Catherine Day

Photographer Interview
Catherine Day:- Photographer, retoucher and creative genius!

Let's get the obvious question out of the way: what made you decide to pick up a camera and be a photographer?
I'm not sure, I've always enjoyed taking photographs since I was about 6 years old and my Dad gave me his old 35mm. I was so excited that I opened the back and watched all the film come out, it was rather funny. 



Who/what is your inspiration?
Erwin Olaf, he’s incredible. And anyone who has determination to make their visions reality.



What has been your most interesting shoot to date?
Haha, there's been so many! A couple that jump to mind are...shooting Ulorin Vex in a bath full of pink milk, shooting my ex-housemate naked and pouring blue paint all over her, photographing Cat Casino whilst we were both rather drunk on wine spritzers and falling around the studio. I also photographed my ex boyfriend several times whilst we were together, and that was always really fun and intimate, even though we were anything from 1 foot to 20 feet away from each other! That was always interesting!



Where do you see yourself and your photography in 5 years time?
I have absolutely no idea, but I would love to be making a steady, comfortable income and doing regular work for high-end magazines. Dream on Catherine!



Have you ever had people being stupidly negative towards you and your work? and how did you deal with it?
I haven't actually, a few years ago there were a few bitchy people which used to upset me, but I've grown up a lot since then. Now if anything happens I just ignore it. I welcome criticism as long as it's constructive, as not everyone will like everyones work! I haven't had anyone be stupidly negative yet though. I'm sure it'll happen one day!



So let's talk news, how are you coping with the economic climate? Have you had to cut back on equipment/shooting in general?
I've been quite lucky as I'm currently working on a salary, which hasn't been affected by the economic climate, but no doubt I'll feel the pain when my job finishes in August. Minimum wage is starting to sound very scary!



Let's say I'm a model, and I want to work with you really bad! What would you look for in me before considering me as a potential model?
I would look for how versatile you are and how good your posing is. It all depends on what sort of shoot I'm bearing you in mind for. I do really love tall, very skinny, willowy models with very long or very short hair at the moment, I'm still keeping an eye out for her!



We know that every photographer has good and bad shoots, but when are you most satisfied with a shoot?
When the whole thing runs seamlessly with no negativity or awkwardness. When myself and everyone else involved are all equally ambitious and excited about the outcome and all want the same things in the image. Shoots like that usually end up with having way too many images to try and edit down into the final 1-3 images. It kills me to decide, but it's great!



There is always room for improvement! Where/how would you like to improve with your photography?
I have a particular style and look in mind that I really can't describe. It's a fair way off from where I am now, and it will take a lot of time and effort to get there, but I'll know it when I'm there :)



Have you ever had a bad experience with a model?
I've had a couple (three models I have shot with, and one that I haven't) I don't really want to go into details about them in case they're reading this, but it was rather rubbish, and I'm glad it's all over now!



What is your pet hate for models?
Flakiness, cancelling for reasons that are not good enough, being late without a decent reason and not notifying me, ego wither it's deserved or not, turning up and bitching/spreading rumors about people and pretending to be friends with designers/photographers/other models when clearly all they're after is what that person can do for them. It makes me sick.



What is your pet hate for photographers?
Ego again, whether it's deserved or not, and using their photography as a means to perve on and exploit others.



Are you self taught? Or did you attend photography classes/courses?
Both really. I did a fair amount of self teaching before I was in education, and I then did photography as part of my college course, and then did a degree in University.



Sometimes you just have to learn lessons in life the hard way, what would you say has been your most valuable lesson along your photographic journey?
Lessons are best learnt the hard way, it hurts at the time, but they sink in better. I've got a lot more to learn, but so far my most valuable lesson would be to not let my insecurities get on top of me, that I am actually alright at what I do, and that I have the ability to get a whole lot better too!



And finally, what would be your dream collaboration?
Oof! That's a really difficult one, there's so many people I would love to work with. People at the top of my wish list that I haven't worked with would be Bea Sweet, Robert Masciave, Samantha Cole, Arisa Fukumoto, Mother of London, Antiseptic Fashion, Youth Diaspora, Manko, Koneko, Viktoria, Kess M, Io and Calamity Amelie. Of course, my biggest dream would be working with Gareth Pugh. *dreams*