Our latest fashbo member profile is Kitty Gallannaugh, a talented photographer from the United Kingdom.

Kitty Gallannaugh

The crew has fallen in love with her fun and youthful photographs.  Her use of light is amazing, bringing a sense of playfulness.  At 19, her photographs represent talent beyond her years and there is no doubt in the crews’ minds that we will see her photographs in many a fashion magazine in the years to come.

1.  Tell us about yourself.  Where are you from in the U.K.?  Can you draw fashion inspiration from where you live.

I’m a nineteen year young aspiring fashion photographer with a head full of dreams and a heart full of love. I come from a little town nestled inside London which is lovely and quiet. We have flower baskets on our lamp posts and heaps of beautiful lakes. It’s quite a young town so just walking down the street will inspire me by looking at all the young girls and seeing what they put together. We have some amazing shops including Diane Von Furstenberg which I always find hard not to go into unless I want to come out with an empty purse! All in all it has it’s quirks and is extremely easy to draw fashion inspiration from, it’s the juice to my thirsty mind!

2.  The bio on your site, http://kittygallannaugh.com, tells us that you graduated from Marymount International School London and that you received your degree by 17!  You then moved onto London College of Communication where you finished with a high distinction diploma in Arts. Tell us about your time at these institutions.  What did you take away from these schools that has helped you move forward with your chosen profession of photography.

Marymount really just taught me my love for photography and showed me the path that I wanted to take. So by the time I graduated I was young enough to go to University for free which was really great, but I was 5 years younger than everyone else in my classes! I studied a foundation year in Arts and Design which was heaps of fun and challenging at times, but it wasn’t what I had expected. We were never taught one thing about photography, so I kept self teaching myself throughout the course to improve and learn. I came out knowing a lot more from the people I was around everyday and I knew exactly what direction I wanted to take my photography in. Without LCC I wouldn’t know half the things I do now from what I personally discovered about photography. I still learn everyday and I don’t think I’ll ever know it all, I love learning new things.

3.  When did you decide you wanted to be a photographer?

I have always loved photography but never dreamed of being a photographer until I was about 13 when it was just a weekend hobby to take photographs. I suppose my hobby turned more and more into a passion (and obsession!) and here I am today just following the photography road. I think a lot of it was luck to discover my love for photography and in that case I feel blessed to be able to pursue it today.

4.  Can you walk us through your artistic process from initial idea to finished photo?

Ideas strike me all the time when I least expect them. I don’t know what brings them on, but they will always find me. I get very particular ideas in my mind and will then go on a hunt for a suitable model. A lot of the time the model and I will do the styling and make up ourselves. Other times I will then contact a wardrobe stylist and make up artist to come and help out. On the shoot we spend a couple of hours shooting and just having fun. We always end up chatting forever and giggling between shots. Sometimes we go for hot chocolate afterward and review our photographs together. I then go through them all and pick the strongest and most effective and play with them. I never do more than just tweak the colours, contrast and saturation. I find anything more than that makes them look overly done and less natural. I use soft tones, bright lights and the models make the images appealing to look at.

5. Is their a particular person in this world that you would love to photograph?  If so, who?

Absolutely! I do try to tend not to think of particular famous people I want to shoot as I know it will most likely not happen (or anytime soon) and I will then try to base a shoot off their style instead of something original. I love to work with everybody to bring out their personal beauty because everyone is so different, the possibilities are always endless! Though I do really want to work with Rosie Tupper, her youthful look and doll eyes are to absolutely die for. I think her look is exquisite, it’d be a dream to work with her someday.

6.  Who is your favorite photographer, past or present?

I have a huge crush on Tim Walkers work. I just don’t know how he does it, but I look up to him as inspiration and a big source of motivation to keep working. I’d love to be able to achieve what he does, I think it’s amazing. From his tones and colours to his concepts, it feels like I explore someone else’s dreams every time I look at his work.

