CREATIVE SPOTLIGHT - BRONTE CARTER

Bronte Carter is a multidisciplinary creative who specialises in photography, set design and art direction. Her style often transcends the viewer into otherworldly realms by using bold colours, renaissance hints and an impeccable team. Her work always indulges in a strong editorial edge from the fashion to the editing which sets her apart from other industry professionals.

You can view her work here: https://www.brontecarter.com/

How did you first get into photography and set design?
Photography/set design wasn’t always a clear goal of mine until recent years, however I have always been a creative person. One of my earliest memories is making little boats out of apple juice cartoons and random bits I would find around my grandmas house haha!
In art foundation I remember first seeing Tim walker’s work, who I would say now was one of the main influences for my chosen career path. At this time I never saw myself being a photographer, however he shows a unique way of story telling through his work that really appealed to me , it also helped me to realise how my interest in mythical tales and surrealism can be expressed creatively. I started making sets for my work at uni and then gradually my interest also turned to set design and I learnt to incorporate both into my practice. I love doing them side by side as its enabled me to tangibly translate these fun alternative universes into physical entities and live out fantasies through my work.

What advice would you give to your younger self?
A bit cliche but I’d definitely tell myself to strive for improvement not perfection. When I first started out I would look up to really established creatives and compare my work (I still catch myself doing this sometimes and im sure a lot of other people do). Obviously as I didn’t have anywhere near the skillset it would leave me frustrated and I would wonder whether it was something I still wanted to pursue. What I realise now is thats its much more fulfilling to compare to yourself than to others.Often I will look back at old photos I took a couple years ago to remind myself of how far I have come. The key is to focus on learning new skills, acquiring new knowledge, and spending time actually doing the work to put learning into action. Perfection doesn’t exist - there is always room for improvement

You often design your own sets, where do you find inspiration for this?
This is a hard one to answer, as it always varies!I have always been fascinated with fairytales and folklore stories so I often find they are a point of reference, as well as music videos and cinema/theatre. I love wes Andersons work and his use of colour and recently been really inspired by Tyler the creatives new music videos.Usually the final idea for my sets ends up being a mismatch of things that have come together. I have a notepad I always scribble random ideas down on, which ill refer back to. I also love to use Pinterest to create mood boards of ideas, although I think its important to branch out from this and look at older resources for images/work that isn’t always found on there.If im collaborating with others its a lot easier as they usually have an initial idea that will spoon my imagination and gives a starting point or theme to research into.

What do you look for when picking models to work with?
I would say the ideal model for me is someone who able to really get into the role I want them to portray and see it as a collaborative process. Dancers have always been my favourite to work with as they are able to be so creative and inventive with how they use their bodies and often need a lot less directionIm more drawn to models that have a more unique look to them, or something that makes them stand out from the conventionally ‘commercial’ look.I think the industry needs more representation, so I am really striving to work with a more diverse and representative cast on projects now.

Do you think Instagram culture has changed photography in any way? And if so is this positive or negative?
I think there are positive and negative aspects to it definitely.Instagram has definitely helped me as a creator to get my work out there and be discovered and quite often you see creatives blowing up and getting the recognition they deserve (although not as much as it should be happening). It also provides a platform to find clients and other creatives to collaborate with, which I think is great.
However I would say it does put a lot of pressure on photographers to be putting out a lot of content out all the time in order to stay relevant, which sadly I think means that often quantity is valued over quality.

Who would be your dream brand or person to work with?
Richard Quinn has definitely been a dream client ever since I discovered his work last year.I was actually lucky enough to be approached by a production agency a few months ago to help work on the set design for his new fashion film thats just been released. I’m so grateful for the opportunity it was an absolute dream to work for him !