Laura Harrey, Unraveled | An Interview
Laura Harrey is a lifestyle photographer living in Perth, Australia with her daughter Lucille. Laura has had a passion for photography for as long as she can remember and is fascinated with movement, light, shadow and connection and tries to include each of these elements in every session. Laura loves the outdoors and nature and is fortunate to live in a beachside location where summer days are spent at the beach and playing and living an outdoor life is very much a part of the Aussie lifestyle. Laura uses harsh landscapes and backdrops together with families to create soft loving images full of fun.
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Here is Laura Harrey, Unraveled…
What inspired your art?
I have always loved photography, I am drawn so images with mixed light and shadows. I am inspired by so many things from other photographers work to my daughter to the natural elements like dancing light on the ocean. As I get older and my daughter gets older and I meet more people it is easy to see why I value the art of photography so significantly. Witnessing the fleeting days of childhood has been heart wrenching for me, seeing my baby move into a child has been difficult and having met so many incredible people, mothers fighting battles of loss and illness it just increases the passion I have. I want to offer the treasured gift of memories captured as I do the same for myself.
What do you shoot with? Camera body and favorite lens?
I am currently shooting with 2 camera bodies. I use my Canon R mirrorless full frame camera with a 35mm L lens for all indoor sessions. This is my perfect combination and the Canon is superb in low light. I use a Fujifilm X-H1 cropped frame camera with a 23mm for all outdoor sessions. Fuji colours are soft and dreamy and that is the feel I want to have in my photographs.
What other ways do you express your creativity?
I love to shoot photography for myself and this year I will be delving deep into the art of self portraiture, i’m hoping to capture some moments with my duaghter but i’m still trying to get her on board! I also write, when i’m feeling free and open writing is my favourite thing in the world to do, I love using simple words and tying them together when I write.
How do you de-stress at the end of the day?
My days have been long lately as the backlog of editing never seems to catch up but I mostly like to either walk, curl up on the couch with my daughter or - if its the weekend I love to get dressed up, head out to dinner and have a few wines
What kind of music do you listen to while editing?
At the moment i’m using my google home and spotify to listen to music. I’m a bit cheap so I havn’t paid for spotify! I just listen to Anderson Paak, Amy Winehouse, Alabama Shakes and 70’s disco if i’m really needing to up my mood
What is your favorite book?
Absolutely and always will be The Catcher in the Rye
Name one movie that inspires you.
My favourite movie ever is Stealing Beauty, it came into my life at a time when I needed it and I love it. It is full of stunning music, imagery and incredible characters. It makes me want to go to Italy.
How do you handle self-doubt or creative slumps?
Usually I try to dig deep and ask myself “what is it that is stirring this feeling in you?” It is sometimes hard to shake especially amongst the noise of social media and constant visuals. More often than not a feeling like this either means I need to create something just for me or it means that i’m about to do some transformation within my art. It's funny how growth comes from ill feeling. I guess being comfortable lacks creativity. I feel doubtful and slumpy quite regularly, I try not to see the negatives and I try to let myself sit with the feeling and ask it questions until I know what it is that I need. It’s usually something from within that stirs the beast, rarely external factors. If it's really bad i’ll try to escape for a few days and stay away from social media until I work out what I need to do. Wine also helps.
What has been the most difficult part of your creative journey?
I think the whole journey has been difficult in an ebb and flow sort of way. Sometimes everything seems to be travelling well but then change will happen. It’s important to keep climbing your mountain, take a look back from time to time bt to keep climbing. I think finding your why is sometimes tricky and I would love to help people find their why in the future.
Who is one of your favorite photographers?
My favourite photographers are Yan Palmer. Without her I wouldn’t be where I am now.