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19) Guest Speaker, Frederike Helwig - 25/10/17

Alice Lock
Oct 29, 2017
2 min read

Our third guest speaker of the stream was Frederike Helwig, a German fashion and portrait photographer. My notes from the talk can be seen below.

I found this talk really inspiring from the carefree personality of Frederike, for instance her giving advice like don't just shoot what the editors want - shoot what you want too! In some scenarios these photos end up doing better than the ones actually published in magazines etc, for instance her fridge picture of Nicki Minaj:

She went on to talk about what her vision was when shooting with celebrities, and she said it was pushing people to do something they wouldn't usually do - such as getting in a fridge. She said this idea of going against the grain allows people to relax and be themselves, which usually makes for the best and most engaging portraits. This is something I'd like to try out if I was taking portraits.

I also really love how she's not interested in the fame of the individuals she shoots with, instead she said "I just want to make a good photograph". This is a really great mindset to have I feel, because it means it doesn't let you being a fan of someone affect your photography. Instead she just treats them as normal human beings, which she also highlighted can make better photos. This is because they feel more at ease instead of being constantly put on a pedestal by people.

Another point I thought was interesting is how she creatively controls herself, for instance only letting herself shoot 5 rolls of film with one person, meaning you really think about each shot more. She described it as "making your senses sharper", meaning your more creative in a shorter amount of time. She also does this creative control thing with her kit, for example only shooting with the Mamiya 7 and only using flash.

She also touched on the subject of not 'selling out' for projects. You must have integrity as a photographer, and only shoot what makes you excited. For instance Frederike has now stopped shooting with lots of celebrities, because it doesn't interest her anymore.

Overall I really enjoyed the talk because it gave me a lot of information and advice for working out in industry and with celebrities, which I wouldn't have known otherwise. I find her carefree approach to not planning shoots or researching her subject really freeing, and it has showed me that you don't have to plan everything down to a T for it to go well.