Ali Mitton is a photographer from Bryon Bay/Sydney. Her personal diary and her views on photography are quite inspiring. Her style, in my opinion, is elegant and dainty but still free spirited. She seems like a noncomformist, which I admire because I love it when people are. I think that to be truly creative you have to be that way and not be bound to the expectations of others.
Here is an excerpt of what I found in her diary:
"-i dont like to be part of institutions or clubs because i instantly feel limited when i belong to something. this is possibly the wrong way to look at things.
- i am sometimes inappropriately personable, and i find it hard to put up professional boundaries. i think this is because i struggle with how unnatural it feels to ‘act’ professionally.
INSPIRATIONS - like any young artist, i would sometimes consider ways to strengthen/change my identity through my work. when i was younger, i would look at what everyone else was doing and try to do it that way. this led to nothing but frustration and shallow, unoriginal results. plus, working creatively without a sense of integrity and self-awareness is harrowing. eventually i learnt to search inwardly or inspiration. what does this mean to me and why etc and thus i found my style.
EDITING - sorry to disappoint you, i really do very little in post-production. most of what i do is in the colours, and this isn’t something i can teach you. play with your curves, hues/saturation and colour balance. i tend to use warmer tones most of the time. i choose not to over produce anything because i hate separating my work from reality. that might sound ridiculous to anyone who also works in advertising. i feel like a lot of photographers over process their images to show off what they can do. keep it simple, the skill is in the shooting. photoshop wont fix anything, it can only enhance what is already good.
"-i dont like to be part of institutions or clubs because i instantly feel limited when i belong to something. this is possibly the wrong way to look at things.
- i am sometimes inappropriately personable, and i find it hard to put up professional boundaries. i think this is because i struggle with how unnatural it feels to ‘act’ professionally.
INSPIRATIONS - like any young artist, i would sometimes consider ways to strengthen/change my identity through my work. when i was younger, i would look at what everyone else was doing and try to do it that way. this led to nothing but frustration and shallow, unoriginal results. plus, working creatively without a sense of integrity and self-awareness is harrowing. eventually i learnt to search inwardly or inspiration. what does this mean to me and why etc and thus i found my style.
EDITING - sorry to disappoint you, i really do very little in post-production. most of what i do is in the colours, and this isn’t something i can teach you. play with your curves, hues/saturation and colour balance. i tend to use warmer tones most of the time. i choose not to over produce anything because i hate separating my work from reality. that might sound ridiculous to anyone who also works in advertising. i feel like a lot of photographers over process their images to show off what they can do. keep it simple, the skill is in the shooting. photoshop wont fix anything, it can only enhance what is already good.
i have no desire to produce anything ‘high end’, because quite simply - that is not how i see the world, nor is it my personal interpretation of ‘beauty’. if i am using my imagery to sell something, i want the viewer to identify with it, and most importantly - feel connected to it.
FIND YOUR NICHE - i work in a very specific market that (luckily) i can shoot/edit the way i choose. fortunately i have like minded clients (who i adore!) that support my style. this might sound non-compromising and arrogant, (it’s a half truth) but I feel a stronger sense of self and purpose now than I ever have before. i hope this answers your questions!
SUMMARY -
it’s not about being GOOD, its about being REAL and having integrity. equipment won’t make you better. a better camera won’t make you better at shooting. the best photographers i know shoot with the most primitive gear.
if you have talked yourself into thinking you need to be like someone else then you are certainly wrong. you are unique. use your own life experiences, conditioning - good and bad to find what matters to you creatively, and what you love. then the rest will come naturally."
If you want to know more about her, I came across an interview she did here, as well as her own personal sites here & here.
it’s not about being GOOD, its about being REAL and having integrity. equipment won’t make you better. a better camera won’t make you better at shooting. the best photographers i know shoot with the most primitive gear.
if you have talked yourself into thinking you need to be like someone else then you are certainly wrong. you are unique. use your own life experiences, conditioning - good and bad to find what matters to you creatively, and what you love. then the rest will come naturally."
If you want to know more about her, I came across an interview she did here, as well as her own personal sites here & here.
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