Friday, April 17, 2015

30 Days of Inspiration! Day 17: Sarah Lacroix

Today's wonderful inspirational photographer is Sarah Lacroix from Canada! :D



1. Introduce yourself and the style of photography you think best represents your work (fashion, conceptual, fine art, dark art, new born, etc.)

Hi! My name is Sarah Lacroix and I’m from a little town by the sea in Québec, Canada. I'd say my style is a kind of cinematic fine art photography blended with some storytelling.


"I can fly"

2. How did you get into photography?


I always loved photography since I was kid. I always had a camera in my bag: polaroid, one-use camera, 35mm, 120 mm… I inherited that passion and a wonderful kit of Nikon 35mm from my father, with full of different lenses which made me try a lot of variations and styles and when i was 17, it got stolen from me. Kind of stop doing photographs after that for some time.

During college i took some drawing and painting classes, which i really liked, but not as much as photography. A few years later, without the precise intention of getting back into it, I bought a point and shoot for fun and rediscovered the pleasures of photography. I used it a lot and understood that i had to buy myself a DSLR if i wanted to continue my progress and improve my style. The art classes i took also helped me a lot, giving me ideas on how to set up my models, deciding what i wanted to have as background, juggling with light and shadow...


3. What inspires you as a photographer?

I’m really inspired by music, cinema and fairytales. That’s where comes most of my ideas.The best inspiration in music for me is Coco Rosie, Fever Ray, Grimes, Bjork, Sigur Ros and Lykke Li. For pictures, I love the cinematic atmosphere of David Lynch, the bold and frank style of Tarantino and the creativity, characters and settings of some tv shows like Carnivale, Vikings and American Horror Story, to name a few. I’m also inspired by legends, fairy tales and witchcraft. Sometime, special clothing pieces can also make me want to shoot, but they have to be one of a kind. And, for sure, my biggest inspiration and model is nature with all it's moods and diversity . I live in a such beautiful place that I have to show it to the world, and i never ever get tired of it!

"La navire"
4. What is your favorite photo you've taken and why?


I think it’s -Le navire-, a shot I took this summer with a friend that i often use as a model and with her, there is always something magical happening, always something that makes the photos look better than what i had in mind at first.

So, this time, we were walking on the beach and we saw this big ugly boat that looked like a big rusty monster on this beautiful sea... It had a very special feeling to it, presenting a dark defeated mechanical creation in a mirror-like ocean...It was really dark but even though the water was ice-cold, she was willing to go in with her dress...And it made a marvelous shot...


5. What do you want your viewers to take away from your work?

I would like to inspire more people to use photography as a way to express themselves.

I want my pictures to be visually beautiful at first when they first see them, but somewhat enigmatic and more profound as they take time to really let them sink in. I want them to ask themselves some questions and leave some to interpretation...

I , like most photographers, want to stir up some emotions in the viewer, as they immerse themselves in my work.


6. What gear do you use? What's your most used lens and why?

"Le clan"
I have a Canon T2i with some primes lenses. My favorite ones are the 50mm 1.8 and a pancake 24mm that help me capture wider angles than the 50mm. I also like to use toy cameras like my Holga and Diana, but I probably have a couple of cardboard boxes full of films that i haven't developped yet, because i allways forget!

7. Who would you say is your favorite photographer? Why? My favorite photographers are Victor Habchy that I discovered with his Burning Man Series. I'm also absolutely in love Brooke Shaden and her universe. I’m really into her Promoting Passion videos. I can also say that I’m allways surprised by the work of Felicia Simion and Robin Macmillan. I’m really inspired by the way Amanda Diaz edits her work too. There is so much talented photographers that I love that I can’t name them all!


8. Have you dealt with any negativity as a photographer, if so, how did you overcome it?

No, I can’t say that I feel negativity toward my work, all my followers and the people around me are really supportive! But I really like constructives criticism because it helps me to push myself to do better every time. Nobody's perfect, i can allways improve!

"L'entre-deus saisons | in between"
9. Do you have a favorite inspirational quote? If so, what is it and why is it your favorite?

“Write the book you what to read” by Austin Kleon, author of the book “Steal like an artist”. It’s a very inspirational quote to help me getting a direction when i create. I shoot the photograph i'd like to look at! Also, a life inspiration quote will be : “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” by Gandhi


10. What would be the best advice you could give to someone reading this interview?

Practice is the best way to improve photography. Try different projects and challenges, it helps a lot to motivate, to create and inspire. I'd also say "Read Austin Kleon's "Steal like and Artist" book! Stop thinking and act. If you don't try, you'll never fail, but you'll never success.

Try to befriend people that share the same passion. It changes everything, brings you another way to look at things and it's way more fun to go on shooting expeditions with friends!


11. Any final words you'd like to say?

Thank you so much Samantha to show interest in my work and thanks to the reader of this blog that took the time to read my answers. Don’t forget that i was raised in french so some of my sentences might sound kinda weird haha


Thank you so much Sarah for taking time to answer these questions, even if English isn't your first language! I really enjoyed hearing about some of your photographic journey and I hope others do as well! :D

No comments:

Post a Comment