Style Sunday - an Interview with Emma in Wonderland Photography

Come take a trip down the Rabbit Hole with Emma in Wonderland Photography! Ok, I will admit at the onset that I am a huge Alice in Wonderland nerd. Anything pertaining to that story and the geek in me does an embarrassing little happy dance.
Emma's eclectic work is full of a fantastic otherworldly quality and is laced with nuance and a certain vintage-style resonance. It's hard not to feel like you might have followed a little white rabbit into something Curiouser and curiouser!

FPOE caught up with Emma over in London to talk a bit about her work and what brought her to photography.

FPOE:
How did you first discovered photography?

Emma:
My Dad bought me my very first camera when I was about 15 or 16. It was a Miranda point-and-shoot and he assured me that it was a “very good make” even though I’d never heard of it! He himself had a Canon SLR which my sister and I were never allowed to touch, so of course I coveted that enormously! This all set me on the path to discovering photography and wanting a ‘proper’ camera of my own.

When I was about 17 I was shopping in Boots the Chemist buying film when I happened to spot some Ilford black and white. I thought “why not?” That was a defining moment for me. I used to take lots of photos of my friends but sometimes, even though I hated seeing photos of myself, they’d take my camera and shoot one or two of me. When I saw myself in black and white and actually liked the photos I instantly fell in love. I started shooting everything in black and white, which were mainly portraits and landscapes. By the time I was in my late twenties I was taking my camera everywhere, usually my Kodak Advantix or even disposables. Then came a pivotal moment, a sort of blessing in disguise; I was on a road trip through Europe when I was robbed in Prague. They took everything, including my camera and camcorder and all the films and tapes - even my toothbrush! I had nothing to show for my journey so far and no way to buy a new camera for the rest of the trip. I was utterly distraught. Then, a couple of weeks later in Vienna I looked in the window of a camera shop and there was a brand new Konica Minolta Dynax, complete with lens and battery - and now that I’d sorted out my money I could actually buy it! Digital was just about to launch itself globally so film camera prices took a sudden nosedive and I acquired what became my ‘baby’ for less than £100 Euros. The only problem was that the instructions were in German - but I didn’t let that stop me. I immediately loaded the battery and began shooting straight away! I’ve never looked back.

FPOE:
How has being a mother affected your photography?

Emma:
I’ve been battling with clinical depression since the early nineties but was in recovery when my son was born in 2006. Unfortunately complications meant that the birth was very traumatic and my depression recurred, although they re-relabeled it as post-natal depression (PND) the symptoms were almost identical. I was also diagnosed with post-traumatic shock disorder (PTSD) but was able to conquer that with help from an excellent psychotherapist. When William was 6 months old I took the (mad) decision to study photography formally. Mental illness had robbed me of my chance to build a career in my twenties and I wanted to do something and be someone my son could look up to and respect. I also wanted and needed something just for me, so I signed up for an A level course at my local technical college. It was only supposed to be one evening a week but it soon took over my life!

Before William was born I knew I wanted to keep a record of his childhood, right from day one, so I bought my very first digital camera - a Fujifilm compact. Unfortunately I was a total beginner when it came to digital so shot everything at 3 megapixels, so none of William’s baby photos will ever be larger than 6x4”. That’s a rookie mistake you only make once!

Now William is nearly four and has already shown an interest in photography! He loves to take a few shots of whatever I’m shooting so I set the tripod up to his height and let him play - closely supervised, of course! My proudest moment was when he suggested we sit under a tree on a sunny day. He took my compact off me and walked straight up to a bush covered in flowers and began snapping away, then he came back to the tree, walked right up to the trunk and started taking photos of the bark texture. I thought I’d burst with pride and joy! He’s going to be a very happy boy this Christmas day when he unwraps the V-Tech Kiddie-Zoom Pro..!

FPOE:
You mentioned that you are now studying photography formally. Can you tell me a little bit about that experience and what it has done to expand your work?

Emma:
At college we worked solely in black and white film - which of course was right up my street! - and processed and printed our own films. We printed on 10x8” gloss paper (although because of my subject matter I sometimes really wanted to use matte, so I cheated and printed my contacts on matte paper, just to get an idea of what they’d look like!)

