Jo Sowry's Portfolio Digital Photography

Jo Sowry

My journey into the world of photography began when I was at high school. I was fortunate to be made eligible to do bursary photography during my sixth form year and received a grade A. Once completing seventh form, I went on to study at Otago University. While working towards my BA in Film and Theatre Studies I continued to keep up my interest in photography, attending exhibitions and taking literally hundreds of shots of anything and everything that inspired me.

Once completing my degree I moved up to Auckland and, while keeping a hand in acting, began to really concentrate on my passion for photography and turning this into a career. I started working at a stock image group called Photolibrary, which I find to be a constant source of inspiration as I am viewing photographs and searching for images everyday.

I was hired to photograph the opening night for the new North Shore bar ‘The Pioneer’ for their advertising campaign and, to my absolute pleasure, I learnt that my degree went hand in hand with photography. Especially the techniques I learnt through directing others and myself. I also began to study famous photographers such as Graham Smith, Annie Leibovitz and Huynh Cong Ut (Nick Ut) but, realized self-training was not going to give me all the technical skills I sought in order to create the high standard of photographs I wanted. Therefore I enrolled in a Raffles Design short photography course, which I am currently half way through. In the last six weeks I have learnt an incredible amount, and I have noticed the results reflected in my work.
My most recent achievement is having my photo ‘Freedom’ place in the top thirty finalists in this years ‘Olympus Auckland 24 hour Photo Day Competition’. It was a huge, exciting accomplishment for me.

When my course finishes I will embark on a five-week trip through Europe where I plan to spend a lot of time working with my camera.
I spend most evenings and weekends sketching photography ideas, reading and producing my own photo shoots with help from my partner, friends and family. I am new to the professional side of photography but I am constantly creating situations where I can learn and create moving photos in the hope of establishing a career for myself as a photographer.

In preparation for the ‘Olympus Auckland 24 hour Photo Day Competition’ I brainstormed to find ideas of what the city of Auckland meant to me. There were images of yachts in the harbor, markets in Aotea Square, latte drinkers in Ponsonby and many more. However, eventually I settled on my concepts and began the day with photographing my friend in a wooden dinghy, fishing at sunrise, with Rangitoto Island as the backdrop. After a morning of standing in the freezing cold water (in June!!) I wrapped the shoot, happy with what I had shot, and headed off to Raffles for my Saturday class.

During the class we walked around Kingsland hoping to capture a quintessential Auckland moment for the competition. I had an idea of photographing street graffiti but had not yet found the ideal spot. I walked to the end of a car park and found behind a café a large wall that was absolutely covered in graffiti, it was perfect. I instantly pictured my friend Chris as the ideal model to pose in this setting and thought ‘this is Auckland’.

I could not believe my luck when I heard that my photo had made the top 30 finalists. I must admit I did shed a few tears of joy; it was just such an overwhelming feeling. Then to see it on ‘The Breakfast Show’, what a buzz!
I have learnt an incredible amount at Raffles Design and I finally feel like my goals are well within my grasp. Especially through the support of teachers who are so knowledgeable about the industry and full of enthusiasm, you cannot help but feel that they genuinely want you to succeed.

When I am not working or at Raffles Design I am constantly going through books and websites, looking and reading about photography and analyzing different styles. I am always writing and drawing ideas, and I am very fortunate to have patient friends and family who are all becoming very good models. I have been organizing photo shoots so I can get extra practice, learn more about directing people and generally discover what works and what does not.

In terms of what genre of photography I would like to establish myself in I am currently fascinated with two fields, Theatre/Live Music photography and documentary photography. I have always loved the buzz of the theatre and find that the scenes on and off the stage lend themselves well to the medium of photography. The work of travel photographers and documentarians also blows me away; whether it be gritty social imagery or light-hearted cultural images, I find this genre of work to be very moving.

When my course finishes I will embark on a five-week trip through Europe where I plan to spend a lot of time working with my camera.

My plan for the future is to keep working hard on my photography through practice, education and entering competitions. Through this effort I hope to be working in a practical capacity within the industry next year, and within the next five years I want to have held a number of exhibitions of my work and published a book. I know that this industry can be a tough one to achieve in but I have so much inspiration and motivation within me to achieve my goals that I know I will succeed.