Photographer Laura Stevens a Talent to be Reckoned With in Another November

Me Eyes Closed (Self Portrait) © Laura Stevens

Me Eyes Closed (Self Portrait) © Laura Stevens

On occasion we break away from the classic Fashion Photographer mould to feature those with a more eclectic talent a “mélange” of several photographic perspectives, a hybrid of sorts. Laura Stevens is one of those rare breeds that exist outside of the proverbial pedestrian box. Not only is Laura extremely talented, she also carries herself with a dignity and humility often lost in todays “I am Famous for being Well Known” mentality. How refreshingly down to earth and honest for a change. Laura deserves all of the accolades she has been receiving as of late and we wish her only the very best in all of her endeavors. Laura Stevens was honoured to be one of the top five winners of the LensCulture Emerging Talents Award 2014 for her series Another November. Her work was selected by juror Olivier Laurent from TIME Lightbox.

Another November © Laura Stevens

Another November
© Laura Stevens

Another November © Laura Stevens

Another November
© Laura Stevens

Another November © Laura Stevens

Another November
© Laura Stevens

Another November © Laura Stevens

Another November
© Laura Stevens

Another November © Laura Stevens

Another November
© Laura Stevens

Another November © Laura Stevens

Another November
© Laura Stevens

Another November © Laura Stevens

Another November
© Laura Stevens

Another November © Laura Stevens

Another November
© Laura Stevens

Laura Stevens (b.1977) is an English photographer based in Paris, holding a BA in Art and Design and an MA in Photography from the University of Brighton. Stevens’ series of narrative portraits represent and fictionalise personal situations, using cinematic drama and painterly aesthetics along themes of intimacy, relationships and loss. Her work has been exhibited internationally, in the National Portrait Gallery, The Latvian Museum of Photography, The Centre for Fine Art Photography, Arles Photography Open Salon, Encontros da Imagem and the Singapore International Photography Festival.

Stevens was awarded a special distinction in the LensCulture Emerging Talents 2014, selected for the PHPA (Photo d’Hotel Photo d’Auteur) 2014, The Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2013, a Magenta Foundation’s Flash Forward Emerging Photographers 2012, received medals in the Px3 Prix de la Photographie Paris 2014 and 2012 and an honourable mention in the LensCulture Exposure Awards 2011. Alongside her dedication to long-term personal projects, she is a regular contributor for the press, for publications such as The Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Le Monde and Forbes Magazine, as well as photographing for NGOs.

Another November
Laura StevensFollowing the ending of a significant relationship in my life, an undoing began. Whilst adjusting to being a single woman, I started to create a photographic narrative based on the experience of losing love; directing other women to portray the gradual emotional and circumstantial stages, along the well-trodden track of the broken-hearted.

 

Following the ending of a significant relationship in my life, an undoing began. Whilst adjusting to being a single woman, I started to create a photographic narrative based on the experience of losing love; directing other women to portray the gradual emotional and circumstantial stages, along the well-trodden track of the broken-hearted.

By constructing images of the evolving chapters, I was allowed a vantage point from which to view the changes occurring in me, from feelings of pain, confusion and loneliness towards the reconstruction of my identity as an individual.

The series of staged performances by different women, of whom are friends or those I had been drawn to from the street, are enacted to show an intimate moment of adjustment. They are seen isolated, surrounded by textures, colour and empty spaces in a room of their home in Paris.

Another November is situated in a deliberately nostalgic present where memories are constructed and irrevocably discolour, looking back to a past not yet acquainted with loss. Yet, it is a reminder that time, the arranger of all things, moves only in one direction.

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