7. What advice would you give to others thinking about getting into photography as a profession?

Do what you want and when you want. Be kooky and let people question your ideas and learn not to care about the bad opinions. Learn your camera inside out and befriend natural light if you shoot on location more than studio. Just have fun and let your imagination shine through by creating amazing and unique photos. And just never give up, we all have to start from somewhere and when you achieve your goal, you’ll feel invincible.

8. On your site you have a section devoted to “Commercial and Fashion” We don’t have a particular question about this, we just want the fashbo users to click on the link and check them out because they are quite spectacular 

(Thank you very much, you’ve made me blush!)

9.  What is fashion to you?

Fashion to me would have to be just making a statement to be yourself, as clich? as that may sound! We’re all individual and our daily lives as humans reflect being herded like sheep; I think fashion is our way of being able to stand out and be ourselves to break the monotony. Think of it as looking at the stars at night and how you will always be attracted to the one that sparkles a little bit brighter, that’s what fashion is to me.

10.  How would you describe your personal style?

I suppose I would fit into the “shabby-chic” clique here. I’m the kind who will throw on a huge sweater with a pair of heels. I am very girly and like my pastels with big shades (even if it is raining!) And I love my long necklaces with pretty hair-bands too, but I promise I’m not a hippie! I recently bought this adorable new outfit, a little striped skirt with a pink top to go with it. It looks pretty military-like but stripes were a huge hit this past Winter and seem to be leaking into Spring’s clothes too. I’ll have to upload a photo of it to Fashbo soon! Watch this space!

11.  Describe your perfect outfit ensemble.

A little floral print summer frock with an oversized cardigan, sunglasses and some super sweet sandals. I’m craving summer!

12.  Name your favorite and least favorite past or present fashion trend/fad.

I am absolutely in love with the fashion now. Everything is so girly, pink and lacy. I never want it to end, I could live with trend forever! As for my least favourite? I have to say that I personally hated those platform shoes which haunted us in the 90′s. Thing is, fashion always comes back multiple times, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing those monstrosities again!

Belle

13.  The fashbo crew loves the fashbo you posted, Belle. What is your favorite fashbo you posted?  Do you have a favorite fashbo that someone else posted?

Wander

Aww, thank you! My favourite Fashbo I’ve so far poster would have to be “Wander” just because it was such a fun day to shoot where we ate muffins and ran around a park in Sydney. I absolutely love “fall colors” by allsmiles27, that has to be my favourite

Fashbo at the moment. I want that outfit!

14.  Who is your favorite designer or designers?

One of them would have to be Jeremy Hackett. I can spend hours just going through every piece of Hackett clothing there is. I’m always wearing my lovers Hackett shirts, he doesn’t seem to mind sharing though! Another designer is Jimmy Choo. I don’t think that even needs an explanation, the name says it all! I think his work is to die for, I think his shoes could make even the ugliest feet look pretty.

15.  What is your favorite Online location to shop.  What is your favorite retail location to shop?

I have to say that I am a huge sucker for ASOS. I discovered them years ago when they were really just starting up and it’s incredible to see how big they are now. I wish I could buy their whole warehouse! I love shopping down the Kings Rd in Chelsea, it’s one of the most fashionable places in London. It’s the ideal place to model scout and pick up some gorgeous clothes. I always go there for the shoes at French Sole, I have a billion pairs. I’m addicted!

16.  What would you consider to be your dream job?

I consider photography my dream job, but to make it dreamier I would love to meet even more new people and get to travel around the city a lot more than I do. I’d love for magazines to one day ring me up and ask for a shoot and I long for the day when I can actually be proud of where I’ve gotten myself. I continue to dip my toes more and more into the photography pool everyday.  At times it can be difficult as I am relatively new to the business and unknown.  However, I believe my passion for photography, great attitude, and strong work ethic, will lead to further opportunities as I continue to bring my unique point of view to every photograph I take.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 at 7:10 am and is filed under fashbo member interview. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.