Real Life Bites: Photographer Chloe Sheppard on the Chaos and Inspiration Beyond the Frame

Words & Images: Chloe Sheppard

Make it stand out

My day always begins with my cat. If she doesn't end up waking me up by stepping on me, she's the first thing I look for when I'm awake. She's an older cat, came to me 3 years ago, and ever since she's been one of the best parts of my day. Having her has made me somewhat more stable and given me a real sense of purpose and commitment, which I hope to translate into my creative practice too.

The project I am working on currently is my column on the Polyester Dollhouse, Sickly Sweet.  The Polaroid photos here shot on my Polaroid Now follow me getting ready, going out and buying the flowers for set design, the highs of putting together my shots for the column and the ensuing aftermath of processing my own emotions post-shoot – plus the annoying nitty gritty of tidying up.

Sometimes I have someone collaborate with set design, however this time I shot in my home so for a unique challenge this time, it was just me producing the full framing of my image making. I gathered props and flowers – some from a local flower farm and others from a wholesaler – trekking about to make sure I had everything I needed for the most gorgeous of still life images. I like to use flowers in my work, because I tend to be drawn to overly pastel and 'feminine' tropes. It’s so opposite to how I feel about myself and how I'm perceived. The flowers I go for tend to be paler colours, especially fleshy tones and pinks. 

I was shooting in our garage, which I turned into a studio when I moved home during the pandemic. As you can probably tell, being a photographer is a lot besides just making images: there’s a lot of hard work and heavy lifting to get things exactly as you want them. It was worth it though – I love the garage space now. A lot of my books are in there and the room itself holds a lot of memories, so I spent some time looking through the books and reminiscing. I pulled out Strangeland by Tracey Emin and The Art of Cruelty by Maggie Nelson as these are some of my all time favourites: I'm inspired by both of the authors, Tracey Emin's work being fuelled by such strong emotions in particular, and Maggie Nelson's writing is just incredible. 

The image of me on the sofa mid-shoot shows how cramped the room I'm working in is. The garage building is small, and cluttered with so much of my stuff from when I moved years ago and still haven't sorted through - there’s definitely a big contrast between the final image and everything going on behind the scenes. I'm not dressed up as it's not a typical self portrait shoot, I'm just in slack, lazy day clothing and not feeling particularly great. It’s a good example of why I love Polaroid film, though, because if this image was taken on a phone it'd be one I'd never keep, but Polaroid images add such texture and tones that appeals to me much more.

When I'm home I'm likely to work at my desk. It's a corner of my room covered in all the things I like, postcards and pictures of friends, books, beauty products and little trinkets, so I feel more relaxed here I suppose. I like things to be over the top and a little cluttered, I think, though it’s obviously not quite picture perfect! 

I've become more drawn to shooting still life because of where I am in my practice currently. I don't shoot as much as I used to, mostly because I'm less inspired and unsure of where I want to take my work completely, especially when it comes to people. 

I like shooting food I’ve cooked at the moment, because food is a big love of mine and what is exciting me right now. I love the interactive immediacy of cooking - the instant gratification of producing something worthy and sharing it with others to enjoy. I spend a lot more time baking than I do photographing, which feels weird, but right to me at the moment. I read a lot as I've been working in a bookshop for a few years, and a lot of the art focused things I've read have explored the significant role still life work has in women's lives especially, as at one point it was all they were allowed to do. My work doesn't exactly flip any traditions on its head when it comes to that, however I'm fascinated by it and enamoured by some of the still life paintings that were produced so many years ago.