Spotlight Gallery | Leeds Arts University

Lecturer Xanthe Hutchinson of Leeds Arts University curates showcase gallery of her talented fashion photography students, asking them a round of quick fire questions about their work, career goals and life during lockdown.

Farid Renais Ghimas

Who are you, where in the world and what are you doing right now?
My name is Farid, I’m from Indonesia and I’m a fashion photography student in Leeds

How will you while away the hours during lockdown ?
Learn new cooking skills, read books and try to finally catch up on my uni work 

What are your dreams? Professionally or literally
My dream is to be a photographer that inspires other people
Molly Martin

Who are you, where in the world and what are you doing right now?
Molly Martin, on the M62, driving home after emptying my uni room.

How will you while away the hours during lockdown ?
I’m going to spend the lockdown redecorating my house, practice yoga & find new ways to produce work within a restricted space.

What are your dreams? Professionally or literally 
To move to New York and work in fashion
Ruby Styles

Who are you, where in the world and what are you doing right now?
Hey, I’m Ruby Styles, a 20 year old female from the north of England currently in between Hull/Leeds. I’m currently sat at home with my cat angus:)

How will you while away the hours during lockdown ?
I bought a sewing machine the other day to try and learn how to make clothes for my shoots as I’m a student fashion photographer and I love styling! I’ve also just made an Instagram account for my cat which I’ll be updating regularly @angus_fluff.

What are your dreams? Professionally or literally
My dream is to shoot and style my own fashion images to be featured in magazines. I’d love to travel with my job in the future!
Eve McGeown

Who are you, where in the world and what are you doing right now?
Eve McGeown, 18, in England, watching a Netflix documentary

How will you while away the hours during lockdown ?
Research things I enjoy like fashion and music, spend time with my sister

What are your dreams? Professionally or literally
Professionally to work in the fashion industry and be a successful art director. And literally, just lots of nightmares lately hahaha
Darcey Axon. Designer – Rosie Red Corsetry

Who are you, where in the world and what are you doing right now?
I’m Darcey, I’m at home in Scotland at the moment & I’m currently curled up on the sofa with my dog and a book!

How will you while away the hours during lockdown ?
I’ll probably spend time reading, drawing, baking and gaming in between trying to get uni work done

What are your dreams? Professionally or literally
I’m always daydreaming about travelling the world and doing fashion photography along the way, hopefully successfully!
Nicola Wiper

Who are you, where in the world and what are you doing right now?
My names Nicola wiper, I live in a small town called horbury in the UK! And right now I’m sat listening to music 

How will you while away the hours during lockdown ?
I will be doing an editorial based on being quarantined but also using this time to focus on my mental health by doing self care!

What are your dreams? Professionally or literally
My dreams? I’ve had a few but I’m wanting to focus on my own publication/ magazine that I’ve been working on for a few months and hopefully finish it!
Morgan Roberts

Who are you, where in the world and what are you doing right now?
My name is Morgan Roberts, I’m a 20 year old Fashion Photographer currently studying at Leeds Arts Uni – but due to the pandemic I’ve moved back to my home town in North Wales until it blows over. At the moment I’m in the middle of a still life shoot for a French jewellery designer, a nice little creative break from all the madness.

How will you while away the hours during lockdown ?
Im still trying to figure out how to spend my time during lockdown. I’m definitely going to carry on shooting, (forcing my sister to be a model) I’ve already setup a little studio at home to shoot more still life – I’m quite obsessive when it comes to photography, I get lost in it for hours with the process from organising the shoot to the post production. I’m also going to be focusing on my creative networking website CN/CT (connect), recruiting more artists to join as members. Other than that I’m gonna look after my physical and mental health.

What are your dreams? Professionally or literally?
Honestly, I think it would be a dream to work with a renowned photographer like Steven Meisel, he’s my absolute icon. Another dream of mine is that I would absolutely love to work around the world, making a name for myself within the fashion industry on an international scale, it would be such an achievement to become a go to for many of the luxury designers I admire… baby steps.
Simran Kanda

Who are you, where in the world and what are you doing right now?
I’m Simran Kanda But people call me Simmy right now I’m based in Leeds UK !
Currently I’m working on myself and trying to figure out how I am going to produce some work from my home ! Trying to make the most of what I already have I feel like people are worrying a lot but we all need to try stay positive and keep going !

How will you while away the hours during lockdown ?
I will spend my lockdown contacting people for future shoots and see if they would like to work in the future so once this is all over i can get back to shooting with them and possibly create my series as I planned to , reading more , reflecting on what I have already done and see where I can improve as I feel like it is a good time now to see where I am good and bad at in this creative industry! Lastly spread some quality time with my family ️

What are your dreams? Professionally or literally?
Well I would like to hopefully shoot with more creatives in the fashion / music industry and work with established brands / designers ! I dream to become a person someone can look up to as being an Indian girl in this industry is hard and you don’t see many people like me ! I want more POC to be able to do what they love so when they see me do all this creative stuff like filming, photography, modelling whatever I do I just want to keep creating and inspiring
Florence Law

Who are you, where in the world and what are you doing right now?
My name is Florence Law and I’m currently home (Gloucestershire) from studying in Leeds UK. I’m studying fashion photography at Leeds arts university and right now I’m working on the last two modules or first year.

How will you while away the hours during lockdown ?
I plan to spend a lot of my time during lockdown reading, as I don’t have much time normally for this, also I sure I will be looking on Instagram or online sources for inspiration for future shoots and projects. Family time is important to me also so I will be spending as much time with mum and aunt as I can, as I am normally far away when studying at university.

What are your dreams? Professionally or literally?
Dreams for the long term hopefully will involve travel with photography , either fashion or portraiture. I aim to become an assistant photographer and work my way into the industry this way. the long term dream is being a fashion photographer for either a well known magazine or freelance with strong connections to high end brands.