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

© Sarah Jarrett – ‘Self Portrait’ – Artrage, Superimpose, Monovu

Sarah’s work is represented for licensing by Getty Images
http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/

Arcangel Images (for editorial work)
http://www.arcangel-images.com

and Pure Illustration (for advertising, greeting cards, stationary, framed art, home decor and surface design)
http://www.pureillustration.co.uk/

You can find Sarah on Instagram as – sarahjphotos
http://www.sarahjarrettart.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahjarrett/
http://sarahjarrettart.blogspot.co.uk/

© 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.

© 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.

© 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.

© 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.

© 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.

© 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.

© 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.

© 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.

© 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.

© 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.

© 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.

© 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.

© 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.

© 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.

© 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.

© 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.

© 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.

© 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 !

© 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.

© 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 !

© 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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