Establishing themselves as creatives amidst London’s thriving art scene, Rory and Primmy discuss the ‘behind the scenes’ of their collaborative project. In this feature, fellow photographer steps behind the camera to snapshot their everyday lives in lieu of cinematic stills, harnessing the creativity of both photographer and model.

Firstly, describe each other in 3 words.
R: Ambitious, outgoing and quirky.

P: Spontaneous, enthusiastic, talkative

Tell us a bit about your backgrounds.
R: I’m born and raised in the UK, just outside of London in Hertfordshire.

P: I was born and raised in Thailand. I worked in fashion and in the entertainment industry since I was young, but left all of that to experience the work industry abroad around 3 and half years ago. I also came here because I wanted to study Photography.

What are each of your earliest memories of taking photographs – when did you know this was something you wanted to pursue?
R: For me, I actually started taking photographs around the age of 16 when I started college. If it wasn’t for my friend who had previously studied photography at school, then I don’t know if I would have followed the same path. He was really the only reason I studied photography at college, although my Grandad was a hobby photographer who had a huge archive of colour slides documenting different types of planes so I would like to think that had something to do with my love for photography.

P: In my bedroom back at home the whole wall was just polaroids. Literally hundreds of my old memories with my friends. It’s interesting to look back at them now – I can’t believe I use to carry a huge ass polaroid camera everywhere to the craziest places! I also realised I really liked spending my time in vintage camera shops – I was very interested in the way it all works, so I guess that was how I got started. I did a lot of film work in high school in Thailand as we had film festivals which I did a lot of the cinematography for.I actually wanted to study film – I was supposed to go to NYC didn’t like the vibe of the institute I got accepted to, so I decided to take a gap year and apply to London because I thought being here would give me more of an opportunity to create visual art not just only in the context of film but also in fine arts and other visual elements.

How do you think living in London influences your work and ideas? And does social media contribute to your creativity?
R: I believe that London like any other city has a certain energy that pushes you creatively. The amount of images you see every day in London and your peers are a massive influence that pushes you to your best. The diversity of London means you’re constantly learning new things about new cultures that then makes you think in new ways. Social media has a massive influence on this process for me as I see this as a new platform almost how magazines were before; you look to see what other people are up to. It’s amazing because it seems that with social media people can really achieve anything.

P: The differences in the way things work here and the way things work back in Thailand is very different. People here are very open to who they are and what they want to do. They’re very vocal about what they want and I think that’s what makes London such an interesting place. I’ve met so many inspiring individuals who are constantly driven to work hard in order for others to respect them for who they really are, which has influenced a lot of my work. I used to be very insecure about my photography because I’ve battled with believing that people like me far more for how I look than what I can do due to my modelling career in which I’m constantly judged by my own aesthetics. The edginess of London is what strikes me too - everyone looks cool in their own individual way with their own style…it inspires me to find my own personal style too, I guess. A lot of people know me from social media, so yes it does contribute a lot. I like to see it as a platform to share this other side of me. I like to think of it as my visual board of colours, themes and aesthetics where people can appreciate me as a model and also a photographer.

You both take an interest in shooting people, particularly individuals, and explore how they interact with the chosen environment. Stylistically and technically, how much does your photography differentiate from each other?
R: After speaking with Primmy about her work on numerous occasions I understand that all of her image series tell different stories; through the colours, poses and overall mood. They each have something unique about them but overall she has an amazing style that is very consistent. I feel Primmy and I have a similar interest in models – we both like to know the subject a little and get to know them through shooting, so the photographic outcome becomes more natural. I use flash a lot indoors and outdoors whilst I believe Primmy uses a mixture of ambient, natural and continuous lighting both indoors and out.

P: Rory’s amazing with lighting. He really knows what he wants and how to make it happen whereas I’m less experienced in this area, but I’m still in the learning process - hence why I tend to use continuous lighting. My photography style is very different to Rory’s as I like to capture my subjects looking moody, almost like the stills from a film. I like to feel something when I see my work or like Rory said, tell some sort of story. His work is like something you can find in a magazine editorial (lol!) He’s good with styling and he knows what poses would look cool in a photograph, whereas for me I like my subjects quite natural….it depends on the shoot though!

Rory, how was it shooting someone you’re close to personally? Primmy, how was it to be in front of the camera instead of behind it? Do you feel that working together as friends produced a better result, enabling you to have a safer space to share ideas?
R: Shooting Primmy is super fun, I've shot her before and she is such an amazing person to work with. Creatively, she shares a lot of input through styling, posing and photographic choices whilst being very keen to try something unconventional. Working together definitely produces a better result as everyone is more comfortable and the result ends up being more interesting as it is more of a collaboration of ideas.

Talk to us about the styling for the shoot – most of the looks are monochromatic, with a combination between workwear and sportswear. Why did you choose to style it this way, and do you think it influenced the movement and poses by Primmy?
R: Primmy and I worked together to pick looks - we wanted something that was relatively formal with some sports casual mixed in as this is how both of us dress on a day to day basis. My girlfriend Ella Roberts also makes corsets which Primmy and I really wanted to shoot. In this shoot we featured the up cycled Adidas Stella McCartney grey corset and the 003-Q corset which features our friend Samson Shepheard-Walwy’s art printed on the fabric.

P: It was fun! Rory and I are really comfortable with each other and have worked together before so we knew how the process would pan out. I was able to put my own input in as a model, forming my own poses and imagining what form would look best in the chosen environment. When a photographer directs me too much it makes me feel really uncomfortable, like a puppet, so Rory giving me this freedom made it much more enjoyable – I like to create my own flow. This makes me feel like I’m really part of the creative process instead of just following orders in front of the camera. I felt like we really clicked.

Would you encourage photographers to involve the model more in the creative process?
R: I believe that the model should always be involved in the creative process. As a casting director I think what’s most interesting about models is their personality and what they do outside of modelling. When any opportunity arises for the model to be seen as more than a model it should be explored. Recently, a lot of clients are looking for talent that involve themselves with something outside of modelling whether that be academic or creative, which I believe serves the purpose of building a stronger connection between the image and the viewer.

Rory, you’ve started mixing together video and stills in your shoots – how does this change the project overall?
On this shoot I was also working with Jakrin, whom I work with very often whether it be with him assisting me or vice versa. We also work together assisting other photographers with lighting etc. Jakrin is mostly interested in video and I’m more interested in stills, so together we produce multimedia projects with similar aesthetics, normally quite lo-fi.

What can we expect from you both in the future?
R: This year I hope to pursue my photography and really push myself to create more work. I’m looking to shoot more editorials and keep working with friends. There is a lot more to come from my casting and agency work with Zoard Heuze at Tide while we continue to find new ways to push our creativity through the agency, personal projects and smaller production briefs.

P: I’m really focusing on my modelling career and my art! I’m looking to explore various methods and experiments in my work to see where I can take my creativity. I hope to have an exhibition soon and to collaborate with more people on shoots, as well as do some creative direction with photographers who would like to shoot me.