Our clients are a talented group of people and when they win awards we want to celebrate with them! Photographer Jessica Kelly recently won the Student Spotlight award in the Magnum and LensCulture Photography Awards 2016 with her project on male sex workers. We recently spoke to Kelly about what inspires her as a photographer and what’s next for her practice.
Hey! Please introduce yourself and what you do!
Hey, I’m Jessica. I have recently Graduated from Ravensbourne University this year where I studied Digital Photography. I specialise in shooting Documentary and Portraiture photography. Through my work I aim to build a relationship between the subject and the viewer, allowing the viewer to identify and relate to someone or something that they hadn’t previously realised they had anything in common with.
Tell me a little bit about your current project.
My current project named Boys focuses on the men that work in London’s Sex Industry. My aim was to capture the beauty in reality and give an insight into a rarely documented industry in a respectful and positive way.
What are the pros and cons you find daily about your practice?
Pros would be meeting new and interesting people.
Cons would be my nerves! Before any shoot I feel extremely nervous to a point where I want to just cancel and stay at home. What pushes me through this is the thought of capturing a beautiful moment that would otherwise be forgotten.
When is the best time to work to get those creative juices going?
Going about my everyday life I always see something that I think wow that would make a great photo. Whether it be a location or a subject. If I have my camera with me I will capture it if I don’t I will push myself to go out and get a similar shot another time
What is it about your practice that you find so exciting and keeps you hooked?
The thought of capturing a moment to last forever that may otherwise be forgotten is extremely exciting to me. With any shoot I do I go in with an open mind with an image I want to capture in my head, but what makes it exciting is the fact that you may capture something completely different.
You print with us here at theprintspace, what is your go to paper of choice?
My favourite paper to print with at theprintspace is C-type Fuji Matt as I feel it works with my images beautifully.
What do you like the most about using this paper?
I always know that the quality will be top and that my prints will look exactly how I imagined.
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to make a career out of your given practice?
Shoot as much as you can, every day in fact! It it will allow you to find your own style and practise always makes perfect!
What’s next for you?
I will be shooting a lot of personal work over the next year, I have a few exciting projects that I’m shooting at the moment which i can’t wait to share once they are complete.
