Jasmine Engel-Malone is a London based photographer whose work focuses on women, representation and fashion.
How has your lived experience shaped your practice?
As a woman, particularly a woman of colour, I’ve always wanted to see images that I felt represented by in the media and in the arts. This is definitely something that I feel has shaped my style and my craft.
I also love connecting with people, and talking with them about their lives and interests. I’ve always felt that photography was a way for me to do that, and I enjoy that people trust me in ways that can be quite intimate – as well as making people feel confident and proud of themselves when they see the final images.
What are some of your biggest influences and motivations in your work? What issues are you passionate about working on?
I think that I draw influence from so many places that it’s quite hard to say. I love film and cinematography, the mood and feeling that can be translated through the images. I also take a lot of influence from the people around me, and many projects will start with the actual person who I want to be the subject of the images. I love working on projects that champion people from all backgrounds, especially inclusivity of people of colour and plus- sized models. One of my favourites being the Breaking the Bias piece, as well as my ongoing ‘Angels’ project.
I think that I also care a lot about particular societal issues/challenges that I feel I can give a quite personal perspective on; which is why I think that a lot of my work focuses on women’s experiences. In 2019, I wrote my dissertation on society’s relationship with women and nudity. This has been a running theme throughout a lot of my work and focusing on creating imagery that in many ways dismantles a lot of standards that the male gaze has set throughout the art history.
You can see it HERE
Can you tell us more about your focus on expression through fashion in your work?
A lot of my interest in fashion comes from me being inspired by a lot of independent designers and small businesses that I find through social media and magazines. As well as keeping an eye out on grad shows and fashion week. As many of my shoots are very personal to the person/people I’m taking pictures of, I often work with the person on self-styling with their own clothes. As I really like to involves peoples’ self-expression in my pictures, to really capture their personality.
Where are you based and what excites you about the creative community around you?
I’m based in South East London – I was born here and split my time between here and Germany as a child. Both environments are polar opposite from each-other, with London being a busy city; and the village in Germany being more of a rural village. I think the creative scene in London is filled with inspiration and I’m fortunate enough to have many creative friends that push me to stay inspired and create new things. I think London as a whole is almost overflowing with things to do and places to be – so I can always go and meet new people and plan new projects constantly.
See more of Jasmine’s work HERE
