries of photographs she has taken and edited. I caught up with Laura to ask a few questions about her progress as a student photographer.
Alaa Jasim: What are your photographic inspirations?
Laura Patrick: Well, I take quite a lot of inspiration from the locations that I use and the type of model that I’m using. Sometimes I’ve done shoots with families and that’s kind of getting to know the people and finding inspiration from what they’re like, as well as a range of photographers that I follow. I find a lot of inspirations from their styles as well. I did an EPQ and I looked at three photographers for that, so that was taking on their styles to adapt it into my own, so it comes from a range of places.
AJ: Do you still gravitate towards natural forms?
LP: In a way, I guess I probably do, in that every photo shoot I do and enjoy the most is always outside, and so I always take on natural settings and locations. Recently, I have kind of dropped it into the more portait style of photography so that I can move away into a more practical, business style and approach.
Photograph courtesy of Laura Joy Photography
AJ: Last time, when Jo spoke to you, you had a few events lined up – has there been more interest in that? Is it something you’ll continue with?
LP: I’ll definitely continue doing it; I’ve had quite a lot of weddings this year. I joined Greg McGee from the gallery, according to McGee – he does weddings – as a photographer’s assistant, so I got to take a lot of the photos for that. Recently did one of my own and it was really fun to do everything. I’ve got all sorts of projects – family ones and personal ones – coming up, so it’s exciting!
AJ: Did you find it hard to balance the photography with your school work during term time?
LP: Yeah, it’s quite difficult to do both. It goes through phases, sometimes when you’re feeling really inspired it comes to you really quickly. During exams, I had to bring it to a halt a little bit and slow down massively. I just couldn’t do both at once and get reasonable results, so it was a case of priorities. At certain times it’s been easier than others. Just before the exams started, I was absolutely flying and I had so many little photo shoots that I was doing, but it goes in stages and changes constantly.
AJ: What has your most fun job or project been?
LP: I think the one I enjoyed the most was when for my EPQ I did a photo shoot which we had to go on a day trip for, which was awesome. We got in the car, piled it full of everything photography and had all of our props, equipment, everything. There were three of us, it was me, Nicola Vallack and Blythe Kaye, who were my models and we went off into the [Yorkshire] Dales and got some really cool shots with some purple heather which I think were probably my favourite ones. We went to the seaside and it was just so much fun because we just got stuck in and even the editing of it was fun – I’d loved taking the pictures so much that going through and editing was just really nice to do. It was like reliving it all and making it look exactly the way I wanted, but all the pictures had formed the way I had them in my mind, so it was so nice to do.
Photograph courtesy of Laura Joy Photography
AJ: In terms of the future, where are you now? Are you still leaning towards fashion?
LP: No. I’m photography all the way. It’s the one interest and hobby of mine that I just love all the time. It never changes and I find photography can be more personal to me and I like being able to tell stories with pictures and create something beautiful without having to do the whole fashion industry thing. I don’t think it’s for me, but I’ll always have a bit of a fashion take on a lot of my photos, especially with the portrait stuff, so maybe it’ll link in at some point.
AJ: What advice would you give to aspiring photographers?
LP: Ooh, I think one of the more important things is finding a type of photography that really suits you, that you’re really comfortable with and that you love. If you can do all the different types, then great. If you’re a very technical photographer who sticks to the technical aspects, then it’s how you apply that, because there’s no point being technical but not having an eye for it. If you’re technical, stick to wildlife or landscapes, it tends to be the portrait ones where you need to really have an idea of what you want to create. Find your niche and work on that. Keep it going, I mean, I’ve been doing this for about four or five years now, and you find that you get constantly better, so it takes time.
AJ: Most importantly, how can people get in touch with you, and is there anywhere they can purchase prints of your work?
LP: Well I’ve got my Facebook page, which is currently the easiest way to contact me, but I have a photography email you can use and a website, and you can contact me through those. If you’re interested in doing a photo shoot, then I’m fairly welcome to messages and taking that on!
AJ: That’s all I’ve got! Thanks Laura!
So that was our catch-up with Laura. You can see the progress she’s made with her work and the constant improvements really do show. If you haven’t already, go check Laura out – I think she’s definitely one to watch!
[Full disclosure: TSR hired Laura Joy Photography in January 2012 to take some photographs of the then editorial team, including the photograph in this article.]
