Meet Eleanor Jane.

She’s a kick-ass photo girl and zine-making queen who lives in an attic and digs making a mess – you love her already, right? Well, wait ’til you actually see her creations…ah-freakin’-mazin’. I discovered Miss EJ a couple of months ago, when I snapped up every issue of her Girl Photographer zine, since then she’s created a new zine, Soul Catch Fire, a story of sorts; of men, muses and slightly mad love. Each 14 page zine features eight mini photographic prints – bee-you-tiful.

EJ – what is it you do exactly?
Well, I’m a freelance photographic artist, based in Newport, South Wales. I used to work out of the living room of my attic flat, but as things have expanded, I’ve started renting a studio on the first floor of a converted stable, right in the city centre and ten minutes walk from home. It’s lovely, all white-washed brick walls and wooden floors permeated with the smell of drying acrylic paints and ground up coffee beans.

I spent a few tiresome days there, alone, in scuffed up old jeans, singing along to the radio, running out of paint, removing doors & dismantling unwanted furniture and now it’s finished and awesome. I use the studio to shoot commercial work, anything from fashion editorials to hair campaigns or band photography. My art work is more observational – it happens by accident as I travel around doing my thing!

Your photography is kick-ass, when did you discover your passion and realise you could turn it into a career?
I’ve been taking photographs since I was small & stumpy and my Nan sent me a mini plastic 110 camera that came free with her gas bill. I took twenty-four shots of my back garden and my Barbie dolls in a fashion show. Only one came out and I cried.

When I was 16 I went to college to study Photography & Digital Imaging where I ate a lot of toast and was at least two hours late every single day. But in amongst being naughty & lazy I did manage to make enough work to get myself in to uni! In 2006 I graduated from the University of Wales, Newport with a first class BA (hons) in Photographic Art. I finished on a high, being the first Photographic Art student to ever win the Welsh Livery Guild Award and with a successful final project to my name. After university ended, I threw myself head first into setting up as a freelancer; getting up each day to sit at my desk overlooking the city, sending endless emails, entering competitions, applying for grants and generally being poor. I joined an artist’s networking & support collective where I met some wonderful people and together we poured over shared copies of the A-N searching for opportunities until we got bored and messed around making things in the market gallery! It was a struggle at first but staying in the company of creative people really helped and eventually it all paid off. It’s the only thing I want to do and it IS difficult, but when you see a project you really put your soul into on the wall of a gallery, or an editorial you’ve spent long days sweating over on the pages of a magazine, the hard work is so rewarding.

Which camera is your favourite and why?
It’s not particularly exciting my favourite camera is my Nikon f80 – a 35mm SLR. I love it so much that when a friend was getting rid of his, I snapped it up too! I switch between a 50mm f1.4 and a 24mm f2.8 lens and will always take this camera out and about with me. For work I shoot on a Nikon D300 using a 17-55mm f2.8 lens as standard and although it is a gorgeous set up, I don’t really use digital for anything other than commercial work. Film is just more fun for me. I prefer the excitement involved in picking up a developed roll from the processors. Plus, it’s what I learned with, what I’m used to and I feel I understand the subtleties of different film types in such a way that I intuitively know when something is working or not. With digital you find yourself constantly checking the back of the camera and I find that disruptive to the creative process.

What camera would you recommend for newbies and how do you suggest we get started?
Most people would probably tell you to get a DSLR as it will work out cheaper in the long run and you can make as many mistakes as you like and just delete the images. But I would always say, learn on film first. Get back to basics. Understand what you’re doing. And anyway, it’s loads more fun! I think a lot of the naiviety and excitement about photography has disappeared, which is a shame. Everyone wants the latest camera, the newest software updates, to master the hottest new editing techniques. Of course, it’s great to be able to learn these things. But people are so concerned with what they can achieve post processing rather than what can be achieved in camera. Although mostly everything I take requires some post processing, who really wants to sit in front of the computer all day long editing pictures?! Not me!

You also make AMAZING zines – tell us about them – how did you start, why do you make them, what do you love about making them?
I was always making silly little books and newsletters as a child that my Mum would stick to the fridge and the family would crease up with laughter over. But it wasn’t until I was about 15 or so that I first became aware of the whole world of zines and the subculture of self-publishing. I suppose I must have stumbled upon them through Riot Grrrl music but back then they were pretty much non-existent where I came from… I saw them as very American, something that happened in artsy cities thousands of miles away from me. I didn’t make my first zine until I was 19 and in my second year of university. It was 1/4 sized, full colour photocopied and called ‘Pushing Twenty,’ a nostalgic retrospective of my teenage years. It’s funny though, since I’ve always created my zines from a ‘fine art’ perspective I don’t always know where their place is in the self-published world. I don’t know what they are! That’s not to say I think they are superior or they take themselves too seriously… just that the process is as important to me as the result. I love to include tiny symbolic references that no-one else will understand, secret messages… they’re very personal. The smallest details are considered and cause me the greatest anguish but nothing is ever without significance. It’s important to me that every detail has purpose, as in any piece of art.

