Self Portrait, February 2007
Emma lists Rise Against, Against me!, Easyworld, Alexisonfire and Horrorpops amongst her favourite musical acts, but it varies depending on her mood. When asked what being a subcultural girl meant to her, Emma responded with this: 'It means everything. It's not being scared to be yourself for fear of being looked down upon because you don't wear the right clothes/listen to the right music or are tattooed, pierced and have coloured hair. It's not about whether you're alternative or not because even some scenes are sheep these days. I love making my own style.' I believe that this can also be said about her photographic work, there is a certain unique quality to the individual pictures and also in the range of subjects.
The Peacocks at the Cluny
Now… on to the photography! Emma began her interest in photography because 'I've never really been artistic, I can't draw for shit and never really got along with art in school as you're marked on one person's opinion. I have loved music forever and just started taking photographs of my friend's bands. I had a really lucky break as one of my friends that I worked with knew the manager of the University venue who was always wanting photographs taken of the larger bands. The first band I photographed for them was the Dropkick Murphys! It just took off from there really.' This sounds like a pretty good start into the photographic world, especially for someone with such a love for music!
Portrait: Lisa, June 2007
Inspiration is an important aspect to any creative piece, and photography certainly needs it to give the end results a certain something. For Miss Rain Photography the inspiration varies on the subject. Emma says, 'In music, the passion inspires me, which is probably why I tend to photograph punk bands or bands that have something interesting about them. I tried photographing indie bands but I just found them so boring! They just stood there and I found that because they had no passion, neither did my photos of them. My pin-up portraits I am inspired by the girls themselves. I love to photograph girls with character and style, if they have that it makes my job so much easier! I was so fed up with the bland, skinny, sallow models like Kate Moss, I just want to show REAL girls and how beautiful they can be no matter what size, shape or scene they follow.' Emma has certainly succeeded in this as her pin up photography shows a variety of girls, who may have something in common, but all have a beautiful, individual quality to each of them. And her live burlesque photos are really something else! I guess this is because her favourite thing to take photos of is people (especially ones with personality!).
Burlesque at Black Jack's Speakeasy
On the technical side, Emma had this to say about what equipment she uses to achieve such great shots: 'I use a Canon 20D, with a 17 – 70 lens with the biggest aperture I can get. I have to use the widest aperture to get enough light to get a crisp photograph as you're not allowed to use flash in the pit at gigs, it's hard enough for them to do their job without having to deal with being blinded. I get on well with the bouncers but they'd still kick my ass!' I'm sure many of us have experienced the 'no flashes!' warning from security over the years, so hopefully with this advice we can all start taking great live shots! Emma often finds it difficult to get her photographic work done. She lives in the real world like the rest of us and has to work in order to support her passion. 'I have to work full time to pay my rent so after a full day's work it's hard to motivate yourself to do a shoot/get kicked in the face from a crowd surfer.' Even just taking photos at a gig is getting more difficult: 'I'm finding it really hard to get photo passes to gigs at the minute because the PR companies of the bands don't even want to know you unless you're affiliated with a magazine because they get harassed by every kid who thinks it's a good way to meet bands. I've taken to saying I'm working for independent 'zines…'
Miss Ruby Fortune- Femme Fatale
What Emma wants to achieve with Miss Rain Photography is that 'I would just love to be able to make a living from my photography, it doesn't even have to be a good living just enough to pay the bills. I'm not in this for the fame or recognition just to be able to do something that I love for the rest of my life.' I'm sure this is something that we can all relate to, no one wants to die working a shit job having never pursued what it was they actually wanted to do with their life. The biggest achievement in Emma's photography says it all really, she says it was photographing and meeting NOFX!
NOFX at Northumbria Union
To finish off with, Emma wants to see subcultural girls just being themselves. No facades! 'I think us girls should support each other, make connections and support each other in our work and what we want out of life.' I couldn't agree more!
Aisling Grace
Check out Miss Rain Photography at missrain.co.uk and add her to you myspace friends list: http://www.myspace.com/missrainphotography
And facebook:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Miss-Rain-Photography/52524740411
Kathryn
Article written by Sally Kingsley
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