For my very first exam portfolio I jumped in head first and embarked on a self-portrait series documenting my journey through mental illness. My tutor was so pleased with the final portfolio that he gave me the full 60/60! I was so happy - I’d finally found something I was good at and enjoyed! By the end of what was the toughest thing I’ve ever done academically, two years later, I received a high A grade and automatic licentiate membership into the Royal Photographic Society.

FPOE:
What equipment do you use?

Emma:
My workhorse camera is a Nikon D80 with an 18-70mm Nikkor lens. I also have a couple of digital compacts made by Fuji and GE - yes, apparently General Electric make cameras! I use those when taking a large SLR with me would be intrusive or impractical. They’re also great for popping in your pocket and recording a scene which I can come back to later with my dSLR.

I haven’t been in a studio for a while but when I am I usually use a Nikon F55 film SLR.

My trusty Konica Minolta Dynax is still with me but I’ve been working exclusively in digital for the last two years. I’ve been concentrating so much on building a commercial portfolio and selling my work lately that I nearly forgot to simply enjoy the photographic process and seeing and shooting for pleasure, so I’ve asked my husband for a Diana or Holga for Christmas so I can put the fun back!

FPOE:
How would you describe your style?

Emma:
Eclectic - and deliberately so! Sorry if that sounds like a cop-out but I truly believe that just about everything is worth photographing. I’m often thought of as a solely B&W photographer or a character portraitist, but these days I’m working mainly in still life and experimenting much more with colour. Digital has given me the freedom to work from home as and when I get the chance - very important if, like me, you are almost housebound due to illness and have a small child demanding your exclusive attention!

Much of my work contains certain themes such as mental illness or Christianity. Most of my work is conceptual which means that every single photo has a story behind it, even if that meaning isn’t immediately obvious from the resulting image. Art is subjective and every photo speaks to someone in a different way. I get huge joy hearing what a certain picture says to someone!

FPOE:
What are you working on at the moment?

Emma:
I’m currently building my digital processing skills and have been concentrating on making vintage-feel lomography-style prints and making digital art from my original photos. It’s great fun and I’ve been really pleased with the results so far!

FPOE:
What has brought you to Etsy?

Emma:
I heard about Etsy from fellow photographers such as Elle Moss, who I first ‘met’ on Flickr.com. We were members of the Female Self-Portrait Artists’ Support Group and Etsy occasionally came up in discussions. I had a look and within a month I’d decided to take the plunge and sign up! I had absolutely no idea whether anyone would actually want to buy my work by then someone did and the ball started rolling! I went further and uploaded a very personal image - A Gentle Freak-Out - which I thought might be suitably anonymous. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want a photo of me, a complete stranger, on their wall! Amazingly, that image is probably my best seller! It’s because it speaks to so many people - we’ve all been there!

FPOE:
Do you sell any other products?

Emma:
I’ve recently opened a supplies shop called Needs Must. At the moment it’s mainly vintage knitting and clothing patterns but I have a lot of craft items to de-stash and sell, such as beads and jewellery components and scrapbooking items. My uncle is a wholesaler, mainly to the railway modelling and dolls house crowd so by the start of 2010 I should have all kinds of supplies, including matt/mount cutting boards which could be very useful for anyone wanting to matt and mount their own photographs!

(Incidentally; if anyone has any requests for products they’d like to see in the shop, all suggestions are welcome!)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/NeedsMust

FPOE:
Any advice for other photographers selling on Etsy?

Emma:
I’ve been in the retail industry since birth so I know that the most important thing is to listen to your customer and give them what they want, such as a framed example of your print, sizes available and shipping costs to their country. People don’t just buy products on Etsy, they also buy a little piece of the artist, so a concise but informative bio is a must. You don’t have to go into great detail - the image will speak to the viewer on its own, anyway, but it’s nice to know what the artist intended. One good tip: only upload small, low resolution images to Etsy to avoid it being copied and printed for free! A watermark is an option, too, although I don’t use them.

Finally - always give excellent customer care. My Dad - a consummate shopkeeper - once told me; “treat customers as you would like to be treated and you won’t go wrong.”

For more information on Emma in Wonderland Photography, visit her shop.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/EmmainWonderland

Or check out her blog: http://emmainwonderlandphotography.blogspot.com
You can also follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EmmainWndrland

She also has quite a bit of awesome work on her Flickr site!

Untitled #5, originally uploaded by Emma in Wonderland ♥ on Flickr.