Today we’d like to introduce you to Emma Lorraine.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I began my exploration with photography on a technically based level, wanting to be educated on the camera’s mechanics more than anything. The “how” to capture rather than the “why” we capture. I graduated from a photography school called Brooks Institute with a bachelor’s degree in science in visual journalism. Graduation coincided with me falling in love with a fine artist where our dates consisted of collaborating on photoshoots as references for his partings. The time spent together truly propelled my perspective into the expansion of asking myself more “why” questions.
The majority of my work then was in the documentary field where I was capturing what I saw. Once I began to shift my perspective into viewing imagery in regards to a painting I was the one creating what I wanted others to see. Making me far more mentally coherent of my creative choices; why am I including this in the composition, why is the camera exposure being set in a particular way, why this subject? I began to notice I was able to have a deeper influence on the audience’s interpretation of a piece by taking more consideration with the seemingly minute details such as post-work color treatments or brightening tiny highlights in the eyes to reveal an intimate personality. Stretching and taking the time to be playful allowed me to grow professionally. Today I work on a wide range of commissioned portraits from business and entertainment professionals to fashion models, and each project is approached with creative flexibility allowing individualized results.
Please tell us about your art.
I create portraits of every day and the extraordinary. Everyday portraits that are used for business profiles or advertising. All the way to the more extraordinary with a fantasy base that is used for my own personal art or a painter’s reference. While both seem like they exist on opposite sides of the artistic spectrum, I find that no matter what I’m working on they share a very key component of comfort. My intent with a lot of my work is the ability to relate to the viewer. They see themselves or a loved one which encapsulates a boundless appreciation and a conceptual comfort. I believe a strong basis of my work, and even how I work, is centered around the ideal that comfort is key. I enjoy creating aesthetically pleasing imagery and a lot of it stems from the subject themselves feeling comfortable in front of the lens. In turn, making it comforting to view the final product. It is undeniably imperative for growth to go outside one’s bubble and feel uneasy, but I trust that the comfort in one’s confidence in how boundaries are broken and new structures are built.
Whether it’s a fully nude model or a sharply dressed CEO in a designer suite, both are expressing a deep vulnerability in front of the camera and I feel it’s vital for my job to ensure they feel comfortable. Some of my clients have never had a professional photograph was taken which requires a bit of coercion into comfort. Having my backbone in the documentary field has allotted me a great deal of familiarity working with a wide range of personalities. Within every project, I notice once we reach that point of comfort together the snowball grows itself into a really beautiful creation. Having a good rapport with my subject truly is a symbiotic relationship to the final product.
I want my subjects to remain human but still appeal to their higher selves. In other words, I do my best to make my subjects look great but not phony. I stay away from dramatic cosmetic alterations in post-work in order to represent an obtainable and realistic beauty. Again, my end goal is to create relatable and comforting imagery.
Our current world affairs seem to constantly drill into us that we need to be dramatic, drastic, and very different in order to be successful. But sometimes I feel it’s a worthy reminder to operate with the knowledge that we are all connected in some way and not that different from one another. While none of us are truly identical we do share a lot of similarities identifying as creatures of comfort.
As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
For me, I believe success is happiness. I feel like identifying success solely as financial or ample outside recognition is dwindling and has an expiration date. Happiness is contagious spanning a longer lifetime. I feel a sense of pride when I walk away from a project with happy memories, new friends, perpetuating ideas. My driving force is knowing my clients are happy, my audience is happy, that I am happy.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My portraits can be found scattered throughout several different platforms. From a fine art collector’s home with a limited edition print release or as a reference that has been transformed into a physical painting by another artist. All the way to social media profiles or advertising promoting a business.
I try to keep my recent artwork up to date on my personal self titled website; www.emmalorriane.com
Contact Info:
- Address: Brewery Artist Lofts Los Angeles
- Website: www.emmalorraine.com
- Phone: 708-567-5233
- Email: info@emmalorriane.com
- Instagram: @pscyhospice
Image Credit:
Self portrait taken while I was testing the lighting for an upcoming shoot with a model
Suggest a story:VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
