Katy Lawrence

Katy Lawrence - self portrait

If you could choose two photographers, one dead and one currently working to photograph you, to do your portrait, who would you choose? 

I love the way Cass Bird photographs the model Daria Werbowy. You can tell there is a deep friendship there and the photographs always exhibit a sense of fun and cheekiness that I would love in a photo of myself. David Hamilton is a photographer who I admire for the way his subjects are always bathed in a soft romantic light. If I had to be in the male gaze it would be his every time. 

Photographer: Cass Bird

When did you first take a photograph and if you remember the moment, what or who did you take?

Looking back I was forever photographing my school friends. I was never without a throwaway camera. I think my first set of photographs would have been of a year 8 school shopping trip to Cribbs Causeway (a thoroughly authentic West Country experience.) I have the photos and they are so bad. I guess I had to start somewhere!  

What other creative pursuits do you get up to?

I’ve recently caught the gardening bug and I’ve spent this entire year tending to my sweet pea seedlings. They’ve just started blooming this week. Who knew that something as simple as a little seed and some soil and water could bring so much joy. 

Where are your two favourite spaces or rooms on this planet? One private and one public?

My happy place is a secret rock pool tucked into the cliffs by our house in Cornwall. Hampstead Heath is the place I retreat to when I’m in London. In the summer, they leave the grass to grow long on the hill behind the ladies pond and you can hide and sunbathe there all day. 

Apart from photographers, what are your other artistic influences?

I’m especially drawn to authors who have a way of capturing the atmosphere of a climate such as the blinding heat of Southern Spain in Hot Milk, by Deborah Levy. I love the way Francois Sagan captures the sparkling seas of the Cote D’Azur in Bonjour Tristesse and long languid summers captured in books such as The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan and The Virgin Suicides by Geoffrey Eugenides  I’m particularly obsessed with how Donna Tartt describes the Autumn glow of Vermont in The Secret History, and the wild surroundings of Idaho in Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. I use my camera to capture the feeling of a season that my favourite authors describe so easily with words. 

You shoot a lot of film, do you feel that it is almost a different medium to digital, what do you get out of it that you perhaps don’t with digital? 

I just love working with film, for the way it captures colour and the depth of light. In a world where everything is immediate, there is something special about working with a format that takes time to process. It forces me to slow down and to think carefully about each frame. It isn’t cheap, but the results are always worth it. 

Favourite song to work along to and feel inspired by?

I’ll listen to ‘You Make Me Feel Like Dancing’ by Leo Sayer when I need a pick-me-up. It’s the happiest song and has the happiest memories. 

Who was it who gave you confidence to be who you are and what you’re doing today?

My best friend, Sacha. 

Which photographers, who are working today, do you most admire?

I’m obsessed with Lucy Laucht’s landscapes on film, in particular her shots of the South West Coast Path in Summer. I am also loving Betina Du Toit’s wild and romantic fashion spreads for Harper’s Bazaar. 

Photographer: Lucy Laucht

Photographer: Betina Du Toit

Can you think of a particular photograph you have taken that you are most proud of?

Mine & Charlotte’s first shoot together in Cornwall for her floristry company, Verity & Thyme. We didn’t know each other very well but we took a gamble knowing that we loved each other’s style. She did the floristry and modelled. I did the photography. We made loads of mistakes, but the collection of photographs are so gentle and unaffected. 5 years later, we are still working together and we are always trying to return to the simplicity and naivety of that shoot. 

Your collection, which is for sale on The Photograph Room website, is called Halcyon Days. Can you tell me a bit more about the photographs and any particular one you like?

'Halcyon Days’ simply means the nostalgic recollection of a time of happiness and calm. These photographs capture a moment in a season; when the sun was shining and the flowers were in bloom. I return to these photographs in the depths of Winter and they remind me that if we wait patiently, those warm days of Summer will eventually return. 

Photographer: Katy Lawrence

View all of the prints for sale by Katy Lawrence in the online gallery shop.