Real Life Bites, with Polyester and Polaroid

Social media can lead us to believe that living and working as a creative person is a bed of roses – all industry parties and glossy photoshoots. For most, however, that’s not the case: there are long, unglamorous hours behind the scenes, job precarity, and technical difficulties almost constantly. To shed light on that side of things, we enlisted some of our favourite creative brains – photographers Chloe Sheppard and Nicole Ngai, and models Sheerah Ravindren and Yasmin El Yassini – to take us behind the scenes of their practice with Polaroid photo diaries, and show us how sometimes, though the outcomes are often worth it, real life really can bite.

Photographer Chloe Sheppard on the Chaos and Inspiration Beyond the Frame (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Chloe Sheppard is known for her beautifully composed, feminine imagery, but it takes a lot of hard work to get there. With her photo diary, she shows us what it takes to painstakingly set up a still-life image – read more here.

Model Yasmin El Yassini on the Unstructured Beauty of Her Career (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Modelling can be unsteady work, with long periods between jobs. Yasmin El Yassini finds that creating structure for herself during these uncertain phases can be extremely grounding, and highlights how time in nature helps her to find equilibrium. Read more on the Dollhouse.

Photographer Nicole Ngai on the Tests and Trials of the Darkroom (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Editorial photographer Nicole Ngai considers handprinting as a crucial part of making her images, though it often means hours of waiting in the darkroom. Here, she explains exactly how she spends those hours, and also how a Polaroid camera is like “a little darkroom in [her] pocket”. Click here to read the full feature.

Model Sheerah Ravindren on the Commutes and Creativity Behind the Glam (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Modelling isn’t all glamour in front of the camera, as Sheerah Ravindren demonstrates in their photo diary. While shooting may look glamorous, their photo diary shows us the early mornings and long commutes that go into making the final images. See the full story on the site.