Lillian Simpson is showing her photographs (with the portrait of her sister on the right).
EIT Bachelor of Creative Practice student Lillian Simpson has earned an honorable mention in the prestigious international “Monochrome Photography Award” (amateur fashion/beauty category). Her black and white photograph portraying her younger sister is found among other masterpieces created by amateur photographers from all over the world.
The Hastings based artist loves the dramatic style of monochrome photographs, the interaction of light and shadow on the human form and is particularly fascinated by the 1920s to 1950s aesthetics of film and photography.
Simpson is thrilled to be one of the featured artists: “I have always been creative. I would play dress ups and do videos and photoshoots with friends. I was home schooled and I first picked up our family camera when I was about ten. At 12 I got my first camera”.
Since then the 21-old-year hasn’t put the camera down. She would play around with light placement for hours turning the shooting into an experimental process. There is a lot of research and planning going into a photoshoot.
Portrait of Lillian Simpson’s sister
In her artist statement she points out that photography is not about taking a photograph, but making it. This includes styling her models, which plays an important role in the whole creative process.
Nigel Roberts, EIT Bachelor of Creative Practice programme coordinator, is raving about his highly talented student: “She is a gift and an exemplary person. She doesn’t stop working till she is exhausted and we tell her to stop. We should have a classroom full of people like her”.
The picture in question was part of her final submission, a real world challenge that asked students to enter a competition with a body of work in their chosen media area. “Lillian’s photograph has a lovely and soft clarity and looking at it, it tells you a story,” says Roberts.
Studying at EIT gives Simpson the opportunity to combine her interest for both historical fashion and photography. “We can work with a great amount of supplies and there is so much room for experimentations. We get the chance to find out what we enjoy doing most.”
Having studied full-time for over a year, Simpson decided to cut back to part-time due to chronic health issues and is grateful for the support she got on behalf of her lecturers.
Simpson is planning on completing her Bachelor degree majoring in Design in two or three year’s time and starting a career as a fashion and portrait photographer. Being half Swiss she’s even considering spending some time outside New Zealand. “I will just see what happens”.
See all the featured photographs on monoawards.com. Simpsons Instagram account: @tired_inspired