Can you tell us a bit about the zine creating process?
Oh my gosh, zine time is madness! It takes ages for things to fall together and until they do I’m afraid it’s endless nights of biscuit-eating, tea-drinking, sellotape-peeling frustration! But once things do start to work it usually goes quite smoothly. It probably sounds lame but I really enjoy the ‘production line’ way of assembling the zines – packing them in to brightly coloured envelopes, addressing & stamping them up. I don’t feel satisfied until I’ve reached this stage.

Which creative-types inspire you/ do you dig?
Although it might not be obvious from my work, I am heavily influenced by music – a genius lyricist or an emotionally honest delivery does it every time! Sometimes the slightest inflection in someone’s voice is enough to send me into a creative flurry. I like honesty in art work. I don’t like pretension or crazy over the top processing. I like to know that someone saw something in an image, felt something. I also love the way other people’s silly little observations reveal a little about their sense of humour. I like to know about the strange things that pre-occupy the minds of others. David Shrigley, Sophie Calle, Mika Ninagawa, Tim Walker, countless erotic photographers… all people whose work I admire. I love work that amuses or affects me. I like brutal honesty. I like work that was created from injuries of the heart, from a deeper sense of knowing. I’m not sure… I find it hard to explain but there is so much boring as hell photography out there at the moment and very little actually raises any questions I feel need answering. Why are so many people shying away from the human condition when ultimately, it’s the most moving & inspiring thing we have to work with… and we can all relate. I hate work that alienates people.

What makes you jump-in-the-air happy?
Breakfast! Great big delicious breakfasts!

Catching the train & going on day trips. Lazy day picnics with my friends. Sitting on my roof in the sunshine. Long summer evenings in other people’s gardens. Summer Solstice. Festivals. Being outdoors. Accomplishing something. Since I climbed Half Dome in Yosemite last September on my own using pretty much nothing but strength of mind, I’ve been completely obsessed with the idea of climbing mountains! I’m trying to get in better shape now so I can go back there later this year and I also want to climb Ben Nevis. Any lump in the ground really, I want to stand on top of it. Basically I’ve got this idea in to my head that I want to hike Kilimanjaro and somehow it’s become my ultimate goal! Just knowing you’ve accomplished something like that is so elating… I can’t really explain unless you’ve done it. So do it!

What’s your life motto?
I don’t know if it’s a motto as such and it came from the most ridiculous source… but when I caught a plane to the USA pretty much on a whim last year I wasn’t very happy. Some silly film was showing (‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall,’ I think?) and Russell Brand said;

‘I was going to listen to that, but then I just carried on living my life.’

& it really struck me. I had to fiddle with the strange Virgin Airways space-age remote thing attached to the side of my seat to try to rewind the film. I listened to it over & over a few times, jotted it down in my travel journal and have kept it in my head ever since. It makes perfect sense.

Quick fire round – What’s your favourite:
Book: White Oleander – Janet Fitch, Fay – Larry Brown, Yes Man – Danny Wallace… loads really!
City: I’m more of a country bumpkin at heart! I do enjoy London for short periods of time. The only other city I have any real urge to travel to is Tokyo and would love to go back to Paris and New York.
Movie: A Streetcar Named Desire, Pulp Fiction, My Fair Lady and recently I’ve been harbouring a soft sport for Grease 2!
Band: Isn’t this just the worst question in the world?! At the moment I’m feeling quite chilled out so I’m loving Johnny Flynn, Laura Marling, Zero 7, Groove Armada, Dan Auerbach and about a million others. I don’t really have a favourite and I’ll probably be having a metal day by the time this goes online anyway so this list will be irrelevant!
Way to chill out: I rarely like getting up early but every now and again I love to wake up first thing in the morning, get all dressed up, pack a bag with a few essentials, snacks, a bottle of water & my camera and catch a train someplace. I like to go to London, read a book on the train, check out the galleries, eat lunch in a park… just have a bit of time to myself really.
Food: Today I love blitzing fresh fruit smoothies with my mixer, tofu scramble with plenty of tumeric and am researching recipes in an attempt to veganize macaroni & cheese!
Make up brand: I’ve worn the same style make-up for the past ten years; BLACK BLACK BLACK RIMMEL EYELINER! So long as there’s a thick slick of charcoal lining my eyes I’m happy! I like a few Benefit products and get a bad consumer thrill popping to department store beauty counters and coming out with a Chanel or YSL bag of goodies.

What’s next in the world o’ EJ?
Anyone who has known me for a year or two will know I’ve been agonizing over a secret self publishing project that I’ve never managed to finish as I’m being a bit of a perfectionist with it. But hopefully I’ll be done with it one of these days! Otherwise, more zine events (including the launch of an new zine anthology I’m featured in, issue 4 of Girl Photographer, developing the blog with camera mod tutorials and other fun photography thingamies, more photoshoots and more biscuits!

To check out Eleanor Jane’s awesome talent, go check out her website: www.eleanorjane.co.uk