WE’VE GONE COMMERCIAL

source: ignantde
For her latest series ‘We’ve Gone Commercial’ Edith Bergfors’, a photographer based in London, worked together with creative director Matthew Holroyd for the amazingly satirical magazine, ‘Dis’. It shows split photographies which remind us of fashion commercials. The artists explain: ‘We were looking at stock imagery and wanted to pull in some of the recurring elements, and then deconstruct them quite literally. Stock imagery has that wonderful dullness to it, and we wanted to embrace it wholly and humorously, appropriating it into our own versions.’
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source: photovide
Edith Bergfors shows split photographies which remind us of fashion commercials. The artists explain: ‘We were looking at stock imagery and wanted to pull in some of the recurring elements, and then deconstruct them quite literally. Stock imagery has that wonderful dullness to it, and we wanted to embrace it wholly and humorously, appropriating it into our own versions.’
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source: wordpressthisisacultorg
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend university with the financial support of my family, as well as being allowed to choose my own path in life without too much questioning. After graduating from a degree in Photography at London College of Communication, I went through similar steps as most people; a couple of terrible part time jobs, some free assisting, making calls that didn’t get returned.
After a while I was introduced to an art director who had similar ideas as me, and we began working together. It was partly the confidence from learning that somebody outside friends and tutors likes your work which gave me the perseverance to continue. I maintained a part-time job within the photographic industry, which paid the bills and allowed me to continue shooting editorially and for myself.
I moved from a warm, shared apartment to a cold warehouse in Hackney Wick, where a photographer friend moved in, and we built it up to have two tiny bedrooms and a studio. The heating didn’t work for the first winter but the rent was cheap and there was enough space to shoot with our shared equipment.
Despite waking up to see your breath, it was a fun period of time, working out ways to make some money whilst building our portfolios. Without the space, I don’t think half of the shoots I did would have happened, mostly due to budgets. I continue to live and work there, now with a working boiler.
For me, the most difficult part of the journey was and continues to be that feeling of terror and excitement when you present something incredibly personal to someone else. No matter how many times you go through the motions, it won’t go away, and I’ve grown to like it. I’m still in the early stages of being a professional photographer, but I’m hoping that soon I’ll be able to afford my own digital camera, so I can stop harassing my friends whenever I have an upcoming shoot.