Photographer Charli Savage
Congratulations to photographer Charli Savage for placing as a finalist in the 5th Edition!
Who are you?
My name is Charli Savage. I’m a UK-born, Australian raised fine art conceptual photographer.
I’m a shameless daydreamer and quite the adventurous soul. I have an endless curiosity to explore the natural world and beyond. There are so many beautiful places I’ve only seen in pictures, that I desire to experience for myself. The magic of nature takes my breath away.
Give me a good book to read any day. I’ve had a love affair with the written word for as long as I can remember. Some of my favourites include classics like Wuthering Heights & Jane Eyre. I like to think my love of storytelling stems from my love of books.
I remember my nan [grandmother] giving me a colouring book and a set of crayons, and I guess you could say that was my first taste of creativity. From then on, I was always creative in some way. Over the years, I’ve tried and tested drawing, writing, dancing, acting, singing, painting and now I’ve landed on photography.
“The Girl in the Red Cloak” [Winning work]
By Charli Savage
Photography
What inspired you to begin utilizing photography as a medium?
Growing up I was determined to be an actor. I studied it from a young age well into adulthood, did the whole LA thing, but I always had this gut feeling it wasn’t right for me. After years of ignoring that feeling, I finally plucked up the courage to admit to myself I no longer loved acting and decided to leave it behind.
Ultimately, that decision led me to photography. I viewed it as an affordable option that would allow me to continue telling the stories I wanted to tell. I purchased my first camera in June 2018 and started photographing landscapes, macro, model portfolios, but I grew bored of it within a few months. In September 2018, I started researching different styles and came across conceptual photography. I immediately knew I’d found my place in the photography world and I haven’t looked back since.
“Between The Lines”
By Charli Savage
Photography
What do you hope to communicate with your work?
My work is an exploration of my own curiosity for the strange and unknown, for what doesn’t exist in this reality and for the darker parts of myself. I aspire to ignite the viewer’s curiosity for the magic in the world and whisk them away to a place less ordinary.
“Bibliophilia”
By Charli Savage
Photography
What drew you to explore surrealism in your work?
To put it bluntly, reality, for the most part, is kind of boring. Exploring surrealism in my work is my way of escaping the mundane realities of everyday life. It’s the magic I wish existed in the real world.
“Fields of Time”
By Charli Savage
Photography
Can you discuss the inspiration and thought process being ‘The Girl in the Red Cloak’?
I shot this in a cane field with my good friend and model, Billie. I had a red cape that I had recently made myself as my first sewing project and wanted to create a Red Riding Hood-style concept and experiment with the flow of fabric. As Billie was spinning around, I was shooting at high speed to capture the movement of the fabric.
The shoot took place around the time of Sarah Everard’s death in March 2021, and women from around the world started speaking out about their experiences with harassment and not feeling safe when walking alone. What was so eye-opening to me about Sarah’s story is how I used to walk alone at night along those same streets she was kidnapped from, during my time living in Clapham Common in London for a year in my 20s. It’s so unfair what happened to Sarah, and yet, I feel so lucky it didn’t happen to me.
So, this image, that started out as experimentation ended up meaning a whole lot more. In so many ways, the story of Red Riding Hood (especially the earlier versions, like the Brothers Grimm) is relatable to what happened to Sarah and to so many women who have experienced the unwanted advances of men.
“Never trust a stranger-friend.
No one knows how it will end.
As you’re pretty, so be wise.
Wolves may lurk in every guise.”
- Charles Perrault
“Ompréla”
By Charli Savage
Photography
Can you explain why you choose photography as a medium for your work and voice as opposed to others?
Coming from an acting background, I already felt familiar and comfortable around cameras. Since I was looking for a new creative outlet, photography made the most sense to me at the time.
“Parting Ways”
By Charli Savage
Photography
Have you experimented with other mediums? If so, which ones and how?
I think it’s a wonderful thing to dabble in more than one creative outlet. I believe, as artists, we shouldn’t be limited to expressing ourselves through just one medium.
I enjoy writing, mainly poetry, which usually accompanies my imagery, and at the start of this year, I started a writing challenge with a weekly blog on my website, where I’ll share my thoughts, musings, and short stories.
I recently purchased a watercolour set and have been learning how to paint through watching YouTube tutorials and just experimenting on my own. I plan to do some mixed media pieces when I’m more comfortable with the paints, where I paint directly onto my prints. I’d also like to experiment with other materials.
I’m also learning how to sew and knit so I can make my own costumes. The first piece I completed was the red cloak in my finalist image.
“Selenophile”
By Charli Savage
Photography
Can you talk about your biggest learning experience during the process of photographing your figures?
I think for me, one of the biggest learning experiences was becoming comfortable enough to put myself in front of the camera and start taking self-portraits.
My journey to that point was a tough one mentally. I didn’t fit into a lot of the dresses I had for my shoots, and I’d convinced myself I didn’t have a “model body”, so I couldn’t portray the fragility I wanted in some of my images, or I just didn’t look as good as the models I was photographing (which was usually my lovely friend, Billie, who has a small frame and is an amazing model).
It took me losing a few kilos and fitting into one of my favourite dresses to overcome that irrational way of thinking. I then challenged myself to a 30-day self-portrait challenge in September 2020 where I shot and shared a new image each day of the month. Since then, I now consider myself to be a self-portrait artist.
“Such Great Heights”
By Charli Savage
Photography
Can you discuss your biggest success since starting your artistic journey?
I’ve had quite a few successes since starting including winning the People’s Choice Award for the Art Lovers Australia Art Prize 2021 amongst other awards as well as having the opportunity to show my work in several group gallery exhibitions and being able to share my knowledge through educational workshops. I consider all these successes to be equally important in my journey to transitioning from an emerging artist to a well-known artist.
“The Ones I Lost”
By Charli Savage
Photography
What projects are you working on currently?
Currently, I’m working on a series that has been in the works for quite some time now. It’s a series called ‘House of Strange’. The series is about coaxing out that child-like curiosity that we forget to keep as we enter adulthood. I hope to reignite that curiosity and pull the viewer into a world of make-believe and magic. The series tells the story of an adult female and her inner child, who come across an abandoned small cottage. Despite the house looking rather small on the outside, upon entering, the inside appears much larger, with many rooms to explore. Each room has something strange or peculiar happening within. The series will follow the pair as they explore the rooms and all their peculiarities. I’ve started building a life-sized room to shoot each of the images and will be building the sets within this room, including one room that will be semi-flooded. My dream with this project is to hold an interactive exhibition where all the rooms are built and open for entry, allowing the viewer to explore and enter a world of make-believe once more.
“Wicked Whispers”
By Charli Savage
Photography
What advice would you give to your fellow artists / photographers?
It won’t always be easy, and it won’t always be hard. No matter your journey, don’t let the pressures of social media and running your art as a business deplete your passion for it. Remember, create first and foremost for yourself. You don’t owe the world your art, and the world should feel so lucky that you choose to share your story with them.
To view more of Charli Savage’s work