Back in December 2020, we introduced two new editors, and today, we're extremely happy and proud to announce the latest additions to our team. You may ask yourself, why we are speaking in plural - well, we got ourselves a real power couple: model Kelly Forster and photographer Simon Jameson. If you now think - wait, I've heard those names before - you're right! Both Kelly and Simon have been with us for a long time now. We have published a model feature about Kelly in our advent calendar in December 2020, and published an interview with Simon in our very first print magazine back in February 2020. Now that he's a part of the Streetfashion MagZZine team, we think it's time, we'd publish his interview online and give you all a chance to learn more about Si.J!
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Simon, please tell us a little bit about yourself to begin with. How old are you? Where were you born and where do you live now? What is your profession and do you have other besides photography?
I’m Simon Jameson (Everyone calls me Si. J), I’m 36 years old, born in County Durham but living in the fatherland that is Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England. Photography is now my full time occupation. I have had a colourful career outside of photography though. Running companies in industries such as cosmetics, data management, talent agency, sales management I even ran a motor garage specialising in restoration, performance and motorsport applications. However, photography has always been something I have wanted to live out my days doing. |
Model: Kelly Forster
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Could you share with us how you first became interested in photography?
I remember it vividly. It was in 1996 watching big cat diaries on BBC. Watching the work of Simon King inspired me to someday become a wildlife photographer. That didn’t quite pan out, but my love of photography never went away. I have always been drawn to beautiful images like a moth to a flame. |
Alright Si. J, have you been involved in the arts in some form other than photography?
Hmmm, No I haven’t been involved in the Arts in the traditional sense but I consider myself to have been artistic in my various careers. I started my working life as a mechanic and panel beater. Taking great pride in creating beautiful vehicles from wrecks. I have always loved design and the companies that I have been involved with I have utilised this love to their benefit. Seeing your remarkable work, I am curious where your creativity comes from? Well I’m extremely flattered you see my work as remarkable. My nature is to continually push myself to improve, so I can be quite self deprecating sometimes when it comes to my work. With regards to my creativity and where it comes from… I have always had a very creative mind and finding inspiration is quite natural to me (I know that sounds like such an incredibly douchebag thing to say). I will always discuss concepts with the brands or models I work with, and ideas generally tend to flow quite freely. 
Model: Kate
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What equipment are you using now and with what did you get started?
I’m currently a Canon Shooter doing the majority of my work on a 7d. I find the camera very versatile to my style of shooting. I did move away from canon in favour of Sony but after being victim of a robbery I was forced to go back to my trusty old canon as the thieves got away with all my Sony equipment. I will be going back to Sony as it is by far the best camera I have used (A7Riv) and my clients expect me to be able to produce images that can be printed for large billboard images which the monster A7Riv can achieve with ease. But with the introduction of the Sony A1, I am tempted to dig a little deeper into my budget to pay for that system which is way more versatile.
I much prefer to shoot with natural light and use reflectors and scribs to manipulate the light to my needs. But sometimes artificial light is needed so I have started to carry a godox ad200 with me. For studio work, I use continuous lighting and flash depending on what I’m trying to achieve. My first camera was a canon rebel xti with a 50mm kit lens.
What is your favorite lens?
That’s easy. My sigma art 85mm. on the crop of the 7d it’s more like a 135mm but I just love working with it (however Sigma really need to start making their lenses a bit more robust). The Sony setup I favoured the G Master 85mm 1.4 (85mm is my go-to prime lens).
Can you tell us about your work flow from the point until you showcase the developed picture?
Well I am usually approached with a concept from a model or brand, then I would go about developing the concept into an achievable shoot, then as I prefer natural light and location shooting I would scout for the best location that would not only look good but would also put the models into the mindset of the concept. I have a super laidback approach to a photoshoot. I try to make everyone feel at ease and comfortable as I feel that you can sense the mood in an image and if a model is not comfortable and that feeling stands out like a sore thumb. I like to shoot for no longer than two hours per location as I feel that any more and it begins to show in the images. I always give those involved at the shoot the chance to see the images I am taking and welcome feedback as we might get a suggestion from somebody that can transform the image with a small change in composition. Post production is fairly painless, I don’t use photoshop very often at all as I feel that you can get lost in processing and the image can just look over edited. I like skin texture and imperfections of the human form. I find it beautiful that we are not perfect, we can all be uniquely beautiful and not uniformly smoothed. I use lightroom to process my images. Spending about 2 hours per set of 30 images. I tend to make a couple of pre-sets for that set. This allows me to save time in post and give a uniform look to the set. From those pre-sets I only need to make a few minor adjustments to compensate for changes in ambient light etc...
I’m currently a Canon Shooter doing the majority of my work on a 7d. I find the camera very versatile to my style of shooting. I did move away from canon in favour of Sony but after being victim of a robbery I was forced to go back to my trusty old canon as the thieves got away with all my Sony equipment. I will be going back to Sony as it is by far the best camera I have used (A7Riv) and my clients expect me to be able to produce images that can be printed for large billboard images which the monster A7Riv can achieve with ease. But with the introduction of the Sony A1, I am tempted to dig a little deeper into my budget to pay for that system which is way more versatile.
I much prefer to shoot with natural light and use reflectors and scribs to manipulate the light to my needs. But sometimes artificial light is needed so I have started to carry a godox ad200 with me. For studio work, I use continuous lighting and flash depending on what I’m trying to achieve. My first camera was a canon rebel xti with a 50mm kit lens.
What is your favorite lens?
