Artistic Spotlight - Kitty Gallannaugh

Kitty, a 21 year old portrait and fashion photographer from London, England, began photography early on. As she states, "Part of me has forever been photographing, as a kid I would just casually photograph everything I saw whether it was through the car window, my socks or my family. By 13 I got into digital photography and taught myself how to edit with Photoshop; that was the beginning of my obsession." Kitty always edits her photos. As she states, "Without editing I feel they're too "vulnerable"-- they haven't the artist's final trademark stamp put on them. I try to do as little editing as possible and spend the longest time setting up each shot to ensure I won't have too much to enhance/change. I only ever touch the colours, either muting or brightening certain areas. The contrast is always fiddled with and I occassionally will change the lighting if I feel it isn't completely "right". Otherwise, I don't do anything overly fancy." At the moment you can pick up a free curve for photoshop on her website in order to emulate her look.

To take her shots she uses her Canon 5D Mark II and finds herself inspired by the works of Tim Walker, Annie Leibovitz and Sally Mann. When asked about her current projects she states, " usually keep them very secret but don't see any harm in hinting towards them! I'm working on a couple of new series - something to bring back the sleepy summery feeling and something to capture the wild youth." We look forward to it! To check out more of Kitty's work click here.

Artistic Spotlight - John Kilar

John Kilar, a 25-year old photographer from Venice, California, is completely self taught. He started taking photos only a year ago, and it shows, but the amateurish nature of his photos has a charm to it. He uses his Yashica T-4 to takes his shots and doesn't like to edit his photos with any major changes, just a bit of adjusting in Apple Preview. As he states, "I like to keep my photos as natural as possible."

This search for naturalness finds its way into the subject matter of his work. As John states, "I prefer nature over people," but he'll take photos of anything and everything that comes his way--"anything I find visually appealing." When asked to describe his work as a whole John says, "My whole body of work is a perpetually evolving project documenting my adventures and travels." You can check out his charming photos by clicking here.

Blogger Spotlight - Linnea Jacobson

Linnea from Umea, Sweden, is only 14 and already a style star. Recently featured on WhoWhatWear, this red head has a knack for mixing vintage with new. She also likes playing with photography. For camera equipment she uses a Canon eos 60d, with a Canon 50 mm 1.8 and a Vivitar 85mm 1.4. as well has a fujifilm instax 210 and a fujica. Her family takes her daily outfit posts and they definitely do a good job. Linnea's blog is more than just style, the photography is magazine worthy as well.

When asked about her style inspiration she talks about the website lookbook, a website where people can share their daily fashion. To check out her lookbook click here. To join her over 2000 + viewers on her blog click here. Finally, to check out her photography blog click here.

Artistic Spotlight - Carly Zinga

Carly, a student from Australia, has no formal education in photography yet her shots still turn out lovely. Carly likes to take dreamy photos with a focus on fantasy and childhood. To take her shots she uses a Sony DSLR camera. When asked about the editing process she states, " I like a natural looking photograph, so I mainly adjust the colour with curves and actions. People are who they are, I think we should celebrate that!"

For Issue 3 of The Fashion Press we're doing an underwater photo shoot so one of my major questions for Carly was about how she took hers. " I got suited up in a full length wetsuit with a weight belt (to keep me stable underwater), and goggles. It was in the middle of winter, so the water was freezing. I felt sorry for my models, because all they were wearing was flimsy clothes. I borrowed my twin sisters underwater, digital camera - it's nothing fancy. To take the photographs, I had to be close enough, because if I was to far away the water created a barrier and you couldn't see your subject. Luckily I had chosen a pool that was new and the water was very clear. All I can say is that it was a long process and took many hours to achieve. " And what are her projects for the future? " Right now, I am working on building up my portfolio, in between school and my dancing. I would like to get better at photoshop, because I realize that it is definitely going to be one of the tools of the future. In the future i hope to see my work published in magazines all around the world, and i would love to be traveling and taking photographs across a variety of different countries. " To check out Carly's online portfolio click here.

Artistic Spotlight - Sarah Tue-Fee

Sarah Tue-Fee, a Fine Arts Major at University of Ottawa, uses film stills and promotional movie images as references for her work. She tries to link the time-based film medium to painting, which is largely based on still moments. As she states, "It's fan art, but with a conceptual backing, so it's okay." When asked about her favourite materials she talks about oil paints. "I find that there's so much more you can do with them due to the extended drying time and looser texture. Plus it looks 'sexy.' Her works have a sex appeal to them that adds to this effect of the oil paints.

When asked about the connection between education and artistry, she believes that is has helped her practice. "The studio classes especially have given me concrete experience with new materials, as well as new ways of thinking about art. The history classes also inform some of the conceptual frameworks." At the moment she's renting out studio space at the Universtiy and experimenting with a bunch of different styles. Sarah also works with film! A couple of months ago we posted her video with Howie Tsui. Click here to check it out. To check out Sarah's blog click here.

Artistic Spotlight: Dead Paper

Dead Paper is the latest project by Rebecca of the popular style blog The Clothes Horse. I've always loved Rebecca's blog for her great style, cool stop motion videos, and her awesome red hair. Her latest venture, Dead Paper, is a collection of collages made from vintage magazine cut outs that are both clever and creative! Click here to check out Dead Paper.

Artistic Spotlight - Elena Ayllon

Elena Ayllon was born in Madrid, grew up in Tokyo, and then returned to Madrid to study photography and work for an art gallery. When asked how her interest in photography began she states "the world moves so fast, I use photography to try to stop time." At the moment she works with a 35mm old Canon and a Polaroid camera because film has a "special touch." This summer she's going to begin working with pinhole cameras with a German photographer. She doesn't edit her photos but prefers high iso films for colour and black and white. She also loves Kodak Tri-x Film. But that's all the mechanical stuff.

In terms of the subjects within her photos, she aims to provoke feelings. As she states, "The camera is my tool to express and create images connected with me, like a painter with its brush. I consider myself more of an artist than a photographer." All of her photos are of a very personal nature. As she states, "I like to show my life as a diary." She finds herself inspired by other photographers and is very into "this independent analogue photography movement," a movement which seems to be on the rise. To see more of Elena's work visit elenaayllon.com