INTERVIEW: SOPHIE LEIGH (PHOTOGRAPHER AND CURATOR)

FFO: THE DECISIVE MOMENT, RAW AND GRITTY STREET PHOTOGRAPHY CAPTURED ON 35MM POINT AND SHOOTS.

Who are you?

Sophie Leigh.

Where are you currently based?

South east London but I’m originally from Cornwall.

What is your current photographic work about?

A bit of everything. I’m currently working towards creating different zines (or maybe a book) and I’ve been archiving all my photos for a few years now and I’m just working out which ones to include in publication. I think that my work is sort of an archive, especially of London; looking at places that won’t exist in the future and capturing gritty moments. I’m not really trying to push what my work is about but I more so want to make the viewer feel something from the photos. I think I’m sort of dipping in and out of different things at the moment. I’m really interested in skate culture and capturing moments out with friends whilst I’m also working on more personal portrait work and documenting areas in London and elsewhere.

What got you interested in photography and taking images?

I think for sentimental reasons I’ve had an interest in photography since a young age and maybe that’s why I take photos now. I had an obsession with going through piles of family photos when I was little and I still love finding ones that I’ve never seen before of my parents. I started taking photos more seriously once I’d graduated from University a year ago as I was quite lost after my degree and photography really took me out of this. I got my first point and shoot for a tenner in a charity shop 3 years ago and it’s still the main camera I use every day. Just going out there and photographing real moments is something special to me.

Is the choice of camera and equipment you use important to you? Will you continue to use a point and shoot as the main camera throughout your future work, or do you ever feel like you’d want to change to a manual camera that would enable you to have more control over lighting/focus etc?

I think it’s important but I also don’t think you need to spend a ton of money on a camera, especially if you are just starting out and exploring. Yeah definitely, I’ve used manual cameras before but a point and shoot is perfect for being out and about but I’m not limiting myself to only point and shoots as I think it’s good to experiment with lighting and focus.

I see that most of your work is shot on black and white film, is there any particular reason for this? Or is it just a personal preference?

I’m currently playing around with colour and black and white between two film cameras. I like the contrast and how the lighting is different with black and white. It also suits the type of photographic work that I’m doing at the moment.

Who are you inspired by?

I’m inspired by friends and the everyday mostly, there is a lot of creativity going on at the moment. I have an exhibition coming up at the end of August that I’m curating; involving friends and photographers who I want to shed light on (at Curve Dept skate shop in Deptford)

I think I find inspiration in the everyday and also from working in a bookshop. I get to look at lots of interesting photography books! At the moment I’m really into William Eggleston, Ed Templeton and Piotr Zbierski to name a few.

What are your future aspirations?

Well as I mentioned above I have a show coming up on the 25^th August involving 11 people. I’m also working towards a creating a book/zine. I’m interested in self-publishing and zine making so this is something I’m definitely going to play around with in the future. I’d also love to collaborate on some level with a joint photo project, zine or book.

YOU CAN SEE THE COLLABORATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION WINNER FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY ON THE 25TH AUGUST @ CURVE DEPT SKATE SHOP, DEPTFORD.

 What got you interested in curation?

I guess I really like the idea of bringing everyone’s work together in one space as well as just all aspects of putting together an exhibition/event. I think it’s important to have a space for people to talk and engage with what’s around them and also to show people’s work. I like putting on shows in unusual spaces. The show I’m holding in August is in a skate shop in Deptford, south east London. It’s quite small but I’ve always attended interesting skate screenings/zine launches here. I’m excited for it because I’ve chosen friends and photographers that I really love the work of to be in the show so I think this is a perfect combination. It’s also great because it’s a chance for people to buy zines and prints.

What advice would you recommend to young photographers today?

Read books, go out and explore different routes in photography and don’t hesitate to capture a moment.

YOU CAN SEE THE COLLABORATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION WINNER FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY ON THE 25TH AUGUST @ CURVE DEPT SKATE SHOP, DEPTFORD.

KEEP UP WITH SOPHIE LEIGH’S WORK VIA HER WEBSITE AND HER INSTAGRAM.