Photo Live Magazine First Issue Photo live - cat's add in 2017 versioin | Page 59

One of the positives of social media
is that sometimes you happen upon
people, who’s creativity grabs you.
You follow them and start to really
appreciate their art. Sarah Fairbanks
is someone we found on Instagram,
her street photography, use of light
and shapes got us wanting to find
out more... Sarah, welcome to the
first issue of Photo Live... strong supporting arm of her son
gave meaning to the photo for me.
First up maybe tell readers about
you. Where are you based what you
do and how you got into photogra-
phy. Are you shooting film? Digital or
both?
I live in Adelaide, a beautiful city by
the beach where I find my photogra-
phy is very much influenced by the
seasons, the leaves on the trees
and the way each month changes
the light and feel of my environment.
Next tell us about your early pho-
tography, what sort of photography
were you doing and did you have any
goals for the future? What I mean is
did you think that you would evolve
so much?
I first got a camera when I was about
18, and had just started medical
school. I was enchanted that sud-
denly memories could be turned into
something concrete, printed onto a
beautiful piece of paper. My child-
hood was heavily influenced by nu-
merous moves all around the country
and 14 schools, so I felt that all my
memories in a way, of places were
fragmented. Photography changed
that for me. Suddenly I was spend-
ing hours in the darkroom, often until
midnight, feverishly printing, but on
quest for something, that I am still
on. I also took my first street photo-
graphs when I was 21, but I was far
too shy to risk anyone seeing me,
so they tended to be of figures in a
distance. My favourite from this time
was of an old lady walking with her
son. The bow of her legs and the
Did you study photography?
I did not study when I was younger,
but in the last two years have stud-
ied single subjects at CCP (Centre
for Creative Photography) which is a
wonderful place.
I stayed with film from 1988-2004
then finally switched to digital. I love
digital, but I still love film, especially
medium format film. I also love my
iPhone, and my tiny mirror less cam-
era, all devices have their beauty
and strength
Tell us about film. The camera. Why
and how you found it compared to
digital.
Film has a colour rendition and at
times softness which changes the
feel of a photo. If you look at medium
format film with photos taken with
shallow depth of field they really are
very beautiful. I would like to explore
that in the future.
I also love trying different techniques
and possibilities with my iPhone. I
use “Snapseed” to edit, and it really
is wonderful especially for sophisti-
cated black and white edits—a good
start point to lead on to Lightroom on
your computer (which I use for all my
DSLR shots). I also have tried other
apps like textures and slow shutter
speed apps that allow you to com-
pletely change the feel and mood of
a photo on your phone.
Do you think travelling overseas
changed your photography? Tell us
about that.
I suppose I spent my whole child-
hood travelling—b