Last night I was at the official opening of Sophia Fraser's new photographic exhibition at the Edinburgh restaurant Hellers Kitchen. Sophia (pictured below) and I have been friends for a few years now, having collaborated on various imaginative projects together. She is the one person I can creatively conspire alongside without any reservations. Quite a rare thing.
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Until you do get the chance to go along and see the works themselves, here are some pictures from the opening night (courtesy of the one & only Matt Brown) plus a conversation about Sophia's art, life and cameras.
When did you first start taking photographs?
When I was about 8 years old and I had a 35mm film camera. I would spend rolls and rolls of film on photos I had composed with various teddies, cats, plant pots and shoes! My uncle was a keen photographer and got me interested in the camera. My dad used to own a polaroid, which I LOVED too. And then my Grandma was an artist and was teaching me still life drawing, colour and observation from the age of 3 or 4. I never forgot those lessons.
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You're also a visual artist, working in various mediums. What is your background training in the visual arts?
From a young age I had wanted to be a designer. And somewhere is still a picture of me age 5 in my favorite jumper with a massive paintbrush on it! I had a really great teacher and art department at my school when I took GCSEs. This made me realise this is something I could actually do... I studied Fine Art and Photography for A Levels, and then I did a Foundation Degree in Art and Design. This was probably the best grounding for me - I was tutored under real working artists and designers - who helped with not only technique in painting, sculpture, graphics, textiles, photography and print - but also, helped me believe that maybe I could study Fine Art and not think about a 'practical' subject.
Then I did a stint at Glasgow School of Art, which is very inspirational in terms of the city of Glasgow (my favorite city in the world!) and having a studio in the Rennie Mackintosh building.
Then recently, I decided to completely re-learn photography. Got myself a digital camera which is operated like an old manual SLR - and a good book on the basics of the subject and started again from scratch!
Literally everything! Other photographers inspire me so much though. I don't get tired of looking at photographs and taking inspiration from a composition, or lighting, or viewpoint on a subject. I have mostly photographed Scotland the last few years - which has no end of beauty and depth to find over and over. Now I want to get into portraits and composing advertising style photography and have some great ideas for this.
What do you love most about the medium of photography?
I love taking something real, something any human eye can see - and then turning the image the eye can see into something more interesting, or putting a new perspective on it. I love showing it how I see. And I love seeing others' photography and how they see it. Hope that makes sense?! I find it invigorating capturing something that communicates to others, and creating a little world through a lens.
You're also a painter. How does your photography relate to your painting?
Well, I think the fact that I love painting also, spills over into my photography - I love injecting tons of colour into an image. Equally, I also use my photographs sometimes to help me work out how a painting will look. I think the fact that I have been designing pieces for promotion and marketing purposes affected the strength of images I was able to get with the camera.... and so on. Also, sometimes these will all dovetail and I will get an idea for a sculpture or something, from something else I'm doing.
I was recently at the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh and saw the most incredible exhibition on the history of Scottish photography. It brought it home to me that there is literally NO part of society that has not been in some way changed or affected by photography and the work of artists through time.
Looking at a photograph now, taken 50/60 years ago, is like getting a look into the past. And of course, that's exactly what it is. The world opened up when photography came along. And the effects that can be created with its techniques are endless and still evolving in the most exciting way. There will always be a need and want for photography in some form. And the ones who are evolving the industry, and doing something new are people who I have a massive respect for.
I want to work more on the actual techniques of photography and the camera. I want to study the history more and really understand all the possibilities there are to explore. And then, who knows!
I am definitely interested in getting into more portrait photography and specialising my photography for use in the new marketing and promotion projects I have coming up.
Absolutely. Endless beauty and depth. Colours like nowhere else in the world. A special kind of green in the land. In Edinburgh, I have easy access to the city, beach, lochs, mountains and Scottish tradition.
A Leica Digilux II. It's a beautiful digital camera, which is built like and looks like a manual film camera, so I feel like I'm using an old SLR. It's a wonderful camera to work with.
What camera did you use to take the photographs at the exhibition?
Mostly, on a little Canon IXUS. I love that camera. It forces me to put my attention on the composition and not rely on anything fancy from the camera itself.
Sophia runs a online Gallery and Shop for Art in Edinburgh and is available for bespoke commissions. The prints - A4 framed - can be purchased for £30. You can email Sophia directly any time.
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