Behind the Nootro-Focus Campaign: Rosie Matheson
We discuss focus, inspiration and the creative process behind our latest campaign with British photographer, Rosie Matheson.
British portrait photographer, Rosie Matheson, shot the latest campaign for our supplement, Nootro-Focus. We speak to Rosie on everything from how she finds focus amongst work, to the creative process behind the campaign.
“I like to travel—that’s the number one thing I do to take a break from work, but even then, it’s almost impossible to switch off as there’s always a photo to be taken.
If I had more time to focus on one thing, it would probably be shooting more personal projects. I feel like we can pretty much make and do whatever with our time but I wish I spent more time in the darkroom. That’s a goal of mine this year, to learn how to develop and print color. I can definitely find time to do it, it’s just about prioritizing it.
When it comes to inspiration, I go through periods of feeling really energized and inspired; I’ll take photos every day and be in a real rhythm with it. Other times finding inspiration is difficult and typically comes to me when I least expect it. I’ll take a photo that will change what I’m doing and sometimes inspires a new series. It usually comes naturally but being in the ‘zone’ is definitely more rare than common. You have to wait for it to come to you, or for you to find it.
The Nootro-Focus campaign was a really exciting brief for me as it's rare I come across a project that really aligns with my work and style. Some of my favorite photos I've ever taken of people are closed-eye portraits so I was looking forward to working on this project. For me, when shooting it, I made it feel and approached it as my personal work. I kept it a very small crew and spent a lot of time chatting to each individual before and after the photos were taken as I would on a shoot for personal work.
Casting is a huge part of each shoot for me—it’s as important as the concept and a key part of how I want my images to look. I try and cast subjects for as many commercial jobs as I can alongside casting all my own personal projects. It's as simple as knowing what you want and having a vision for it which definitely helps to achieve the idea in your head for each shoot. I cast the talent for this campaign working with a mixture of people I have shot before, know and found on Instagram. I picked them all due to their facial details such as longer eyelashes and freckles.
It was an exciting challenge conceptualizing the feeling of Nootro-Focus. I had a strong idea of how and what I wanted before shooting it so seeing it come out exactly as I'd envisioned made me really pleased with the final campaign."
Discover The Journal
Read: Introducing Nootro-Focus
Read: A Short Film by Luke Davies