By In Hye Lee, Social Media Coordinator
London-based photographer Natasha Alipour-Faridani was the creative mastermind behind CEF’s recent “Baby Bump” photo shoot. Not only was this photo shoot Natasha’s first with CEF, it is also the first in our summer of photo shoots. Natasha and I had the chance to chat about photography, CEF, and the importance of giving back.
CEF: When did you first start working as a photographer?
Natasha: Well, I graduated in 2006 from Brighton University. I would say I’ve been a photographer for about six years. But a lot of those years, I’ve been a lighting technician for other photographers working on fashion shoots and ad shoots, mostly commercial shoots. Within that time of assisting others, I’ve also been following up with my own work and doing my own commissions at the same time. So I’ve done a bit of both, freelancing as an assistant and freelancing as a photographer at the same time. I’ve come to the end of working for other people now. I’d say that this last year has been concentrated on my own work, really.
CEF: What is your main passion in photography?
Natasha: My main thing is portraiture. I haven’t gotten any big projects yet, but I’m looking into doing that in the next couple years. Most of these projects would be portrait-based. I’ve got an eclectic mix of subject matter, ranging from models to commissioned portrait work from known people, such as actors and musicians. I also really enjoy photographing “real people”, if you know what I mean. I generally love meeting people from all works of life, so portrait photography feeds that interest.
CEF: How did you get involved with CEF?
Natasha: I know Fiona Watson, so she approached me. I’ve worked with her on a few things. There was a pregnant lady who was due in a few days, and we needed to photograph her. We put it together in a couple of days and drove down to meet her. We tried to get as much as we could for the day. I was really interested in the opportunity, as I’d talked to her previously about CEF projects, and some other things I’d actually wanted to plan properly to work with her on. This came up a couple of weeks after we’d talked. It was a good opportunity to get started on a CEF project. I like the idea of Compassionate Eye’s model.
CEF: How would you describe the photo shoot?
Natasha: It was quite plain, in a studio style rather than environmental. It was very much about getting various stock-style options. Some of it was about the body and had a very clean feeling, similar to Dove advertisements. Many of the images were quite generic and could be used for a bunch of things. We did some photos with her little girl as well, to have some more options for images of a family. The point was to open up as many options as possible. We were seeing what we could get.
CEF: What would you say was the best thing about working with CEF?
Natasha: The best thing was that it was nice to work on a project that was not based on financial gain. It was nice to feel that you were actually doing something that would be useful, that will fuel sales and give back a little bit. It was nice to meet everyone that was working on the shoot who was working for free. Everyone was coming together to make the shoot happen, with the thought of giving back.
Check out more of Natasha’s work on her website and blog.
could go to school. It provides a small stipend to the caregiver of these children (usually a relative like an aunt or a grandmother, who is inevitably also incredibly poor) so the child can go to school instead of having to go out to work to provide support for the family. What was moving was not so much the hardship but the hope and the promise. The conditions they live in range from one room corrugated tin shacks with mud floors to subdivided shipping containers. But evidence of their dedication to school is everywhere. They proudly show their grades and look forward to going to school. It’s a great program and new for CEF. We are excited to support it.
