Why I'm Moving To London
A few years ago, whenever anyone asked me if I ever wanted to live in London, I replied with a big "hell no, I hate cities." And for a long time, that was my truth. I didn't feel the need to be in a city, or spend time in a city. I was very happy building my career in Cornwall, and I thought that would never change.
Until it did.
About a year ago, I began to hear a little voice in the back of my head saying: "It might be fun to spend more time in a city." This surprised me, and I kind of shut that voice down. Things were going well for me in Cornwall, and I suppose I was finding some courage. As I began shooting for more and more brands, I began to realise that "I can do this."
Then I also began to really look at where I wanted to be in ten years time. What kind of ambitions did I have for my career? And when I got really honest with myself, the truth was that I wanted to shoot more fashion.
Fashion is what I've always been drawn to. It's what I circle back to time and time again. From a really young age, I've been drawn to clothes, magazines, photographs, the industry as a whole. I grew up surrounded by it, with my dad (indirectly) working in the industry, and my mum who I've always considered to be fashionable. Cornwall does have a small fashion industry, there is no denying that, and the brands that I work with down here are absolutely fashion brands. I love working with my current clients, and I have no plans to stop working with them.... but I ache for more.
And thats where London comes in. The kind of images I long to shoot are big campaigns, editorials for Harpers Bazaar, portraits of models from all around the world... and sadly that just isn't as easy to do from Cornwall. So throughout the last year, I began to spend more time in the city, going up and shooting whenever I could, staying with friends and family, and cramming as much as I could into a short period of time.
That worked for a while, but it only confirmed what I wanted even more! To spend more time in London.
So what's happening now?
Well, I'm not leaving Cornwall. I've decided to split my time between London and Cornwall pretty much evenly. I've found a room to rent just outside the city, and I'll be able to go up, have meetings, shoot everything I want to shoot, network, and do all of the things that I want to do to grow my career. The rest of the time, I'll be in Cornwall, continuing to do what I've been doing - pitching myself to brands and shooting for coastal lifestyle brands from here.
I want to caveat all of this by saying that I do not believe that you need to move to a major city to have a successful career as a fashion photographer. I could have very easily carried on doing what I've been doing from Cornwall, and build a solid career. I have plenty of friends who have amazing careers outside of major cities. The only difference for me is that I WANT to do this. I really want to spend time in London, meeting people, attending events, being closer to the centre of the fashion industry in the UK.
If you don't feel called to move to a city for your career, or you simply can't (because not everyone has the luxury of being able to) then please don't give up. Don't take me making this move as a sign that it can't be done. It can be done. You just need to want it.
