Self-shot photography: The lockdown edition

Although it seems that the UK lockdown has become a distant memory, I am sure these uneasy times have been embedded in our minds and will hang in there for a while. Apart from 'big scale' damage to the economy and people's lives, it affected so many artists and the way they approach their work. It especially affected people's photography, aka, the environments where creative processes relied on working in teams and being present in the same space. 

However, having all that temporarily taken away from us, maybe has given a productive push we all needed? Not only to appreciate the times of freedom and creative possibilities but, maybe, also to pause back, rethink and explore. 

Not to dwell on the negative, but the lockdown has been a big turning point for me, and not exactly in a good way - because I did not ask for it and was not ready. Yet I know now, I am so thankful for what happened because I had time to sit back down and think what actually matters to me. And I realised what matters to me is my own happiness. Doing things that make me happy, spending the time the way I want to and look after myself rather wasting time on people that do not appreciate my genuine efforts.

My point is that I, indeed, never felt the way I did during the lockdown. Time spent on my own was difficult and distressing until I learnt how to spend it to my advantage. 

I found myself happiest when ***drum roll***, shooting and delving into photography. I was spending a good chunk of my day browsing and searching for inspiration and then thinking how can I make it happen at home by myself. 

In this extended blog post, I have put together some of my most favourite attempts of self-shooting. Please bare in mind, all of these are shot on my phone, with natural light. The only piece of equipment that I had was a tripod and a clicker. Click on the image to open it full screen and to navigate through the rest. Let's start.

Look at her now

The first set of photos I will be sharing with you are these really feminine, almost soft images. I wanted to create something that was different from my usual makeup looks and ended up doing the hair as well. I wanted to feel gorgeous for me, not for anyone else. I accessorised the look with gold jewellery and gorgeous pink flowers. Really loved the outcome, it almost has a retro feel to it, what do you think? 

Go F*ck Yourself

This was my first collaboration with Phil Baro Thomas, who I am yet to hopefully shoot in person next time... Check out his work, I don't think there is anything in the world he can't shoot. He even does the bloody modelling to an absolute perfection himself! 

With regards to this series, the portraits were shot on my phone and styled by me. I used natural light again, just towards the end of the day so that I could play with shadows and direct sun - something a bit more punchy and contrasty. Phil has edited the images for me - I adore the final product. 

I will let you decide where the inspiration for this came from. :) 

Back to Pink

This shoot was probably the most spontaneous from my lockdown work. In the previous cases, I knew I would be shooting something that day and I had a vague idea about what I wanted to do... This one - nah, I literally did my makeup, chucked the wig on and I let that character I've become take me onto the photographic journey. I still don't really know who she was, but she was definitely sassy, brave and reckless. Editing was spontaneous too, all done from my phone. I guess I was just free to experiment and see what happens.

New shoes who dis

Jokes aside, but as you could probably guess from the title of this set - it wouldn't have existed if I wasn't loving my new kicks this much. This was shot towards the evening, it was lovely and sunny outside and I think the weather really translated well on my face. Here is some more of the 'real' me!

Forgotten Easter meets Maruv

Have you noticed that Easter has been and gone? Is it just me, or we were so busy locking ourselves at home we didn't get to enjoy the season as much? I am not usually big on celebrating it, but I feel like it's usually more noticeable. In supermarkets, shelves were overpowered by sanitising gel rather than easter eggs and all the chocolate goodies. 

Well, I have recently been heavily inspired by the Ukrainian singer Maruv, if you follow me on Instagram, and regularly watch my stories, I am confident you have seen my passion for her music... I am sorry if you are really not bothered, so let's move on to the actual photographs! 

I must admit, for this series I did not use natural light. The pictures were shot at night, I wanted a real moody feel to them, so I used my floor lamp to light my face. As well as this, a lot of credit goes to how I have edited these images. If I had access (and the skills) to set up a red gel studio, I would. But hey, like I mentioned earlier, this process was definitely about learning how to utilise what you can and make the best out of it! (images are censored for SFW, to see full versions subscribe to my OnlyFans). 

Bartley board: Garden party

You probably all know of Thom Bartley and the fantastic work he produces into the world. And for those of you who haven't, you're really missing out. You've got to check out his work.

So, during lockdown Thom was the first virtual shoot I've done (I have only done 2, despite million requests in my inbox...) and I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that I don't need to spend 3hrs+ to travel to him, I can just ring him up and bam, I got really cool photos - thanks, Thom!

I have also noticed that Thom came out with an excellent idea of the virtual photo booth during the lockdown and it became really popular on Instagram - such a simple yet brilliant and original idea. Then Thom dropped me a hint that something new is on its way and that I might want to get involved in his next project. He didn't have to tell me twice. 

This next project, in his words, was so ' wider community could get involved' by selecting 'one of the following moodboards as inspiration and then go away and do their own thing before sending it over to me to edit and format'. So basically, how it works is that you shoot pictures at home, by yourself, or with others in your household (nothing illegal!) and then send them to Thom to edit. From the three options of moodboards that he has provided, I annoyingly, absolutely loved the 'Garden Party' one, yet had no access to a garden whatsoever. Or even anything that could look moderately acceptable. I was still determined to give it a good go, just indoors, haha. I bought a watermelon, smothered myself in baby oil and this is how it turned out... Hope you enjoy the outcome!

That is finally all for today! I did shoot much more work and experimented with stuff as I had a lot of creative ideas and time to try them. But I think these were my best attempts and I am very glad of this little artistic journey lockdown has led me to. 

Which series was your favourite? Comment below or send me a DM, I would love to hear what you think.

Stay positive guys, whatever happens, happens for a reason!

Follow me on other social media to keep in touch. Until next time x