MEET: Larissa Joice

Today we meet Photographer Larissa Joice and find out what inspires her beautiful portraits...

Please tell us about yourself and how you got started?

My name is Larissa Joice and I live in Chepstow, South Wales with my husband Shawn and 2 children, Brynn and Tobias aged 5 and 2. My background is in illustration and I studied at Norwich School of Art & Design before the age of computers and digital photography. Had I studied 20 years later my path may have been completely different as I was very soon drawn to digital illustration and photo-manipulation when I discovered Photoshop a few years later.

When I had Brynn I stated making personalised baby grows and nursery bags with the photography in the background but found it more and more difficult to keep the craft going with small children and enjoyed the photography more and more. So when my Tobias was born the photography became the focus.

What is the ethos behind your work?

I love photography because it captures people at their best: Parents playing with their children who are laughing, giggling and enjoying running around. Adults genuinely laughing and being themselves. I photograph on location which often means playgrounds, going for walks or in the woods. I much prefer to be outside or in a client’s own home as it makes a more natural setting. My sessions last 2 hours which often spills over, because for me getting to know my client and spending time with them is very important. This way you get the best out of them and that takes so much longer than the 30 minutes you get with many other photographers.

What kind of formal education, training or experience do you have that applies to what you do?

I have my degree in illustration. I do believe that has really helped. Hours and hours of life drawing has taught me to look and to frame my images properly and to naturally place people where it is comfortable to the eye. I work on every single photograph I take afterwards. Some are more heavily edited than others but my illustration definitely plays a huge part. For me it is a lot more than photography.

What inspired you to take up photography?

My daughter and the thousands of photographs I took of her when she was a baby. She started the seed of me turning a part time thing into a full time thing.

What do you love most about what you do and what do you find the most frustrating?

I love children. I love being able to see the beauty in everyone, because it is always there to be found. No matter what the client thinks! Most frustrating... never having enough time to do everything I need to or want to do! That, and people not valuing handmade / creativity. We have become so used to mass produced cheapness that people don’t value the work that goes into something that is handmade or has been created with care, experience, knowledge and time! I also get so frustrated with artists who undercut each other and who don’t charge what they should be charging for their work as it undermines other artists.

Is handmade a lifestyle choice for you and if so why?

Completely. Although with a business and a family to run sometimes you don’t have the time to make something by hand and just have to buy it. But I cook all my meals from scratch, and sew patches on the knees of my daughter’s school trousers rather than throw them away, make chutney and marmalades and grow the vegetables my time allows. I would much rather make gifts than buy them and think that there is such huge value in handmade. I so wish that more people would see it and appreciate handmade more.

How do you balance your work and home life, what do you do to wind down?

It is a constant balancing act that I often fail at. I need to spend more time winding down and feeding my creativity as I think if you don’t the world loses its colour. Winding down for me is going for a walk on the weekends with my family. Fresh air.

Do you experience periods of creative slump and if so what helps you through?

I think you have to take a break when that happens. Get the colour back and move away from the computer! I think what helps me through is the knowledge that whatever I do with my life it’s creative. I have had periods of my life where I’ve had office jobs but in the end the creativity calls me back. So the answer always is “well ... what else would I do?” I will always create. I have no choice. So I keep going and work through the tough bits and come out the other side.

If you could give an aspiring designer / maker one piece of advice what would it be?

Do what you love and be the best you can be at it. Hunt out other people that inspire you and ignore the ones that drag you down or make you doubt yourself.

Who or what inspires you most in your work?

Apart from my children and the families I photograph there are a number of photographers that inspire me. It’s a combination of styles mostly but the ones who stand out for me have dared to follow their own style and that’s what has made them successful. Emma Case http://emmacasephotography.blogspot.com  and Jesh De Rox. http://www.jeshderox.com.  

How do you get the word out about your business?

Word of mouth mostly and leaving postcards in places where I know my client base will be.

Where can we see your work?

www.giggleicious-photography.com

www.facebook.com/giggleicious.photography