That’s easy. My sigma art 85mm. on the crop of the 7d it’s more like a 135mm but I just love working with it (however Sigma really need to start making their lenses a bit more robust). The Sony setup I favoured the G Master 85mm 1.4 (85mm is my go-to prime lens).
Can you tell us about your work flow from the point until you showcase the developed picture?
Well I am usually approached with a concept from a model or brand, then I would go about developing the concept into an achievable shoot, then as I prefer natural light and location shooting I would scout for the best location that would not only look good but would also put the models into the mindset of the concept. I have a super laidback approach to a photoshoot. I try to make everyone feel at ease and comfortable as I feel that you can sense the mood in an image and if a model is not comfortable and that feeling stands out like a sore thumb. I like to shoot for no longer than two hours per location as I feel that any more and it begins to show in the images. I always give those involved at the shoot the chance to see the images I am taking and welcome feedback as we might get a suggestion from somebody that can transform the image with a small change in composition. Post production is fairly painless, I don’t use photoshop very often at all as I feel that you can get lost in processing and the image can just look over edited. I like skin texture and imperfections of the human form. I find it beautiful that we are not perfect, we can all be uniquely beautiful and not uniformly smoothed. I use lightroom to process my images. Spending about 2 hours per set of 30 images. I tend to make a couple of pre-sets for that set. This allows me to save time in post and give a uniform look to the set. From those pre-sets I only need to make a few minor adjustments to compensate for changes in ambient light etc...
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Do you see a particular influence, be it a photographer or school on your work?
I have many influences in my work. I am in awe by many local photographers and have learned so much from their work. Brian Nichols (bri.focals), Stickyman, S.T.A.N.K, Rich Leng, Adam Wakenshaw and Jade Beals, to name a few. However I do my best to keep my work unmistakably Si.J.
What would you say characterizes your work in comparison to other photographers?
I like darker images but I also really love to work with harsh natural light which I have found not too many photographers like to do. Sets such as the 100 warrior shoot were shot in the height of the summer on a really bright and hot day but using reflectors and shadows I think I managed to pull the model out of the images.
Among your works, which is your favourite and why?
Hmmm that’s a tough one because I am my harshest critic. So, I do try my best to better each shoot from the one before. But if I had to pick one then it would probably be the Evil Queen. Simply because Kelly Forster the model in this set is so much fun to work with. Every time we shoot together we have so much fun and always end up getting some really cool images. The images in this set being featured on the cover of an American photography magazine. However, any shoot with Kelly is special. Kelly and I fell in love working together and we are now engaged to be married. I could not be happier, being able to work with my soulmate on a regular basis.
Tell us your funniest or most awkward photography story.
Haha, well I’m always making an idiot out of myself in one way or another on a shoot. Be it falling off rocks covered in seaweed on the beaches of Northumberland or trying to jump over a fence acting all cool to realise half way through my ever so cool leap that the fence post I grabbed to steady my jump was very loose and as such ended up falling face first winding myself and getting covered in mud. I have also been chased off a really creepy cabin by an even creepier old lady - the list is pretty much endless really.
What would you tell a newcomer who asks for your advice on how to start?
A tough question this one. But I think it would be to take photos that YOU are happy with and don’t try to make the population of Instagram happy. I learn by doing and by addressing the mistakes I have made. My first few model shoots were terrible and will never see the light of day again but without them I would not be answering your questions now. I have found my style of photography from learning and loving what I do for me and I’m now at a stage where people like what I do because it’s what I do and not because it’s a typical Instagram image.
I have many influences in my work. I am in awe by many local photographers and have learned so much from their work. Brian Nichols (bri.focals), Stickyman, S.T.A.N.K, Rich Leng, Adam Wakenshaw and Jade Beals, to name a few. However I do my best to keep my work unmistakably Si.J.
What would you say characterizes your work in comparison to other photographers?
I like darker images but I also really love to work with harsh natural light which I have found not too many photographers like to do. Sets such as the 100 warrior shoot were shot in the height of the summer on a really bright and hot day but using reflectors and shadows I think I managed to pull the model out of the images.
Among your works, which is your favourite and why?
Hmmm that’s a tough one because I am my harshest critic. So, I do try my best to better each shoot from the one before. But if I had to pick one then it would probably be the Evil Queen. Simply because Kelly Forster the model in this set is so much fun to work with. Every time we shoot together we have so much fun and always end up getting some really cool images. The images in this set being featured on the cover of an American photography magazine. However, any shoot with Kelly is special. Kelly and I fell in love working together and we are now engaged to be married. I could not be happier, being able to work with my soulmate on a regular basis.
Tell us your funniest or most awkward photography story.
Haha, well I’m always making an idiot out of myself in one way or another on a shoot. Be it falling off rocks covered in seaweed on the beaches of Northumberland or trying to jump over a fence acting all cool to realise half way through my ever so cool leap that the fence post I grabbed to steady my jump was very loose and as such ended up falling face first winding myself and getting covered in mud. I have also been chased off a really creepy cabin by an even creepier old lady - the list is pretty much endless really.
What would you tell a newcomer who asks for your advice on how to start?
A tough question this one. But I think it would be to take photos that YOU are happy with and don’t try to make the population of Instagram happy. I learn by doing and by addressing the mistakes I have made. My first few model shoots were terrible and will never see the light of day again but without them I would not be answering your questions now. I have found my style of photography from learning and loving what I do for me and I’m now at a stage where people like what I do because it’s what I do and not because it’s a typical Instagram image.
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Model: Kelly Forster
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Artist Credits
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Editor Credits
Interview & Image Compilation Florian
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Published: 27.03.2021
