Sarah jarrett
A Day In The Life Of ...,  INTERVIEWS,  News

Sarah Jarrett – A Day In The Life Interview With An Incredibly Talented Mobile Photographer And Artist

Welcome to our very exciting column on theappwhisperer.com. This section entitled ‘A day in the life of …’ and this is where we take a look at some hugely influential, interesting and accomplished individuals in the mobile photography world. People that we think you will love to learn more about.This is our seventieth installment of the series, if you have missed our previous interviews please go here. Sarah Jarrett completed her degree and postgraduate studies at Harrow School of Art & Brighton University in 1992 specialising in Photography.

She was singled out in her final year for special bursary prizes from both Kodak and Agfa. After graduating Sarah taught Art, Textiles & Photography in Brighton and continued to exhibit her work in London, Brighton, Cambridge and Norfolk.

In 1998 she began to freelance full time and began to experiment with painting onto her own large color photographic prints with oils and sewing onto the surface with a sewing machine in an attempt to develop a unique way of working with photography.

It drew immediate attention from magazines and publishers and secured her first print and publishing deals. Sarah now works with digital media using both the iPhone and iPad. The main focus in her images today is still in making photographic images look like paintings and in capturing dreamlike, ethereal beauty. To have a unique voice in her work is still very important to Sarah.

Sarah has exhibited , licensed and produced commercial artwork for companies in Europe and the USA and was selected as one of the winners in the Sotheby’s International Young Artists 2001 for a series of experimental painted photographic designs.  The main outlets for her work have been in fine art cards, gift wrap, calendars, posters, limited and open edition prints, book covers and food packaging design for supermarkets.

Clients who have commissioned and published her work include: Graphique de France, Woodmansterne, Art angels UK, Conran Octopus, Marshall editions, Artsmile, Simon Elvin, Wilkinson’s, Editions Ltd USA, Unicorn Fine Art, Asda, Ebury Press- Random House UK, Penguin, A Vue d’Oeil, Wendy Lamb books, Elegant Clutter UK, The Pure Design Group,The Science and Art & Writing Trust. Sarah’s work is also represented for licensing by Getty Images.

Sarah lives and works from her studio in the beautiful Norfolk countryside. She runs specialized Art workshops for children in schools all over Norfolk as well as her own regular Art initiative sessions. Sarah is also one of Norfolk County Council’s Artists for Learning.

This year she self published her first Art book of my Landscape pictures ” A Landscape of Dreams”. Click here to view.

In the summer of 2012 Sarah took part in the LA Mobile Arts Festival exhibiting alongside 250 artists from 30 different countries to raise the artistic potential of iPhoneography.

You can read more about Sarah in the interview below…

You can find all the links to the apps mentioned at the end of this article.

(If you would like to be interviewed for our new ‘A day in the life of …’ section, just send an email to Joanne@theappwhisperer.com, and we’ll get it set up.)

 

First Things First

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Jess’ – Slow Shutter Cam, Snapseed

 

Joanne – Let’s start at the beginning of the day, how does your day start?

Sarah – I’ve always been a morning person an early riser. On weekdays I’m up at 6.30am and out into the countryside that surrounds me by 7.30am. I’m either running or walking to the woods, the river, the Fen or across the marshes.

The type of weather on the day usually determines my choice of location. For me this is almost a spiritual experience to clear my mind, connect with the land and nature and make pictures as the day dawns and emerges. It’s a quiet meditation. I work really hard and I find I really need this time to de-clutter my thoughts and ideas each day. After that I am in the studio every morning picking up emails and posting work to start the day and then an aim to be editing by 9.00am.

Golden Hour

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Silence’ – Slow Shutter Cam, Snapseed, Laminar

 

Joanne – Do you like to head out and take photographs early on?

Sarah – Yes it’s my favorite time of the day to be out making pictures. It’s a very quiet and peaceful time few people around. I feel I can really engage with the landscape at this time. Winter is my favorite time of year, I love its bleak beauty and its starkness. The bare trees against the vast skies of the flatlands are pure visual poetry to me. I also enjoy the variation of weather in winter fog, rain, frost, snow and its constant change.

Photographer vs Mobile Photographer

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘The Other Mother’s Daughter’ – Slow Shutter Cam, Artrage, Snapseed, ScratchCam

 

Joanne – How did the transition from traditional photographer to mobile photographer develop? (pardon the pun).

