Sparks Photographers

A Real Beauty

Caroline Ryan is no stranger to the delicate art of beauty photography. When she sent along her latest stunning shots, we knew we had to ask her about her not-so-hidden talent for really getting the gorgeous out of a shoot.

Why beauty?

Most of the work I do is about pinpointing what’s happening in a given moment, but beauty is much more intricate. When shooting beaty, the thing I’m really attracted to is lighting – manipulating the light and concentrating on precision, it’s much more complicated for me than location shooting. When I was in school I admired two photographers, Horst and George Hoyningen-Huene, if you look at their work, you’ll see what I mean about precision.

What’s your take on what’s ‘sexy’?

Women get the concept differently, women shoot 'sexy' very differently than men do. I think it’s an overall feel, it doesn’t need to be the girl’s pose, it’s more the mood, the vibe, the tone that can be sexy. Light can also be sexy, when it wraps the skin or glistens over the arm, silky and wet light. Women also have the same insecurities and foibles as the model does so that makes a difference too. I don’t like an overly-retouched look or ‘plastic’ feel; when I look in the mirror, I see imperfections and that’s what I like to see in the shot – I hope I have an empathetic approach.

What makes a truly great model?

That’s two-fold. Of course symmetrical faces and certain bone structures work better than others, but more important, it’s her ability to emote in a really small space. When she gives you something with her eyes, an emotion, when she really looks at you and not just the camera – the gaze that shows a feel, a connection along with the expression. Models that carry all this off in a tight frame and really know themselves. The model with the flying hair for instance, I would work with her again and again, she helped that particular shot evolve.

What’s your take on body image in the industry?

When I was in England, I was really influenced by the photography style at that time which was completely real – especially Corinne Day’s shots of Kate Moss – totally raw, her against a wall with no retouch and no glamour. That was my biggest draw. The ads in London at that time felt so intimate, they showed every freckle. So personally, I’m not such a huge fan of super-glam, I always want to leave a trace of the real person there. I’m for natural beauty, but the industry is radically changing, now we have women in their sixties without a line on their face, it’ll be interesting to see where it’ll go.

When you’re not shooting beauty, what are you working on?

I try to find moments. Like on my way over here, I was on Bay Street, I saw this business boy standing on some steps in his suit and dress shoes just completely covered in snow head to toe - he looked so dazed, it seemed like he really didn't know what to do about that - it was just a little moment that I wanted to tell my story of. I’m always trying to convey my perception of moments in time.