Interview by Mia Kingsley
Charlotte is 21, lives in Norfolk, has a cute little brother, is obsessed with anything cowboy style and loves to dance. Her recent shoot for ‘Gogo Phillip’ (starring Cooler favourite Anna Ryon) immediately caught my attention and since then I have been a super huge fan! Her photography is quite simply amazing, bursting with vibrant colour, originality and fun style. We chat about her dislike of galleries, her love for colour, Mr Michael Jackson and Guy Bourdin. Meet Miss Charlotte Rutherford…
How did you first start taking photos?
I wanted a really good myspace pic so took loads of photos of myself sitting in my bathroom lol.
Do you remember the first piece of work you were proud of?
I think I am very briefly proud of lots of photos, so even the selective colour myspace pics were a hit in my eyes once!
You have such a strong style of shooting, extremely colourful and playful. Where do you think you developed this style of photography from?
I looove colour, I think its really exciting! I don’t know exactly where the way my photos look came from but I think I saw a David Lachapelle book one day and it blew my mind, I was like OK COOL YOU CAN DO LIKE ANYTHING and then everything made more sense.
How would you describe your style/work in three words?
Umm hopefully silly, sincere, dreamy??
Who are your photography heroes?
I loooovveee Guy Bourdin! And then I love movie people like Lynch and Hitchcock (but I guess maybe that goes without saying)
To date what has been your favourite shoot to work on?
So tough! I shot the Gogo Philip collection with Soki Mak (Anna Ryon was one of the models) that was really fun and I love the photos and I love the jewellery so that was like swell on all levels!
What, who and where would make your dream photo shoot?
Michael Jackson some time between 1985 and 1995 <3 :'( or I just wanna shoot in LA or in houses with really sick 70s or 80s interior!
Would you say your work reflects you as a person?
Yes! Well I hope so 🙂
What do you prefer, magazines or the blogs?
I prefer the content of blogs, or well I guess it is easier to find blogs which are more to my taste but I prefer to look at something printed I think 🙂
Which is your favourite gallery to visit and why?
Generally I dislike galleries and exhibitions. I think it’s not a very nice way to look at art because the whole time I feel like I’m being watched looking at something. I much prefer looking at art in books. However Nadia Lee has an exhibition up in Brighton atm and I really do wanna see that.
Do you have any advice for someone wanting to get into photography?
Just take loads of photos!!!
And finally what’s next for you Charlotte? Any more shoots we should be excited for?
Yerrrrrr! Lots of shoots, going to try working on my own stuff for a little while to get better. Also this is really lame but I’m trying to get good at playing an instrument/singing and also trying to get good at dancing.
Amazing! Thanks soooo much! I personally can’t wait to see what the future holds for you 🙂 If you liked Charlotte’s work here are a few links to keep updated:
www.facebook.com/charlotterutherfordphotographer
www.charlotterutherford.com/blog
Next week I will be chatting to Freya Hobbs, a super cool artist who documents her surroundings and has an obsession with hair! But until then for more ‘Mia Meets…’ or more Mia Kingsley miamagnoliakingsley.tumblr.com XXX
