People Who Inspire #1

Hello Everyone!

Today is going to be the first post in an ongoing series that I’m calling ‘People Who Inspire’. I really love hearing about new creators from other people and it’s always nice to share the love and promote each other, so I thought I would do just that by starting a series all about sharing the people who inspire me.

In these posts I’m just going to share a short list of 5 people who are inspiring me at the moment in anything from Photography to writing to just general life. Today I am going to be focusing on Photography since I’ve been busy working away on a lot of photography projects for college, so photography is definitely in the forefront of my mind at the moment. Future instalments of ‘People Who Inspire’ may have a theme of some kind or it might just be a handful of random people with nothing in common depending on how I’m feeling at the time!

I’m super excited to share some of my favourite photographers with you today, so let’s get into them…

Georgia Rose Hardy

Georgia Rose Hardy was one of the first photographers I ever truly fell in love with years ago when I was first getting into photography. I actually met her at the photography show in 2017 (only the 2nd time I’d ever been and now I’m prepping to go back a 5th time this year!) while she was doing a talk on the cannon stage about her 365 photography challenge. I did briefly attempt one of my own (which sort of flopped) because I was so inspired by her and nothing has changed to this day. Her work is so magical and she is one of the photographers that got me thinking about taking self-portraits, since before then I had very much been behind the camera and not in front of it.

Instagram: @georgiarosehardy

Laura Zalenga

Staying on theme of people I met at the photography show, Laura Zalenga is another one that I met back in 2017. I don’t remember what stage she spoke on, but she talked all about her work (mostly self-portraits again) and her journey with photography and herself. I loved her talk and it pushed me even more to think about taking some self-portraits, which I did end up doing only a few months later during the summer holidays. Zalenga’s work is very simplistic in style, which I almost used as a big source of inspiration for my final project at GCSE’s, but I chose architecture instead because it was easier and I was on a time limit. I’m still hoping to come back to the ideas I had one day though.

Instagram: @laurazalenga

 

These were the first 3 self-portraits I ever took at a gallery near my grandparent’s house. I was super proud of them at the time and I do still quite like them and think they could be a cool concept if only I tried recreating them with the skills I have now. I was quite insecure and shy at the time, which is why you can’t really see my face or figure in the photos, but everyone has to start somewhere don’t they? Would you be interested in seeing me do a video/post about recreating my old photos?

Jessica Kobeissi

If you watch any photography youtubers, then you likely watch Jessica Kobeissi or have at least heard of her because she is part of one of the main ‘photography youtubers group’. I discovered her channel probably around the time I start by GCSE’s, which would have been Sep 2017 and I’ve watched her videos every since. I particularly love her challenge videos where she asks to take portraits of random people and the 4 photographers shoot the same model series. Her channel inspired me to try asking strangers for portraits, which I spent a good few days doing one summer with my friend and it really helped boost my confidence and get over some of my anxieties.

If you’re a photographer and are struggling with breaking out of your shell or worried about people judging you, then I really highly suggest you try asking strangers for portraits (you can bring a friend for moral support like me!) because people are actually quite nice once you get them talking and you’ll learn some cool things, become more confident and get some cool photos all in one!

Instagram: @jessicakobeissi

Alex Cameron

I discovered Alex Cameron back in the days when I used to watch Zoella and the like because she did quite a few photoshoots with Zoella, Louise Pentland and a few others from that same group. Cameron’s work was always a sort of goal for me because she does quite a lot in the studio and also more relaxed shoots in bedrooms, which was all I ever wanted really. My style is quite different from hers now, but I still remember what an inspiration she was to little 14 year old me in her tiny bright pink closet of a bedroom.

Instagram: @alex_cameron

Flannery Underwood

If you watch Jessica Kobeissi then you’re probably also familiar with Flannery Underwood. I’m not sure if she has a youtube channel herself, but she is in quite a few of Jessica’s videos and is still in that same kind of ‘group’. I believe she does mostly fashion photography, which is something I have always liked, but have recently been getting more and more into. I wanted desperately to be a fashion designer when I was about 8-11 years old after watching the fashion designer barbie movie, so I’ve always thought fashion was a lot of fun, but I’m only now getting back into it. I spent a few years (12-15) being scared to wear what I wanted because I was in school and kids can be cruel, but I’m in college now and I’m much more confident within myself, so now I wear what I want and couldn’t care less what other people think, which has definitely helped me spark my passion for fashion again!

Instagram: @flanneryunderwood

So those are the 5 people I chose for the very first ‘People who Inspire’! I have a long list of people one the waiting list for the next instalments in this series, so if you want some more recommendations of people to follow, you can subscribe to my blog to make sure you don’t miss the next post! If you want to see more of my photography, then check out the portfolio tab or come and follow me on my Instagram: @thephotographydragon

Who inspires you?

Goodbye for now!

Over and Out