ALICIA DAVIDSON

Working with the likes of Holly Humberstone and Loyle Carner; enter the world through the eyes of Alicia Davidson.

Alicia has been a best friend of mine for a few years now. We met online back in 2018 and met during lockdown making music together and instantly clicked. I am so grateful and excited to preview her to you all as she is an amazing individual and artist being able to catch beautiful shots. In this interview we will be discussing her dissertation for her final university piece based titled 'Self Portrait'.

What draws you to black and white photography?

"To be honest, one of the main reasons I started shooting with black and white film was because it’s a lot cheaper to buy and get developed. Previously to this project I've mainly been a colour photographer so going completely black and white took some adjusting. But now I really see the beauty of black and white photography. I like how emotive black and white images feel; how you can’t be distracted by colour clashes or what’s going on in the background of an image. With black and white film, you have the opportunity to only see the subject photographed and I love this about it."

Since your project was based on self image, do you find yourself using art as a way to communicate yourself, your thoughts and feelings and if so how and why

"For me, photography is just a way of stopping time. My memory is so bad and I struggle with visualising clear things in my mind especially memories so taking photos of the good stuff in my life makes me not forget them. I use my music to communicate myself and my feelings though but I do kind of keep that for me. It’s a way for me to take the weight out of my head and into something and then like when I work on the music the negative feelings I wrote the song about turn into something positive because I’ve created a piece of art that I love."

Why did you choose self portrait as your theme?

"I didn’t really choose it to be honest it kind of chose me, I know that’s cringe to say. I just had all of these photos but no theme and then I literally printed them out and threw them all together on a table and started to see the running theme: all of these photos represent me. I see it like my three families; my blood family, my friends and my love. All three of these are what make me me so this project became a self-portrait."

What got you inspired to do photography and why?

"I was really drawn to photojournalism and the emotional impact of photography when I was around 16 so I chose to study photography for my A-levels and that’s when I really fell in love with the practice. I started to focus more on people and grew interested in fashion and I felt it was something I was pretty good at so I chose to study fashion photography at uni and now here we are. Although I kind of hate the fashion industry after studying it for 3 years, that dislike for it is what made me turn towards documentary photography. The main reason I do photography is because I like having the ability to pause a moment forever, to capture moments of joy and be able to hold onto them forever I guess and then it becomes a memory I can never forget."

Is there something you look for in your photos for this project, a specific feeling or theme perhaps?

"I like to focus on joy. I think that when you’re 22 and living in London there are all these negative stressful things just constantly on your mind and I wanted to capture moments of joy with my friends and family as a sort of escape I guess. No one wants to remember the bad times of your 20s right so why would I want to capture that you know."

If you could take an image of a scenery that best describes you what would it include? 

"Might be weird but I think my bedroom best describes me. It’s messy but not in like an overwhelming can’t see the floor way, there’s posters of my favourite movies and like hobbies I like, always mood lighting, never the big light on and just feels cosy I guess."

There seems to be a healthy balance of candid and posed photos what about yourself do you find in both of these styles

"None of the posed ones were serious you know, it was just me trying to take a candid and then they posed for it. I find myself in the quite thoughtless moment of a candid photo like how it’s just about capturing a moment whilst also living in the moment. When it comes to posed photos the only thing I can think about is how with a pose there’s a lot of thought and readjustments and in that same way I’m quite a perfectionist."

If you could take a photo of three inanimate objects that would use as a self portrait what would they be 

“Probably my guitar, my rings and my camera.”

I saw a common theme of shoes in your photos, could you describe the reason for the use of them

“To be honest there isn’t really a conscious reason for it. Taking photos of someone’s shoes is the easiest way to take a discrete photo because they don’t have a camera pointed at their face. Most of them are roll fillers like I’d 4 or 5 images left in a roll but needed it developed asap so would just take random photos. Turns out some of them were cool.”

Is there a certain one you prefer out of candid photos and posed? Maybe the natural beauty of unprepared moments or being hands on trying to set up the perfect shot.

"I hate setting up a shoot and trying to get the perfect shot because, to this day, I don’t think I have ever shot that perfect shot. I’m never truly happy with the results of a posed shoot because I would’ve had a super specific idea in my mind and if it doesn’t turn out exactly like that then I'm not satisfied. But with candid photos I'm not thinking like that, there isn’t really an end goal. I’m just taking photos of my life like a photo album and it’s a lot more relaxed and enjoyable."

When/where do you feel the most you?

I feel the most when I’m with my friends Joe, lil and shannon. I can be myself no matter what and they were there for me through some of my darkest times and I trust them with my life, I don’t have to hide a single thought from them.

What do you want to see more of in the industry

“To be honest, just more kindness and empathy and diversity of course. Most people in the fashion and photography industry think they’re better than everyone else and will treat their assistants like shit because “that’s just how it is”. We just need to stop treating assistants like slaves when they do most of the work. We need more women, more black women, more asian women, just more women. And needless to say we need to give a legitimate voice to transgender creatives.”

"Make work for yourself and no one else. Make sure you’re happy with your work."

Is there anything coming up you would like to promote?

“Yes, my graduate exhibition will be on from the 13th to the 15th of July at Protein Studios in Shoreditch and some of my work will be there as well as the work from a lot of talented creatives.”

FOLLOW ALICIA DAVIDSON ON INSTAGRAM HERE