How This Yorkshire Photographer is Sharing the Beauty of The North and its People
A new photography venture specialising in fine art portraits has launched in West Yorkshire to share local people's stories
Faye grew up around Bradford, and now lives in Baildon, and she’s a self-taught photographer. ‘My dad did photography, and when I was nine he bought me a proper film camera for Christmas (even though I didn’t actually want it, I wanted the Mop Top Hair Shop),’ she laughs. ‘But I got hooked and was taking quick snapshots of family and friends on days out. I really fell in love with it. I learned on film which is a world away from digital but I think it’s quite nice to have learned on the old medium.’
Faye has been photographing professionally for around 12 years. ‘I grew up in Bradford which sometimes gets bad press but it has some really beautiful countryside and scenery on its outskirts,’ she says. ‘I’ve always loved getting outdoors and seeing what adventures are out there and discovering new places. I’ve definitely followed in my dad’s footsteps. I’ve always been a bit of an observer as well which I think really helps with portrait photography.
Read More: Bridlington Photographer Shares Her Beautiful Yorkshire Snaps
‘At the minute I’m living near the moors which is lovely because I’ve got two dogs so they’re really spoiled with their walks. It’s perfect for photography because there’s such a gorgeous landscape. We’re so lucky. My heart is definitely in the hills. I’d always rather walk the hills on a rainy day than be by the beach abroad. That’s how I’m wired. I find a lot of peace in our landscape and the people.’
Faye has been running her business, FKB Photography, for last 10 years. ‘That’s very much for events, parties and family portraits,’ she says. But she wanted to do something a bit different. ‘I guess I found a gap in the market because photography is so saturated and if you see flash photography that tends to be in studios rather than out in the landscape. I wondered what it would be like to combine those two things,’ she explains.
So she launched A Northern Heart Photography officially on 1st June. Her first series in this photography project is Stories from the North – aiming to build a collection of tales featuring people from all walks of life in the North.
‘It’s a personal project that’s about getting out and about and meeting as many people as possible,’ she says. ‘It’s very “normal” people. They’re simply the people that live and work here. The photographs tell the story about who they are and why they do what they do and what makes them tick. I want to give them a voice by offering them photos they can treasure but also offering them a chat about who they are and what they do.
’In a year or so I’m hoping, when I have enough content, that I can exhibit some of this photography and the stories alongside them. I’m always on the lookout for people who might be interested in sharing their stories. The first shoot I did for the first Stories of the North was a father and daughter who go wild swimming every weekend. I wanted to capture their personalities and tell the story of who they are and why they do this together.
‘I think portrait photography is the best way to do that; I think I’d struggle to tell it in a different way. I live in an area where loads of locals have dogs and horses and they’ve got their own little personalities too. Photos of them were definitely the enquiries I was getting the most when I set this up. The thing that holds the people portraiture and the animal portraiture together is the landscape.’
Whilst shooting in outdoor locations, Faye uses a mix of artificial and natural light to give her portraits a painterly look and feel. ‘I love the lighting that comes with Old Master paintings and I love getting out and about up here,’ she explains. ‘Thanks to my dad’s photography, I have loads of pictures of me when I was little. I feel like nowadays we just take a picture on our phone and then never see it again, so when I set up Northern Heart it was to try and combine all those things and create pictures that people will want to keep, print, have in their homes, and keep looking at.’
A Northern Heart Photography is available in Yorkshire, Northumberland, Cumbria and across the North. Get in touch with Faye at info@anorthernheartphotography.co.uk. Find out more at anorthernheartphotography.co.uk.
Where is your favourite place to photograph in Yorkshire?
There are so many! I love the whole of the North. The Chevin at Otley is really gorgeous. The Hollies is especially nice in autumn because of the big old trees in the woodland. I also love the beach at Sandsend and the Victorian architecture in Saltburn. Mostly I shoot around the moors where I live at the moment, around Otley and Ilkley.
What advice can you give budding photographers?
Once you’ve mastered the basics, just practice and practice and you’ll find your own style. Instagram is full of lots of great work but a lot of it is very similar and I think there’s definitely something to be said for finding your own style. That’s all about experimenting.
What are your hopes and plans for the future?
I’d like to work more widely, perhaps in the North East. Northumberland has so many beautiful locations that I haven’t shot in yet. That’s the same for the Lake District. I do want the exhibition to happen but I’m not quite sure yet how I’ll go about that – but I would quite like to keep it in the North. I think it would be a really nice observation of Northern life.
