Who's behind the camera? Meet the Photographer!
- Sep 12, 2022
- 4 min read
Hi there! I’m Holly, a photographer and creative based in Yorkshire. I recently graduated from University with a first class bachelors degree in photography, now I am navigating life as a postgraduate and growing my creative career. Welcome to my new blog! Here, I will be discussing a variety of topics including tips and tricks, my work processes as a photographer and creative, my experiences with various situations and more! Today I thought I would share a little bit about who I am, a brief look into my journey and why I started this blog, and I will be answering some of the questions you asked on my Instagram Q&A at the end.
So, as I said previously, my name is Holly! My star sign is Capricorn, I have a pet Chinchilla and aside from photography, I enjoy reading, walking, cooking and anything remotely cosy. I would describe myself as a very creative person. My childhood revolved around musical theatre (yes, I was THAT theatre kid… now I’m a theatre adult) and I danced competitively for 16 years but unfortunately had to stop before auditioning for dance college due to a serious calf injury. This was a really rough period of my life, dance was (and still is) a huge part of my life, but despite not being able to fulfil my dream of being a professional dancer, I continued to dance through the University dance society and I really enjoyed just being able to have fun and dance purely for the love of dancing. Dancing and working in theatre for so many years still ended up being incredibly valuable as I now photograph dance shows!
My interest in photography began when I decided to take it as a GCSE. At this point, I just enjoyed photographing landscapes. It was definitely more of a hobby and never something I considered as a career. Nevertheless, I pursued photography at A-level and it was around this time that I got my first ever camera! I started photographing both landscapes and my friends, particularly the girls in my dance school, which is when I began to take a serious interest in the subject. I was fascinated by the potential of my camera and the endless possibilities I could create; it was a no-brainer that when my calf injury occurred, I wanted to continue photography at degree level.
University was a rollercoaster of an experience since I ended up spending half of my time either at home or stuck in my flat online due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Unsurprisingly, it’s quite difficult to try and complete a creative, practical degree, in an online environment. Luckily, by third year we were predominantly back on campus and free of restrictions in time to finish the degree. During my time at University, I realised how shockingly expensive a weekly food shop can be, became slightly obsessed with decorating my flat for every seasonal holiday, and discovered I was half decent at cooking. My degree cohort was so friendly (hi if you’re reading this!) and I met the best group of friends that I am sure will be friends for life. I finished my degree with a first class and miraculously won an award for my dissertation. I say this was a miracle not to blow my own trumpet, but because I was quite unwell while I was writing my dissertation, so it was quite the surprise to do so well!
That brings me on to today! Here I am, a new graduate (not officially, but by November we will be) attempting to navigate my life after years of academics. I have been slowly building my photography business over the past year or so in the hopes that my future entails a multifaceted creative career! I have been discovering who I am as a photographer and a creative, what I want to do in life, which direction I want my career to go in and just generally adapting to a new chapter in my life.
I decided to start this blog because I wanted to share my journey and experiences with my audience and beyond. More often than not, creative careers aren’t taken seriously because they don’t fit the norm, but you can make a successful business out of being creative, which is something I aim to achieve! I believe in collaboration over competition when it comes to being a creative, and perhaps this blog might inspire someone out there to delve into a creative career, learn a new skill or just take an interest in any of the topics we discuss. The main goal is to hopefully provide something for everyone to read, regardless of whether you’re a hobbyist or a seasoned professional.
There will be weekly updates on the blog every Monday at 12:30pm BST, which makes it the perfect lunchtime read! You can sign up to get notifications on the latest updates, and find all previous blog posts here. Happy reading!
Q&A:
Three facts about me:
I sang in the choir of the west end touring company of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat three times (told you I was a theatre kid)
My hip socket faces the wrong way! In medical terms, that translates to Hip Dysplasia with Acetabular Retroversion, but saying it faces the wrong way is much funnier.
I was actually named after a bank. My initials are HSCB, as close as my dad could get to HSBC. Maybe that’s why I was an expensive child haha!
When did you start with a camera?:
I started with the camera on my phone! It was only at A-level that I got my first camera since I was taking it more seriously. I shot with a Canon 1300d until midway through my second year of University. Now I shoot with a Canon 6D Mark II. You don’t need fancy gear to start!
What is your biggest accomplishment?:
Aside from my degree result, I had my work featured on a TV show and published in a book in 2020/2021 for fashion photographer Rankin’s 2020 series. You can read about it here!
What is your favourite aspect of photography?:
My favourite part of photography, or being a creative in general, is that there is so much to learn. There is always something new to try or a new idea that pops up that there is always room for growth. I’ve also met some great people throughout my life that come from a creative background, so the community is great too!
Comments