We spoke with Art Director and Stylist, Sundari Ferris, about falling in love with film photography, dealing with emotional trauma and how to find creative balance during these challenging times.

So, Tell Us About Yourself

I'm a stylist and art director by trade but also hand paint fabric backdrops for photographers and artists. I’ve been “doing” photography digitally since starting my business in 2014, progressing from iPhone on Instagram to more professional shoots for my social media clients. 

Film photography is a newly found creative outlet for me. Over the years, through my editorial styling work, I have worked and fallen in love with many talented film photographers. They just had such an eye that I felt was crucial to my storytelling. The way they captured my work was exactly how I’d always envisioned.

Last year, for my 30th birthday, I treated myself to a Pentax K1000 and it’s with this I began exploring and honing my style. I was immediately addicted. I sought advice from the film photographers I’d worked with and both their encouragement and results of the images I kept getting back from the lab pushed me further forward into pursuing it as part of my daily life and practice.  

How Has The Current Situation Impacted Your Practice / Daily life?

I mean, it’s been a balance of good and frustrating. Whilst I struggle with the unknown and the lack of jobs, along with all my photoshoots postponed, I still manage to feel a sense of calm. I had actually already been dealing with a lot of emotional trauma before the pandemic (I’m going through a divorce), so in a way, it's actually given me the space and time to handle those things better than I possibly would have otherwise...

 At the beginning, I sort of froze. My work disappeared overnight (as it did for many creatives) so I had to just take a moment to pause. Continuing to photograph just for fun and the simple act of capturing my day in this strange time has helped me process the reality of what’s happening.

A few weeks ago, I finally felt re-energised to commit to some new creative ideas, I’ve even booked some new shoots. If I find myself getting a little restless, I just keep reminding myself how lucky it is to have food in the fridge and a roof over my head.

Are You Working On Anything At The Moment?

So, I have a few female subjects lined up for some shoots which is something I really want to progress further with. I have a serious obsession with capturing women - probably born out of my admiration for our resilience.

 Some of my favourite shoots are intimate portrait sessions where I can just sit and talk to someone on an emotional level. I love asking questions and getting to the “underneath" of people. I find it fascinating how similar we are. Vulnerability is one of the hardest things someone can show and it's my goal to capture that.

I also started “Creative Connections” via @sundari.design – a mini-series of Instagram live interviews with various creative individuals. We discuss the creative process and how they’re dealing with the emotional side of continuing work now.

This series has now concluded, but it’s through one of these interviews with a friend that we launched @dearcreative.podcast. We realised that we’d had so many conversations with each other and other creatives over the years around the industries we’ve worked in. Some of those conversations got us out of ruts, helped us pivot our work and gave us confidence to just process what we need as entrepreneurs, creatives and humans. It just made sense to use that information to help others.

Any Advice For People Struggling With Creativity A The Moment?

Take the pressure off of forcing creativity during adverse times. I’ve had this conversation a lot with peers. Often, as creatives, if we’re not doing or making or feeling something, we feel useless. We have heightened senses to feed that creativity and we can also grapple with loss of control.

This situation is out of our hands, so just be kind to yourself. You don’t have to do and be everything right now even if someone else you see is (you don’t know the pressure they may have put on themselves.) 

In terms of trying to generate creativity, I work quite intuitively with my emotions, so even if I have a spark of an idea, I need it to feel right within my gut. That said - having conversations with other creatives has genuinely generated new ideas and actual projects. Reaching out to others and listening to others is so inspiring for me.

So, I guess that’d be my main suggestion - seek real conversations with others whom you resonate with or feel on a similar vibration with - or even not! Creatives are unique creatures with different views and opinions of beauty, speaking to someone who has a different thought to you can actually propel you forward in your own thoughts and processes.  

What Have The Events Of 2020 Taught You So Far?

At the risk of sounding cliché, we all need to be more caring; life is too short. This time has made me more sensitive to others and so grateful for those around me, so I would seek to explore and help others more. Equally, I’d also seek to explore and help myself more; allowing myself to speak up and turn away from things I do not need or require.

👋 Want to see more from Sundari Ferris?

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All Images used with permission © Sundari Ferris