I first met the girls in around August last year. My close friend –and stylist– Dasha Kova started living in the warehouse, and I began to visit it and stay there more often. I didn’t begin photographing the girls until I’d known them for several months – until a rapport, and friendship was built between us. It would feel invasive otherwise.
I think what’s great and inspires me to capture the girls is their zest for life, and positive, free spirited, creative energies. Some of them are artists, models, dancers and actors – I think this amalgamation of different energies feed off of one another, and creates a wide sphere. I think I can say for a lot of people, that when you visit the warehouse, you don't want to leave afterwards! Everyone there has great stories and experiences – and I find really healthy to be around that. It felt natural, after a period of time, to start bringing my camera out. Some of the girls are still a little conscious when my little point and shoot comes out, but I think over time it will become even more of a natural process.

I think experiences are a big factor in moulding personality, it’s important to collect both bad and good experiences, as these feed off of one another. I remember reading a book a long time ago, and the main character spoke about experiencing everything – how when he had a headache, he preferred to experience the pain, as then you value not having the headache so much more afterwards! So yes, to a certain extent I would say I collect experiences, both photographically and in my memory, as they can then influence an action, or output later on. An experience recently that was quite impactful was visiting Auschwitz in Poland. I think it’s one of the most intense and emotional experiences I’ve had. It was also quite serene, and peaceful. 

For me, it’s about getting to really know the person you are photographing – sometimes you only have 10 minutes to break the ice, sometimes you have longer. But someone has to firstly trust you to be at unawares with you. I think I can also be quite shy when I first meet someone, and before photographing someone too – so I think this give and take can help. I shoot at a quick pace, and encourage people to really be natural (as natural as being in front of a camera, in a contrived situation, can be). I then think, even with the most guarded person, there are moments in between a frame where you capture them without that protection.

Marcus has been a breath of fresh air, he’s a few years younger than me and hungry for life, experiences, meeting new people and what the world can offer me. I think he’s taught me more about bringing energy and life to photographs, and it’s been great to experience things with him, and be able to photograph that organically!

I haven’t done a huge amount of brand shoots, but I definitely see eye to eye with that statement. I think the unexpected and honest is more beautiful!

Working with Rosie Lowe was great – she is passionate about what she puts out in the world, and was one of the first artists I worked with. What I love about working with musicians is being able to create something together that really represents a vision for their music, and where they are going. Artist-wise, I would really love to work with Sia –I think she has an incredible mind– but mostly I’d like to work with people whose work marries well with mine!

I think the internet has given young talents a huge playground, but I also think it’s somewhere you can get lost in. Social media has its pros and cons, as people are now rated on their follows and likes, and not on profound talent. The fashion industry has also become a bit of a scapegoat with this – too many brands care more for the celebrities they can persuade to do their campaigns. I think there’s much more to the world than that, but I do think it’s a great place to share your work with like-minded people too. I follow some great people on Instagram that perhaps I wouldn’t have chanced across otherwise.