Neil Kendall interview To Be Placed on About Page
Originally published in Alt Fashion Magazine. This Copy has been abridged for
the website.
You have one of the most distinctive styles in the business how did you first
develop that.?
Simply a love of old films. I love my images to be lush and cinematic so
depending on the job of course, I tend to work with complex lighting set ups and
often work with five or six lights as they did in the 1950’s. It gives my work a
depth and an atmosphere which is often duplicated but never really captured by
other photographers. I build sets too and everything you see in my work is real
rather than photo shopped I am very old school like that.
How do you approach shoots with your clients?
Its different I get booked for commercial, model, performer and an increasing
amount of private sittings , in all cases, I really like to be hands on so often I
discuss what I am going to shoot in advance. There are a lot of Questions, do I
need to build sets, what era, what costumes, props or ideas does the client have
you know, that kind of thing . I like to know what I am shooting and why, so I can
create something memorable. Then there are pintrest mood boards, chats about
styling etc I go location scouting if it’s more of a commercial job. But I always like
to be really well prepared.
You are known for your vintage aesthetic is a just a vintage crowd you shoot for?
Vintage is what I feel most comfortable with and it’s where my passion is. I was
given a really good piece of advice from a photographer at Vogue years back and
she said ‘shoot what you love and your passion will show in your images’. It’s
something, which I have never forgotten. So whilst I get approached to do all
sorts of weird, wacky and wonderful shoots I shoot for people just like you or me
but who like wearing vintage hats and gloves[ laughs] I was just doing
something for a girl with a giant Octopus who does this mermaid act and that
was loads of fun so I get booked by a lot of the girls and cabaret performers who
create quirky acts which I love to shoot But of course I do private sittings too. I
put the emphasis on vintage because I love the style but I am open to offers !
Where is your studio now you have left London?
Its my home which is in Chester I felt like the house is an extension of my studio
so I do rent spaces but they feel too corporate so my home feels intimate and
perfect for individual portraits so this is where shot. It was on TV on May The
Best House Win and it won! so it’s got a great vibe to shoot in.
Has Winning Awards and International Recognition for your work changed the
way you operate?
I wish !! No I am happy doing what I do I just work to a fuller diary . I still work
with the same Make Up and Hair Artist I have worked with for years and I love
working from Chester. I am a real home person and I think people feel more
comfortable posing in an intimate, personal environment it compliments the way
I work . I pick and choose my assignments more carefully now and get to travel a
bit more . I left fashion behind for vintage base work, which feels more honest,
and more me than other fields I have pursued. I still love my work and that
passion, that enjoyment, is the root of what I create for people that feeling will
never change.
If you weren’t doing this what would you like to be?
I would love to own a junk shop but I would keep hold of everything so I would
be pretty useless my house is bad enough as it is.
What are you working on next?
I shoot a lot each month and am off to America as ever for the Burlesque Hall of
Fame in Vegas other than that I am making a 16 mm cine film for British Heritage
which is taking all my time, it as big project as its set in WW1 so sourcing actors,
locations and costumes and props is taking all my time at the minute plus I work
on events with my company Goldust. Like any free lancer I am busy but I never
know what is around the corner… that’s just the way I like things to be.
Reprinted with Kind Permission from Alt Fashion Magazine