And it encompasses a personal philosophy I hold, something close to me, but that I wish was much closer- that is the love of traditional photography methods & alternative methods (which is basically the same thing as saying everything NON-Digital....)
Her work is shot with film, developed, and printed by hand in the darkroom and hand colored and manipulated. I love it! And it is lovely to come across an artist as skilled both technically and creatively as her.... Below are all images by Ellen Rogers as well as excerpts from a recent interview.
Most of your photographs feel like dreams. Is there a clear boundary between dreams, perception and reality?
Oh yes, I am very aware of that boundary. To live in a dream would be of severe detriment to me and my work. In fact the very understanding of these differences is what enables a capable artist to utilise it. A dreamscape is a tool as is the camera, or the idea of it. I can harbor them as a writer harbors their language. All too often when I meet new people they expect something quite specific of me; for me to be a rather ethereal waif like creature who spews poetry or creeps in shadows. Facets of my existence lay there but in truth I am much more resourceful, hardy and deeply competitive, with a very real tom boy quality. I need these qualities to do what I do. These images do not appear as before a dream. They take consideration, careful planning, large deals of orchestration and boisterous determination. I am very awake.
What is beauty to you? And what’s the most beautiful moment/thing you have seen in your life?
I have certainly seen true beauty as a psychical manifestation in a person, in my muse Hana and I might look at my lover and see beauty but I am in love so that is biased. My Mother was pure beauty in my life and I keep looking for her essence everywhere. I suppose beauty is too varied to be pin pointed to one moment, or mortal description. Meeting a very close friend was a moment of clarity and beauty for me last year.
If you had to choose only one of your photographs, which one would be the closest to your heart and why?
Hana with flowers.
Because it is the only photo I have of my mother’s flowers left at her funeral.
While photographing, you become kind of a director. What are the most important qualities to do such work? Do you strictly know, what you do want models to do and background to look like or does it work completely differently?
I think one of the hardest things to do is toget the models into character. By which I mean, what their makeup and hair looks like, how well I will work with a particular stylist. This all takes a lot of prepping between the team and the group as a whole. We all need to pull together and stand our ground. Sometimes all the hair and makeup will be finished and I’ll say, oh no-not like that, or perfect! And we go from there, the styling is not my territory so I leave that to the experts but it’s a large part to play. The location, that’s usually my responsibility and these places, they will already have their own developed characters… I just let them talk.
http://www.ellenrogers.co.uk
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