Q&A
Ellie’s portraits explore the identity of individuals in society who choose to express themselves in various unorthodox ways. Based in London she seeks out subcultures that challenge common public perception
Could you tell us about this body of work? What was the concept behind it?
With this project, I was interested in seeking out artists and performers who create interesting, shocking, innovative work. I purposefully searched for individuals who exist outside of mainstream culture in order to expose these hidden artists and their work to a wider audience. The majority of my work is concerned with hidden or isolated groups of people, and in this project I wanted to explore how these individuals use their own practice to explore their position within society.
The subjects featured in this body of work are all female, is this significant to the concept, and if so do you think feminism is an important aspect of your work?
I didn’t set out with the intention of simply focusing on women, however a very important aspect of the process was spending hours searching for relevant subjects, and I realised as I went along that I was very much drawn to the work of female artists. I do get told I’m a feminist, however I don’t agree with the often extreme views that are held by feminists. I am interested in gender roles, however my work is definitely not limited to this. I suppose in this case I have chosen to conduct my own exploration of gender issues through documenting how others have done this- both of the subjects shown above for example (performance artist Samantha Sweeting and painter Karen Stamper) create work that has very strong connections with the representation of women.
This project appears to have endless scope for continued investigation, do you have artists in mind whose work has grabbed your attention as being relevant?
I don’t really have anyone in mind- I have tended to seek people out rather than just coming across them. I think I’d like to introduce some male subjects which will obviously change the project considerably, but the project has been put on hold for a while whilst I work on other things.
What inspired you to start taking photos?
I went inter-railing around Europe the summer before I started a foundation art and design degree, and I visited a photography exhibition in Zagreb that really inspired me to start taking photos- although I can’t even remember what it was about now! I ended up specialising in photography during my foundation year.
What photographers influence the way that you work?
For this project I was quite influenced by the work of Alice Hawkins, however I feel like my photography is really developing at the moment and I’m influenced by the work of so many different people. I really like Vee Speers’ portraits- they’re so surreal! I’ve also just bought a great book by Mark Borthwick.
Where do you hope your photographic career will take you?
Continued happiness.
And finally; Beatles or Stones?
That's like choosing between your own children. Tonight its the Stones.