Eleanor Hardwick first became interested in taking pictures when, aged just 12 years old, she started taking pictures of her dolls. Little did she know that her hobby would grow into the passion it’s become so that now aged 15, she cant really imagine life without it. Truly something of a child-genius, Eleanor’s photography is incredibly mature for her years, beautifully executed, highly imaginative and moving. Whether she is playing with the story of Alice in Wonderland or making a home in the woods near where she lives or toying with the theme of death in a Virgin Suicides fashion – she brings you into her world with her pictures and you really believe them. Eleanor has already been published by various publications and has even had a couple of exhibitions – we caught up with this early-starter to find out more about her intriguing work.
h3(question). When did you first realise you wanted to be a photographer?
When I first picked up a camera, I never thought it would evolve into the passion it is for me now. I had just bought a Japanese collector’s doll and took some snapshots of it, and it took off from there. When I became more interested in fashion and portraiture in late 2007, it was then that I knew I really wanted to take photography seriously, and could not see myself happier doing anything else.
It’s great you have found something you are so passionate about when you are so young – a lot of people take ages to figure out what they want to do in life
Yeah, I really was not expecting to fall in love with photography! Most teenagers seem to go through a phase of taking photos.. but it passes. I always knew I wanted to work in art in someway, but I had no definite path until I began to take pictures I guess.
Your countryside surroundings seem very inspiring for your work.
Yes. I live in the countryside, somewhere in between Oxford and London. I always hated where I lived when I was younger … I thought the fields and woods were so boring, but I think once you are into photography, all these once boring locations seem to become potential photographs!
How do you think you would cope living in a city for a long-stretch? In what ways do you think that would affect your work?
I have always dreamed of living in Brighton….it is such an amazing place. On the outskirts you have the fields and woods which I love to take pictures in, but then you can drive into the city where there are arty shops, bustling nightlife.. and then of course theres the sea. So I think in that sort of city I would be fine. But I think the countryside will always have a special place in my heart though.
Your work can veer on the surreal and dare I say it macabre side – does literature/film/the arts inspire you in this direction?
I can get inspired by film, art and music, but in quite subtle ways. It could be a pattern from a painting, a line from a song, or the lighting in a scene from a movie. Literature however I would say most influences me. You may have seen my Alice in Wonderland, Narnia and Shakespeare inspired photos. There is something so fun about taking an old story and turning it into something quite modern, or even high fashion. I actually have an upcoming photoshoot inspired by various pieces of literature … however you’ll have to wait and see that in a few months time!
And what are your favourite films/books?
My favourite movie and book has to be The Virgin Suicides. I also love Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, Girl Interrupted…they are all quite quiet films. They’re all done beautifully photographically too. Although I haven’t exactly done shoots inspired by these films, they can just make me feel inspired in general. Other things also inspire me though … I often feel inspired by unwanted furniture, or simply a location or lighting.
Very interesting. So Sophia Coppola is a favourite!
Yes, I love Sophia Coppola … I think her films are just done so wonderfully in terms of photography, and I always love the soundtracks and scripts.
Me too – I was a massive lost in translation fan – When I went to Tokyo me and my friend stayed one night in the Park Hyatt and geeked off majorly, we were playing Pheonix and jumping on the bed!
Haha, that’s awesome! You’re lucky, I would love to go to Tokyo.. my parents refuse to take me though haha!
Yes it is horribly expensive but completely mind-blowing. You have to go when you’re a bit older.
Sorry to go back to this macabre or death theme – but it’s just I think you seem to have a very mature way of interpreting it. That photo of the dead girls hanging from the curtain-rail really spooked me out. I’m just interested to hear what you think about it.
I don’t think I even understand why I take so many ‘death photos.’ I guess there is something extremely haunting and unsettling about death photos, but also, it seems to be a subject which intruiges people. And in photography, I guess because it’s hard to see the identity of the “dead” model, people maybe almost see the less morbid side of death?
So you’re interested in making it less scary and more understandable?
Haha … The curtain photo (“Pull Yourself Together”) wasn’t exactly supposed to be dead….more sleeping. Though I guess it can be interpreted as a humour or horror photo. Maybe just something that’s quite quiet and almost beautiful? Though I think it varies from image to image.
Sometimes your work reminds me a little of Tim Walker as he also has that taste for a certain Alice in Wonderland/surreal/hyper-imaginative/theatricality that I also see in your work. Do you like what he does?
I love Tim Walker’s work … I actually stumbled across him as many people told me his work reminded them of mine or vice versa. I think we’re almost on the same wavelength … I’ve seen many of his photos and thought “hey! I was gonna do that idea!” or even that I’ve already done the idea without having seen his photo before. I hope that one day I can be as well respected and talented as Tim.
Yes that’s great when you discover someone that thinks like you … you should drop him in a line someday.
Haha, I’m sure he’d be too busy to reply to silly fan-girls … but I guess maybe I will one day!
