064 - Jenny Lewis
Grenfell Tower fire survivor, Corinne. © Jenny Lewis
Jenny Lewis grew up in Essex in the South East of England, went up north to Lancashire to take a degree in fine art at Preston University and moved back south to London where she got a badly paid job at Metro, one of London’s major photographic labs. It was here that her early photographic education began, spending her days producing and then examining hundreds of contact sheets from a diverse range of professional photographers. She also made the other kind of contacts within the London photo community, which allowed her to transition into assisting and eventually into becoming a jobbing editorial photographer, shooting mainly portraits for a variety of national newspapers and magazines.
Alongside that work, which she continues to this day, Jenny pursues a range of personal work, much of which centres on her experience of living and working in the east London borough of Hackney which has now been her beloved home for 20 years. Two of these personal projects have been published as books by Hoxton Mini Press: One Day Young, captures mothers and their newborn babies within the first 24 hours of birth, and Hackney Studios, featuring environmental portraits of the network of creatives who live and work alongside her in the borough.
One of Jenny’s recent portraits, featuring Corrine, a survivor of the devastating Grenfell Tower fire (above), was selected for inclusion in the current nationwide exhibition Portrait of Britain.
In episode 064 Jenny discusses, among other things:
Having her eyes opened by art history
Her 'apprenticeship' at a photographic lab
Assisting and early breaks
How One Day Young came out of being 'furious'
Shooting Hackney Studios
Hustling and not hustling for jobs
Her portrait of Corinne (above)
Mentioned: Imperial Courts by Dana Lixenberg
“I realised I had something that maybe all those other photographers who were more established didn’t have… So you start to understand that you have got something to give.”
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