The Art of Photography

From the first time I laid eyes on the photography of Joanna Brown I’ve been a huge fan. On the advent of her 15th year running her own successful photography business, I’ve had the pleasure of designing a new visual identity, website and printed book to launch her new studio offering – Joanna Brown Studio.

Shooting mostly on film, her truly artistic nature shines through. Whether it’s double exposures on medium format, mastery of light, editorial captures with a fashion edge, the beautiful destination locations she visits, or her love of getting in the sea to shoot her subjects, it is always a joy to view her latest work. It’s wedding photography, but not as you know it! With many other creative sidelines such as painting, lecturing, mentoring and renovating a 200 year old French farmhouse, Joanna never lets the grass grow under her feet!

Joanna, you first came onto my radar when my good friend Claudia asked you to photograph her wedding. I remember her showing me your Instagram and being instantly wowed by the beauty of your imagery. In our increasingly image-saturated world, your work feels refreshing and hopeful – highlighting the beauty of love and humanity in its simplest form. 

What drew you to work in film photography all those years ago?

First and foremost I did a degree in photography and back then film was the only medium to choose. Digital photography hadn’t arrived, so we crafted film in the darkroom for 3 intense years. I fell in love with the slow, considered and ethereal feel of the medium and it got me hooked. Over the course of my studies I explored all the possibilities there are using film and made in-depth bodies of work. I realise this was such a golden time for me and my creativity, where I soaked it all up, spending whole days in the darkroom and having fantastic tutors at my fingertips.

What is it about the medium that you love so much?

I love all the options and choices that you have in the palm of your hands. The camera is a conduit and a vehicle of expression. The language of photography has such depth, which to me is so exciting. The ability to express oneself through such a wide range of variables allows for full expression of thought and feeling, which takes time to master. The choices are mind-blowing – from the camera format, the film type, the aperture, the shutter speed, the exposure. And this is all before you have even composed anything! It goes on and on. The infinite possibilities of so many combinations is a beautiful thing.

What’s been the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Hmm that’s a good one. I’m not sure if I have been given any advice per se as I am quite a strong character. I think the most profound thing I have witnessed is to show up with integrity and kindness. To work hard and be your biggest cheerleader.

What do you love the most about your job?

The people I get to meet and the locations in which they congregate; to be invited into this is really precious to me. The icing on the cake is to listen and watch the love story unfold. It is a really beautiful and tender moment that I feel is a real gift to be part of. Witnessing humans in this moment is very life-affirming. I can see all the threads that link everyone and I am really attentive to this. Mothers and daughters, mothers and sons, grandparents, cousins, aunties and friends. I love it all.

What is the most challenging?

I feel sometimes there is an overall pressure within the industry to keep up with trends to ensure popularity. However, having worked in the wedding industry for 15 years I have seen lots of trends come and go. On the whole, you have to be flexible and able to adapt as a business. Recently, with social media and the popularity of content creation, it has evolved once again to a new level that can be complex to work within. Sometimes the landscape changes so quickly it feels at odds with your process, but you have to learn and grow and move with it; although this can sometimes leave you feeling stretched. I have to check in with myself to see if the stretch and growth is in alignment, whilst weighing up the cost to the business. The juggle between artist and business woman is the biggest challenge. If I could have someone deal with the business side and leave me to be fully in my role as artist, I would!

What inspires you?

I am a full-time chaser of light and colour. It is this which inspires me constantly as a photographer. My camera and I perform some kind of alchemy. I think when you have been practising a craft for a long time (and by this I mean many years), something else starts to happen. I feel it is a dance and an instinctive knowing which guides my work now. I try to find flow and energy from the people and places I work with.

Favourite camera to shoot with? 

This changes to be honest. I have a family of cameras that expands and contracts over time depending on where I am creatively. If the camera no longer serves me and my vision, then I sell it. I am not overly attached to the camera. I like to have the freedom and lightness to evolve, grow and experiment with my art. The one that has been by my side for the duration is the ‘Holga’. She is a gentle soul that I know inside out. She is so surprising and adds an ethereal look and feel which I adore.

If you could do your dream shoot tomorrow (limitless budget), where and what would it be?

Oh blimey, that is a hard one. I think it would probably be an island somewhere. I am really drawn to the ocean and the light that bounces between the sea and the sky. I love to swim with my couples, so a luxury island destination would be wonderful. The energy, the mood and the laid-back, free attitude would be my idea of heaven.  

I have always enjoyed the authenticity of your Instagram account. You have a genuine willingness to share insights and give an honest account of the ups and downs of life as a creative. I’m always thinking about ways to challenge the increasingly vacuous and superficial nature of social media, to offer something more meaningful. What would be your top recommendations for cultivating a meaningful creative practice?

I think it really helps to know your own values and to be clear in how you want to live and work. I think part of the difficulty during this particular moment in time is sifting through the noise and being conscious about what you want to consume. I edit and curate what I am consuming, and genuinely prefer to create rather than consume. I see consumerism as a pacifier – mostly in its intensity. I am consciously consuming, and only things that align with my values. The rest is irrelevant and I am focused on creating a life that is authentic to me, who I am and the life I want to create and live. I am not interested in fitting in, being pacified and overwhelmed. I am finding space in this practice. My creative voice and sense of self is becoming more visceral and vivid. I am happy to call things out and feel fully present and alive. I am turning 50 this year and time feels precious. If not now, then when!

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat. The future is looking exciting for Joanna Brown Studio. What’s up next for you?

Alongside my new photography offering which is very exciting, I am back to painting which is wonderful! My lovely, supportive husband has given me half of his studio space so I am making a glorious mess. It feels a radical act to be honest; daring, exciting, scary, visceral, spiritual and thrilling. I am a beginner again – searching for meaning and purpose with paint. I have painted before, but that was 20 years ago. Since then I have had the demands of motherhood, domesticity and the business, but recently this space in which I can paint has arrived. It is challenging though. I was last painting in my twenties with very little on my plate and very little experience. Now I feel like I know so much, yet in this field I feel like I know nothing. It is humbling and empowering. I am failing a lot and crying! Over Christmas I brought wood, tools and set about making some stretchers. I cut the wood and put in all the screws, but because I don’t have a work bench as such, I wasn’t accurate enough! I felt like a total failure. It took so much time and energy to get to that point. But then I realised, there are certain times when I need to ask for help. I’m usually in the driving seat knowing what to do, when, how and am capable of it all, which is fantastic. But to choose such a physically difficult medium as oil paint is no easy option, however, I’m not here for the easy ride. I like to be challenged and pushed to full expression. I adore painting. It is a love affair. I have no idea where it will go but it is teaching me so much. I feel lucky to have this new chapter; to have found this space to create and I like nothing more than being lost with it. Watch this space.

Photography and artwork: © Joanna Brown. Design: A Modern Craft.

View Joanna’s photography
View Joanna’s painting
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