My interest in photography began one summer when I began to photograph my cats in my garden, which I did almost everyday. I really loved cats, but I decided there might be other things more interesting to photograph. I moved onto people. I went on to study photography for editorial & advertising at the University of Gloucestershire, which I am half way through and loving every minute of. The course has helped me find different ways of exploring photography and finding my role in it.
I am everyday trying to define my style, find the key things in my work that are the strongest to make myself a better photographer. I don’t know what ‘type’ of photographer I would be called yet. I love to photograph people more than anything, but am overcoming shyness which I find holds me back from photographing strangers.
My greatest influence in photography, is humour. I think humour in images is very difficult to capture, but when done properly, is the most hilarious form of comedy. I love the works of Elliot Erwitt, whose images make laugh every time I look at them, perhaps mostly because they are not staged, just simple observations. Martin Parr I also find as hilarious as I do genius and subtle.
I would however say my greatest influence, as many other aspiring photographers my age, came from discovering Tim Walker’s photo book ‘Photographs’. I had never been so blown away by imagery as I was then and it was that moment that I really decided what I wanted to do.
I am currently at university, splitting my time between assisting a london based professional photographer, and trying to shoot as much I can on days off. Assisting has taught me so much; from professional practice to how useful chopsticks are to an assistant.
At the moment I am obsessed with different ways of using a flash gun, and have spent lots of time devoted to wrapping and covering my flashgun in various things to create different effects. I am trying to create a DIY set of flash tools that are portable – I have a tendency to rely on my iPhone camera than an actual DSLR when on the move.
As for the future, I aspire to shoot for editorial – I have a fixation with creating a narrative within images – and be able to travel with it. In the summer of 2012 I travelled with friends in Europe and visited so many amazing places that I would love to shoot at – but with models and lighting kits on a professional basis.
I intend to continue my studies and take full advantage of the studios at university to beef up my portfolio. Any spare time I have is spent in the studios, photographing friends and models, being photographed by friends, experimenting and finding what I like, what I don’t like. At the moment I am still exploring what my place will be within the photographic world, and refining my style. I am loving the process though. I still really like cats.
Links:
http://www.louiseboynephoto.co.uk
https://twitter.com/iamlouiseboyne
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