Sarah – Well I did my degree in Photography and Film at Art College so I’ve always loved traditional film and printing techniques back then I was painting with oils on top of huge color prints so I’m really doing the same but with the technology available. I made the move to iphoneography because it was more portable and easy to slip a phone in your pocket and have it with you all the time and to not have to carry around loads of bulky equipment. Apps though held the greatest attraction to be able to take a picture and then edit on the spot on the same device was great and the apps themselves offered so many different outcomes, I found this creatively exciting and I was hooked.

New Apps

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Somewhere Else’ – Slow Shutter Cam, Snapseed, Monovu, ScratchCam

 

Joanne – Do you like to download new apps regularly?

Sarah – I’m very selective about apps and only tend to download an app if I think it will be useful to my way of editing and offer me something creative. I keep my ear to the ground for new suggestions but I am really fussy. I’m now a beta tester and find that very interesting. I would say there are six great apps in my toolbox I use all the time Superimpose, Artrage, Procreate, Laminar, Modern Grunge and Dynamic Light.

Updates

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Song For A Green World’ – Tiny Planets, Superimpose, Modern Grunge, Laminar

 

Joanne – How often do you update your existing apps?

Sarah – I always update my apps when a new one is available sometimes at a price ! I had a huge number of masks cut out and saved in Superimpose and in a recent update all the masks were altered and rendered useless. Hours of work lost ! It was frustrating but you have to just move on.

Location, Location, Location

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Devotion’ – Slow Shutter Cam, Snapseed, Shockmypic, Monovu

 

Joanne – Where’s your favorite place in the world for a shoot?

Sarah – I love the waterways rivers, pools, streams and dykes where I live in Norfolk. They can be so atmospheric especially in winter. I would find it difficult to live anywhere else.

Tools Of The Trade

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Obscura’ – Superimpose, Artrage, Monovu

 

Joanne – Do you also use iPhone photography tool apps, such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris and if so do you use it to plan your shoots?

Sarah – Just had to Google that so no ! It sounds useful and very organized. I’ve lived here so long I can read weather patterns, light and cloud, I feel very tuned in to my location. I’m not a great advance planner of pictures, they just happen.

Favorite Apps

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Return To Dreams’ – Superimpose, Artrage, Monovu

 

Joanne – What are your favorite, at the moment, iPhoneography apps?

Sarah – Superimpose and Artrage. Both offer so much and with an app like Artrage it’s a constant learning experience. I’m used to working with real paints, inks, pencils etc so to adapt to virtual use of these materials is a steep learning curve. How amazing though to have the opportunity to create in this way.

Sharing

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Dormant’ – Superimpose, Artrage, Laminar

 

Joanne – Where do you like to upload your photographs? Flickr, Instagram?

Sarah – I upload to Facebook, IPA and Flickr daily, to IG more occasionally. Flickr is my favorite place to share and look at pictures, it’s such a diverse community, a real melting pot of Art and Photography and a serious audience.

Frequency

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Cool Britannia’ – Superimpose, Artrage, Miracam

 

Joanne – Do you take photographs with your iPhone everyday?

Sarah – Yes I take pictures most days, if I don’t I feel creatively stifled. I like to see progression in whatever project I’m working on and get very caught up in the ideas.

Favorite Subjects

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Boy About Town’ – Superimpose, Artrage, Miracam

 

Joanne – What are your favorite subjects to photograph?

Sarah – Well my work is very split, until recently I was best known for my Landscape work which I have been concentrating on for a long time and it still is the love of my life but in the Summer of this year I felt I needed a change and began to focus on portraits and self portraits.

This has really taken off and I’m very engaged with it at the moment because it has incredible potential.

Teaching

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Punk Generation’ – Superimpose, Artrage, Miracam

 

Joanne – How did the teaching side come along?

Sarah – I’ve always taught Art since I left Art College. I did a postgrad year as a safety net in case I couldn’t make a career from Art and it’s been really useful. I’ve taught in Primary, Secondary and Further Education. Twelve years ago I set up my own business delivering Art sessions to children aged 5-11 years in rural schools where there was very little opportunity for them to experience all aspects of Art e.g. Sculpture, Printing, Collage, Painting, Mixed Media work, Clay, Textiles etc. It’s still going strong and I run sessions three afternoons a week resulting in a big exhibition of children’s art at the end of each school term. I love it and it feeds my own creative ideas in so many ways.

Top Five Tips

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Peacock’ – Superimpose, Artrage, Miracam

 

Joanne – What are your top five tips for iPhone photography?

