I am passionate about creating gorgeous, beautiful visuals using photography, film and fine art. I draw inspiration from fine art, photography, film, every day beauty and the natural world. Of all the mediums I am inspired by film is probably the most dominant. I remember watching Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg films at a young age and being completly engrossed by what was on screen. I think this evident in my work as it is fairly cinematic. I am also inspired by the Pre-Raphaelites and Renaissance artists, particularly John Williams Waterhouse and William Bouguereau, really appeal to me and I hope this is also reflected in my work.
For this first blog I thought I'd give a small sample from a shoot I did with Holly (www.ivoryflame.co.uk) who is an incredibly talented model. I have worked with her several times and I never get the same shot twice. Really recommend her! The wonderful hair and make up was down to the outstanding make up artist Leah Mabe. She is really a really versatile portfolio and creates some really dynamic make up designs. She has a real knack of taking my classic ideas about the Renaissance artists and making it into something modern and edgy. We used a lot of extensions in Holly's hair and a can of hairspray keeping it in place, Holly was a trooper, and was very patient during the finishing touches. I wish the same could be said about me, with Leah's stunning make up on Holly I was itching to get to set and start work.
We had two looks for the shoot, one quite classic with minimal make up and the second really dramatic which was a good contrast. It was a really great day and I have Leah and Holly to thank for making it such a success and being so patient, I was in my second year of photography at the time and spent a while setting up my camera.
The last shot depicts a close friend of mine Georgina Simmons who is a really good model and also a really strong fine art painter which was taken in 2008-quite a while ago now! I live in Surrey so there is always lots of beautiful landscape to work with. She was very patient whilst I set up, lying in the grass in the height of summer we are used to insects and mosquitoes! We were both bitten to death but the final images were worth it.
This blog will be an interesting way of showing you all what I do, if it inspires or motivates that is a huge bonus! If you have any suggestions, comments or enquiries just contact me on francesca.lever@yahoo.com
