Thefine-art photographer on the importanceofcreativevision
Brooke Shaden
Ihavebeenshootingfor 11 years and have
beendoingitfull-timefor10! I started
creatingdark,creepyself-portraits in my
tinyapartment,andhonestlynot much has
changed.Ihavealwaysbeenreally invested in
creatingexactlywhatIseeinmy imagination.
Ishootdark,surreal,conceptual images.
Eachhasastory,adistinctemotion, and I
alwaysrelatethethemetoalarger audience
sothatmorepeoplecanconnect to my
images.Icreatecomplexcomposites, always
favouringasquareformatsothat my images
feelmorepainterlythanphotographic.With regards to gender bias in photography,
I’ve been fortunate because I largely work
alone, which has kept me shielded. That was
an intentional decision when I started my
business (at 22) and decided what to focus on.
Being young, inexperienced and looking like
a teenage girl had a lot of people rolling their
eyes at me. I remember a gallery that I really
admired met with me about my work and told
me that I couldn’t possibly know what I was
doing. I think in any industry you’ll face bias,
but in a technical industry like photography,
we can often see it clearly.I used to think that to be a kind person
and a humble photographer I needed to play
down my achievements. I would look away
when someone paid me a compliment, and
I never spoke about my big moments. The
only breakthrough I can cite as being truly
life-changing was when someone told me
after a lecture I gave that if I talk down about
myself, others will see me that way. From that
moment on I started taking ownership of my
successes, my failures and my moments of
pride. I now consider myself a role model for
others who might put their successes down.SPECIAL FEATURE