Street And Fashion Photographer: Christabell's Blog

Welcome to my Blog. I am Christabell Leonard Peters From East London United Kingdom, where I live and work. I was born and raised in Monrovia, Liberia where my uncle was a Special TV cameraman for the Head of State. I came to the United Kingdom in the late 90s due to the civil war in Liberia. I have been involved in Video & TV Production for most of my life by working with my uncle and continuing from there. I have picked up a casual interest in Photography for 8 years, learning and understanding the use of depth of field, lighting and shutter speed. I have been involved in live shows at BBC One, working with Philip Schofield and Ann Robinson, as a handheld TV camera operator on the program entitled ‘Test The Nation’, a BBC Live Entertainment show.

I have also been travelling abroad shooting Music videos, talk shows, Press Conferences and Documentaries. I have always taken photography for granted, not realizing how powerful photography can be and how fascinating it has been to the society in which we are living in today. This was until I came across Eugene Smith, Chase Jarvis, Eric Kim and Brian Moody’s photographic work during my research. My further education with Media Studies and Video Production has expanded my knowledge and understanding, which I believe shows how a Visual Image can have a great impact in human life. It brought my understanding to how people receive information through visual images and how it attracts the human eye, than ever before. This drew me more in to photography. I started with a Canon 400D using all functions, including exposure, shutter speed, ISO and white balance.

I enjoy anything that is related to Digital Art; but the one that attracts me the most is Street Photography even though I have an interest in Fashion. There are many individual photographers that have greatly inspired me including Kansan photographer Eugene Smith, one of America’s most well known Photojournalists. Chase Jarvis, a traveler who created a lot of still and moving pictures. Eric Kim, a street photographer based in Los Angeles as well as Matt Stuart who is a street photographer based in London; and finally Brian Moody, a British freelance photographer who has been mostly involved in celebrity shoots and has been doing freelance photography for 35 years as a commercial portrait photographer. These photographers have given me a boost of encouragement, the desire and the aspiration to move further in to photography.

Unlike video, photography comes in many shapes and sizes, which can change a photograph and its impact by the audience viewing it. A smaller image has quiet a different impact compared to the same image when it has been considerably enlarged.

Reading and going through the images of these great photographers, have given me a great deal to bring forth to the digital industry as it has also given me the ability to diversify and broaden my mind to new ideas.