Saturday, June 8, 2013

Meet one of your Team Leaders: Caitlin Brookes

As our photography team continues to grow, our team leaders are always trying to find ways to unite members, promote the group and create interesting collaborations. We thought it might be fun to do a series of interviews to introduce ourselves.

Caitlin

How long have you been doing photography? How did you get started?
My father is a photographer and as a child I was always eager to be photographed. I always had a creative spark and unlimited ideas, but never felt I was good enough at drawing or painting to warrant any confidence as an “artist.” Finally when I took up photography as a hobby in my late teens and early twenties, creativity finally came easily to me.

What are your biggest influences and how have they shaped your photography?
Nature has certainly been the strongest influence on me and I think it brings a timeless quality to photography. Its balance between functional and imperfect beauty really resonates with me, and I try to embrace it in my life and capture it in my work.
My grandmother was a painter, and watercolours in particular really resonated with me. I find an endless love of the layers created with translucent colours, and I love that I am able to create a similar effect with my photography.

How did you develop and how do you maintain a photography style that is truly your own?
It may sound overly simple, but my artistic philosophy is that if I do what I love, it will come together. I love nature, colour and pattern, and sometimes feel like inspiration is handed to me when I look at our natural world. I also find it helpful to work within a theme, otherwise I can get lost in an endless spiral of possibilities.

How do you promote your work (any thoughts on social media)?
I keep a blog, which started as a way to document the nature within the city I live in. I promote my new work on it, but mainly I just like to have a place to share my photos and nature-related thoughts. I use Facebook and Twitter the same way, a place to share, rather than sell my photography.

What is the best advice you’ve been given/would like to share about photography/running your own business?
I’ll be honest that I am still learning my way around turning my photography into a viable business. I am a shy person, so I find it daunting to “put myself out there” and visit local shops to sell my work. But I realize it’s so important to have confidence in what you are doing, so that others will as well.

Who are your favourite FPOE photographers?
There are so many talented and successful photographers on our team! Of my favourites, the common thread seems to be nature and garden, as well as a painterly quality. Here are a few shops that have really stood out to me as favourites:

Rocky Top Print Shop
Georgianna Lane
Kari Herer
Lumiere du Matin

How do you contribute to the team?
My hopes for the team are for everyone to support each other; as a group we can really help each other out, since we all have different experiences and strengths.
I enjoy writing for the blog- I try to keep it posted regularly with articles that readers will find interesting but also bring attention to the beautiful photography we all have to offer! I also check in with Twitter every day or two, and update it to share team treasuries, or when the team is running a special event.

See more of Caitlin’s photography:

ETSY
BLOG
FACEBOOK
TWITTER

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