What is inspiring you at the moment? And how does inspiration come to you or do you seek it out?
Inspiration is a hard thing to really describe as it can come from so many different angles.
But if you are feeling a bit low on inspiration, do you have a trick for finding it?
Recently I’ve been fascinated by quite candid, film photography. I love the indescribable feeling these kinds of photographs give you … a mix of forgotten memory, nostalgia, warmth, coldness, indoors, outdoors. I love when film photographers work with natural light and focus.
And If I’m feeling low on inspiration, this is what happens:
1. grab camera
2. run to garage and grab a random prop
3. get mum to drive me through the countryside until i find a pretty location
4. just shoot until i get a lucky, impulsive photo
It somehow all comes together and everything falls in place when I do this, haha.
Interesting!
Though the concepts can be a bit random!
I guess the countryside also plays an important role there
Yes for photography its perfect. Usually if I don’t have a concept I can work with, I rely heavily on the outfit, prop or the location.
What camera do you use?
I use a canon EOS 400D, usually with a f/1.8 50mm lens. I also recently bought a Pentacon 6 medium format camera which I’ve yet to try out. I also occasionally use Polaroids and film SLR’s, which I’d love to use more. I believe I own around ten cameras in total, however a lot of them don’t even work!
And what does your post-production process involve?
I use Photoshop CS3 to edit, and usually I like to add curves and selective colours in blueish tones. I often add low opacity sepia layers too, to make my photos look slightly like film. Occasionally I add vignette, flare or black and white too. If I am doing surreal photos which involves adding and removing parts of the image, I use layer masks to do this.
And where the hell did you learn all this so young – do you have a mentor?
I learnt most of it through trial and error and pretty much playing around in Photoshop, and of course with a little help from some friends from Flickr.com. I’d say I mainly use layer masks to manipulate my fairly surreal images (eg. a photo I took of a girl holding onto a door whilst “flying” and a photo of my sister in a field, holding a net with butterflies around it)
Ok and what would you say are some of your signatures as a photographer?
I think my signatures as a photographer would be that I nearly always use natural lighting. I also usually do similar techniques when editing which give my images recognisable tones and contrast.
And thematically?
A lot of my images also toy with the idea of childhood, as I am still a child really.
Awwww. true!
Also, as we said before, I often work with the countryside. And a lot of my work lies somewhere between fashion and conceptual.
Do you have any professional representation yet?
I have had an offer from an agent, however nothing is set in stone. I also did work experience at a photographer’s studio in July, and the photographer who runs the studio is keen to help me with the business side of photography and let me use the studio.
That’s good. What do your parents think of all this?
My parents both work in book publishing, however I do have an aunt who works in art, and also some relatives from way back who worked in both art and photography. My parents are ever so supportive though. They are always helping me with sending emails, finding locations and organising things. They are always showing my pictures to their friends too haha!
That’s great! And would be your dream photography job?
My dream photography job would be to shoot in Vogue. Any Vogue, although Italian Vogue is pretty special. And I’d love to work with Gemma Ward, Sasha Pivovarova or Scarlett Johannson. And there is no specific location or concept that I could dream of doing, because ideas come and change so rapidly, however I love to dream that one day I could shoot any where I wanted and have some extremely outrageous props and costumes!
I can imagine that given a nice budget, you could invent some seriously outrageous sets!
Haha! I am so jealous of photographers like Tim Walker, Annie Leibovitz and David LaChapelle. Their sets and props are incredible!
What you working on next? You have an exhibition on right?
I currently am part of an exhibition in Lisbon, Portugal, which ends 7th November. I also have a couple of upcoming exhibitions in Bristol and Worthing, UK, next year. I also have an immense number of upcoming shoots coming up the next couple of months. And I have to juggle all this with my GCSE exams next year haha!
Are you going to enter any ‘young photographer’ competitions? maybe next year?
I am entering Digital Camera’s Young Photographer of the Year this year, which incidentally time to enter ends today. I also entered Channel 4’s 4Talent awards and was shortlisted in the photography category…I think the winner is announced tomorrow!
Any shout-outs you want to do?
I’d like to shout out to my best friends and favourite photographers, Elena and Chrissie, who are forever supportive of me. I’d also like to thank my parents for their support, and my sister for modelling for me, even in the worst weather conditions!
Is that her in a lot of your pictures?
yes, my sister is always modelling for me. I’ve taken more photos of her this year than I have of myself, or any one else! She’s hung off washing-lines for me, worn summer dresses in the snow for me, laid in plants full of spiders for me.. I can’t thank her enough for putting up with my ideas!
What is it exactly about photography that has so captivated you?
I’m not exactly sure. What I love about photography though is that when you take a photograph of something, everything in the photograph is real, and was there in front of the camera. But then, you can create new worlds in photographs. It is something so magical, and quite hard to describe!
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