Spotlight: Charlotte Holme
July 19th, 2022
Charlotte “Lottie” Holme is unlike other photographers. When we met her she felt reserved, less self-assured than most artists you find behind the lens. But then, maybe that’s the point, she is fastidious and dedicated rather than brash and in-charge. A true DIY creative her surreal work is as much about process as final image. Her camera’s are self made, her imagery (largely self-portraiture) requiring an ability to sit still and wait for long exposures. You have to be a particular type of person to make this work, to care enough to create it; that’s where Lottie is special.
It’s still very early in her career, but there is something there that drew us to her - so we asked Lottie five questions to understand the process and inspiration behind her practice.
1) How would you introduce your work to someone who hasn’t seen it before?
I make my own cameras and create work using alternative photographic processes to explore ideas around the digitisation of photography and our resulting image making patterns as a society.
2) What is the technical process of creating your images?
For the series I made two analogue cameras, large and medium format, one pinhole and one with a lens. I shot on photographic paper instead of film to create paper negatives that could be developed directly without any expensive darkroom equipment and I developed these in a makeshift darkroom in my cellar.
Because paper is a lot slower than film, the exposures were sometimes up to 40 minutes long for a single shot, so there was definitely an endurance-factor to the process, especially for the self portraits.
Then I scan and digitally invert the paper negatives to create the positive. So the images only ever exist digitally in their final form, until they’re printed again. With the Filter Series, each AR filter was made physically with either prosthetics, face-paint or props.
3) How did you find your style?
I wouldn’t say I found or cultivated a style, the visual language of the work came from the process and materials I was using. The whole project originated from me not having access to facilities or money to buy equipment during lockdown when I was making the series, so I had to improvise this very DIY process with a lot of trial and error. The process was so rudimental that the images have loads of imperfections, but I think they enhance the work. I see it as an antidote to the perfection of digital photography.
A big influence was Steven Pippin’s work turning household objects into cameras, and the idea that the method used to take his photos holds as important a place as the final image itself. I was looking at surrealist photography from the 1930’s and 40’s, where they used image manipulation and photomontage as a way to reject the conformity of the photographic process. Also, Cindy Sherman’s work was a big influence with the Filter Series.
4) You produce analogue work looking at digital communication - is this a critique of contemporary visuals?
The work is definitely a commentary on the influence that photography’s digitisation has had on our behaviour and perception of reality and identity. But I also see it as a celebration of the technology as representing a way to expand the creative potential of a medium that was designed to document things from the real, material world.
I think the series is a celebration of the fusion of analogue and digital media working together to make the most of the best attributes of each medium. Using digital speed and excess to extend the uniqueness and expressiveness of analogue photography.
5) What’s next for you?
Keep expanding the project and make more cameras. I really want to make a giant camera.
About Charlotte Holmes
Charlotte Holme is a multidisciplinary visual artist from London who works with alternative and DIY photographic processes, print and editorial design. She graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2021 with a 1st class honours in Graphic Communication Design.
Charlotte creates process-based, experimental work with an emphasis on research and the critical analysis of ideas relating to communication theory, media, and the cultural and societal influence of its digitisation. She enjoys identifying and translating patterns in human behaviour and then communicating these visually through analogue means.