Sarah –

  1. Always look for the extraordinary in the most ordinary places. Your own way of looking and seeing is unique.
  2. Believe in what you are doing, craft your pictures and really work at what you are making. Nothing is instant. Never give in or give up.
  3. Experiment, experiment, experiment amazing things can happen. You have a unique voice.
  4. Don’t work in a bubble feed your creative soul by looking at the work of others. Flickr is a great place to do this, join groups and look at what’s emerging all the time. One of my favorite groups there is ‘The League of Extraordinary Photo-manipulation’.
  5. Use apps to help you achieve your creative goal but don’t expect the answers to arrive with the click of one button. You need to consider your ideas, your image making and really develop your process.

Editing

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘It’s All Rock n’ Roll’ – Superimpose, Artrage, Miracam

 

Joanne – Do you edit images on your iPhone or do you prefer to do that on a desktop/laptop?

Sarah – I worked for years editing with Photoshop on a PC but now I do all my editing on an iPod touch or iPad. I could never go back, the creative opportunities offered by apps are far superior to Photoshop.

Videography

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Polkadots’ – Slow Shutter Cam, Snapseed, Laminar

 

Joanne – Do you enjoy videography with your iPhone?

Sarah – No ! Surprisingly I never make videos at all, I am far too obsessed with the still image.

The Future Of Mobile Photography

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Dancer’ – Superimpose, Artrage, Laminar

 

Joanne – Where do you see the future of iPhone photography?

Sarah – It’s a really great time for iPhoneography at the moment. It’s an incredible art form constantly changing and developing. In flux, never static. I think it will continue to astound as apps and devices develop and technology moves forward. The work emerging at the moment is so exciting, look at the LAMAF show in the Summer, so so great. We need more pioneers like Nate Park and Daria Polichetti who have a vision and can bring artists together. LAMAF was a testament to their vision as is the iPrints store. Also Dan Berman and the Mobile Photo Awards real opportunities to seriously showcase and promote mobile photography.

Popularity

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Kindred’ – Superimpose, Artrage, Laminar

 

Joanne – What do you think is the most popular area of iPhoneography?

Sarah – I think the portrait is an endless source of fascination to us all and the way we see ourselves but also abstract imagery seems very popular.

Worldwide Phenomena?

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Earth Child’ – Superimpose, Artrage, Laminar

 

Joanne – Do you think it’s country specific, are some nations more clued up?

Sarah – I think it’s all very centered on the US the LAMAF show, IPA, the iprints store there hasn’t been a UK show yet on the same scale which does surprise me. Come on UK !

iPhone 5

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Winter’s Tale’ – Tiny Planets, Superimpose, Shockmypic, Laminar

 

Joanne – Any thoughts on the new iPhone 5?

Sarah – I’m not really interested in the phone side I’ve only ever used an iPod Touch and an iPad.

TheAppWhisperer.com

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Postcards Of My Life’ – Superimpose, Laminar

 

Joanne – What do you think of Joanne and theappwhisperer.com?

Sarah – Joanne is completely fabulous !! She’s a great promoter of the community and always in tune with what’s happening. She has vision, pizzazz and great style. We all love her !

Links To All Apps Used Or Mentioned In This Interview

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© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Love Letters’ – Superimpose, Artrage, Laminar

 

 

Artrage
Slow Shutter Cam
Snapseed
Laminar
ScratchCam
Monovu
Tiny Planet Photos
Modern Grunge
Miracam
Shockmypic
Superimpose

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Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: joanne@theappwhisperer.com

12 Comments

  • Robert Lancaster

    Thanks for sharing with us in this interesting and inspiring interview Sarah!
    Your work is absolutely amazing.

    Thank you also to Joanne for bringing this interview to us all.

  • JQ Gaines

    I absolutely love Sarah’s work! It’s such a treat to learn more about her as an artist and her working process… thank you for this great interview!

  • Geri

    I was captivated from the start – what an amazingly talented artist. Thank you for sharing the work of Sarah Jarrett! ♥♥♥

  • CatMorris

    Huge fan of Sarah’s work! Great to know more about her and her process!

  • tommyrocker@rogers.com

    Sarah, AMAZING!! If I’m not mistaken “Postcards Of My Life” was in the LA-MAF, and that was where I was introduced to your beautiful work. You are at the top of the field and it was truly motivating to read your story. Best wishes for the future!
    ~Tommy Vohs

  • Shane Martin

    Really great to learn a little more about you and how you work Sarah. As you know I am a huge, huge fan. You are one of the finest iphone artists around, or in your case ipod artists!

  • Tracy Mitchell Griggs

    Thanks for sharing your process – really enjoy the portraits and your painting training shines through here – congrats on your appointment here as a columnist – look forward to your contributions