Community Amigo Hannah Bailey on Shooting Action and Sports

UK-based Hannah Bailey photographs women in sports. She talked to us about being a huge fan of film cameras and her series of skateboarding shots taken with the LC-A and an OM10.

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I have been in action sports and adventure communications for around six years now, working for brands, events and athletes, whilst on the side pushing to get more women’s content in the spotlight as a freelance ‘journalist’ and also, more recently, through my own magazine, The Free Life. I started the communications agency Neon Stash back in 2012, and over the years my job has become more and more about telling stories, visually and verbally. Connecting people and ideas from a producer sense but also as a photographer and journalist myself. A lot of what I do aims to make action sports, adventure and creativity accessible to everyone and to inspire people through it. So of course, that’s where photography comes in and for me it’s a hobby that has become a small part of my career.

Why do you choose to shoot with film?

I love the unpredictability of film and its selective nature. I feel like in society and online, you can be overwhelmed by pictures and ads. In fact we see over 5000 brand messages a day – that is really tiring to me and I don’t take it in! Pictures have become so throwaway or gone from a feed in 12 seconds, and I associate the digital age with that. From the moment you carefully click the shutter on a frame of film, a journey begins. Did you get all the settings right, the timing, the moment and will it all be processed perfectly? It is equally in your hands than out, so when you get “that” shot, after all those variables, then you appreciate it so much more. It is 100% real and is truly in the moment, unlike so much of life these days. When I look at a grainy skate or snowboard photo shot on film, I feel like I can see every pebble on the concrete, every flake of snow and every shadow. It makes you stop and look for longer.

What are your favourite cameras?

Over the years my most trusty camera has been the LC-A. I first discovered it when I was shooting Go Skate Day for Lomography in 2012. I took it to do a six-part series showcasing some stories in the UK skate scene – it never let me down and I still look back at those pictures and feel the emotions that each person had towards skateboarding. I also have a crisp and clear OM10 that I love to load with experimental film – from grainy black and whites, to colour washed rolls, tungsten and LomoChrome. I make sure to have two or three cameras with me everywhere I go, to capture things from multiple creative perspectives. I also enjoy taking the Sprocket Rocket out too for that reason – it shoots above and beyond what you think it will capture!

Tell us a bit about these photographs.

These are some of my favourite analogue and Lomography skate shots over the years. It’s a pretty diverse collection, as you can see, because skating takes you to a lot of different places and you meet a lot of different people. Everything is so inspiring for the camera and for me. These shots feature some amazing women who I have been lucky to adventure with or photograph – UK skaters, Lucy Adams, Becky Jacques, Lois Pendlebury, Stef Nurding, Helena Long and US skaters Samarria Brevard and Lacey Baker.

What’s coming up in 2016?

A big focus of mine this year is to get female action sports and adventure into print through our new magazine The Free Life. It encompasses everything that is adventure and it’s really on a mission to be a positive piece of media for women and everyone to be inspired by. Featuring creativity, skateboarding, surfing, illustration, camping, windy roads, cups of tea and, of course, photography. I also have plans to go to South Africa, Bali, Cambodia and Scotland for work and some creative content projects, and there will be at least three cameras coming with me for the adventure.

For more of Hannah Bailey’s photos, follow her on Instagram.

2016-05-08 #people #lifestyle #sport #soho #women #london #uk #skating #lca #lomoamigo #soholondon #hannah-bailey #neon-stash