Lara Jade

I first discovered Lara Jade through her Facebook page in 2011. Even though I wasn't established in my photography yet, and had no idea what field of photography I wanted to pursue, I instantly fell in love with her work. She inspired me because she started out so young, and helped me believe that I could make it in the competitive photography industry, no matter what direction I took.

Lara Jade grew up in West Midlands, England. While living there she took an interest in photography. At the young age of thirteen she picked up her father’s camcorder and began taking stills with it. Lara started collecting compact cameras to photograph with. By the age of fifteen she had discovered fine art and self portraiture, and received her first SLR, a Canon 350d, for her sixteenth birthday.

At just seventeen years old, Lara started her own business, starting off with small portraiture clients’, and quickly moving on to larger clients like book publishers and music labels. Soon after starting her business she took on fashion, and later moved to London to work with other photographers in the fashion industry.

Lara is always striving to improve her photographic and business skills. In September 2005 she began a National Diploma in Photography, and later, in September 2007, studied Visual Communication at UCE. Even this far into her business she continues to learn and improve at every opportunity, to maximize her abilities as a photographer and business woman.

As Lara Jade explains in her website biography; “I am influenced by past and present style; whenever I shoot I like to create stories with an underlying sense of narrative, whether this is in my personal work, commercial campaigns or editorial projects. I am deeply inspired by elements of influential style, film noir, old masters in painting and photography, Romanticism and untouched beauty. All of my experiences in life thus far have been reflected through my imagery, and continue to shape me personally, and as an artist.”

The above image was posted to the Facebook page; Lara Jade Photography in April last year (2012). It is a picture from the very beginning of her journey as a fashion photographer, and as she describes it, it was one of the first fashion images that she was really proud of. Her pride in this image helped to push her to follow fashion photography, and influenced her to keep going.

Throughout her quickly expanding career as a photographer, Lara Jade has acquired many major clients. These include magazines such as Elle, Lush, Material Girl and Institute, as well as other clients like Sony Music, Schwarzkopf, Harper Collins, and Lamb. As well as working with these well known clients Lara continues to photograph for herself, as well as holding photography workshops for aspiring fashion photographers all over the world. She has also written a book, Fashion Photography 101, which was published recently. 

As my idol, Lara Jade influences me greatly. I stated at the beginning of this blog that I was interested in starting my own business as a pets/family/couples/newborn/glamour photographer. However now I am rethinking again thanks to Lara Jade and other photographers like her, and considering starting out with glamour and pursuing fashion photography. 

Here is a small selection of some of my favourite Lara Jade photographs;