Guest Lectuere- James Grant

James Grant is a freelance fashion photographer.
At the age of 16, James was a painter, painting portraits, in which he took photographs of his subjects to paint from, and he happened to get some work experience as part of a compulsory scheme in school, in a photographic studio at age 16. This lead to him studying photography at ALevel, and went to study a foundation degree before university; during which he was still keen to become a painter. He enjoyed controlling everything and staging images rather than waiting for a shot to compose itself and to happen by chance. Any images he took were set up himself to document and to bring some humour across too.
He was told during his foundation course that his photographs were better than his paintings, and he decided to undertake a fine art photography degree, in which he shot mainly urban landscapes and focused on the way they make you feel. He was, however, "bored of being lonely" and shooting solo and went into the fashion direction of the industry.

He made a point that he forced himself into the industry, and that is one of the only ways to do it. Also the same point which has been drawn to our attention previously which is that we need to respect that the first jobs we do, we shall be doing for free. No moneys for Becky.

James spent 2 and a half years in Cambodia shooting some really cool stuff, however he wasn't enjoying his work and returned to london and to education, completing a MA in Fashion Photography at LCF.

His work which he completes now are more about selling a lifestyle; he will go away with his mates and just shoot for fun, for something personal, and a brand will see those images and ask him to rip himself off, which he is apparently more than happy to do.

Something I learnt from James is to always always push the boundaries of the student card to breaking point. It is the only time in our lives when we can pretty much do whatever the hell we like and use the fact we are students to get ourselves out of basically any situation. Cheeky.