INTERVIEW WITH SHIRLEY LAWSON FOR FULLFRAME MAGAZINE

Can you tell me a bit about how you became a photographer, how do you go from being a nurse in Scotland to professional international photographer?

Well, it’s a nice dinner table story actually. I was an 18 year old student nurse taking part in a demonstration for a pay rise in the UK, when I confronted the then prime minister, Mrs Thatcher, (yes, I am that old!). The photo of this young militant nurse, shouting at the PM, became quite famous and is still used today as symbolic of the nurses struggle to earn a fair deal. 

Cut to : I was contacted by a model agency after this photograph made front pages and dived into the world of fashion. Fifteen years later, I retired from modelling and also took my “hobby” more seriously to became a photographer. I’ve been away from Scotland for 20+ years now. Moved to Rome, then Dubai and back to Italy. I’m now based in Umbria, Italy and own a guesthouse/farmhouse full of animals, it’s my safe space, and I also shoot there

How would you describe your approach to boudoir photography? You’ve done some quite powerful shots in the past: what’s your working process like, how do you make the moment happen where they seem so sensual and real?

Thank you. Well, I think the two most powerful tools I have is that I’m a woman. And the second is I shoot alone.

I refuse to have any assistants on a shoot. Then it’s just me and the woman. That helps a lot. Harder for me for sure, having to juggle and wishing I had 6 arms, but so much better for the woman. But this way she’s more relaxed with no crew and I’ll even get down to my undies too if she’s really nervous. The results are as if we has a crew of ten on the day, even if i say so myself :D

I’m also naturally a people person and I care about my clients, so the first thing I do is have a chat. Does she have a vision for this shoot? Why is she doing it? During our chat I get a sense of her personality, see her body type and roughly gauge how the shoot will go.  

I shoot in their own home or in a hotel, both are similar results but I much prefer shooting in their home. I move furniture, I move objects, I follow the natural light, and they are much more relaxed than if they were in a studio. I would never shoot this type of photography in a studio or with artificial light again. 

How do I make them seem so sensual and real? 

I think women have no idea how the most natural and everyday gestures are so sensual. So I will not pose them, but I will prompt with, ‘’pretend you’re fixing your earring, adjusting your shoe, putting on your lipstick’’ etc…

She’s in wonderful lingerie, hair in shiny, soft curls and beautiful makeup with wonderful light. How can she be anything else but sensual? Just being a woman is enough. Making it look real is easy, the ingredients are all there. But I also shoot the extreme opposite of natural on the day too. I like to call it my Art Deco posing (think of those lamps from that era), with exaggerated poses in shadowed silhouette light which a lot of clients frame later for their walls. 

Does it ever happen that you can’t manage to make them feel relaxed?

I’ve shoot hundreds of women. I’ve lost count. I still managed to deliver amazing images even though they were some extremely nervous women, so I suppose thats what’s important. But still, I’d like to shoot these women again…they won’t be nervous second time round because they relaxed when we were almost finished the shoot (Shirley laughs). But there is no time limit in my shoots. I shoot until I am happy with what I have to work with

Has there been a model who has really surprised you, who was totally different from what you expected?

Firstly, I don’t shoot models anymore. I shoot women who’ve never done a shoot or anything like this before, older women. I think the thing that often surprises me is the women you expect to be full of self confidence are often the ones with the least. And then I get a sassy woman who knows who she is and is full of confidence. Either way, one takes a longer time to shoot than the other, I shoot till I have what I need, or, till after sunset :D

How do you get inspired and what inspires you the most: movies, books or magazines or is it just what’s around you?

Ooooh good question. I have no idea actually! I will say, that I very deliberately don’t follow any boudoir photographers at all. I have a photographic memory and I know if I see someone else’s work it will stay with me. Therefor, it might pop up in my head during a shoot and I’ll never be sure if this is my concept or something I’ve seen in the past. Best way to avoid that, for me, is just don’t look at other work, that simple. There is far too many repeat images of boudoir floating around with no originality. I’m also obsessed with symmetry which is apparent in a lot my work.

I do love some older black and white movies, I feel they move me in some shoots. I’ve never run out of ideas or stop to think. I tell my clients when we’re chatting before the shoot, that once I have my camera in my hands, I become a different person and I’ll be bossing them around and shouting from the other side of the room. I think they love the experience of having a professional photographer for the day and feeling what it feels like to be a model if I’m honest. We laugh a lot, I curse a lot (when I get a great shot) and they love it!

What’s been the biggest highlight in your career so far?

It’s difficult to pinpoint one highlight because there have been so many. Having women cry when I deliver their images is amazing, having women write to me that I’ve literally changed their lives! It’s an incredible feeling and one I really never expected when I moved to this genre of photography. I never thought using my craft and experience of life, would have such in impact. And I don’t advertise or market in any way. All my clients come from a woman who’s had a shoot and tells her friends and shows off her images. I believe that’s the best compliment of all when you work entirely on recommendations.

What are you passionate about besides photography, what do you do in your free time?

Free time? What’s that? (laughs). I have a guesthouse in Italy so running that in summer when I’m not shooting is mainly my free time and I also shoot there. That, and my animals, yoga and meditation. I hate gyms. I love movies and observing the cinematography. You might catch me peeping through my hands made into a tube shape whilst watching a movie like I’m taking a shot, embarrassing if you’re with me at the cinema I suppose! 

I also paint. I paint abstracts, nudes, scenes from dreams I’ve had…acrylic on canvas

What are your plans for the rest of the day?

I’m in Dubai at the moment and the rest of this day will be at my desk culling, editing images from my last two shoots, designing books and heading over to chat with my printer. Then prep for tomorrow’s shoot. After all these years I still have a worn and torn checklist, force of habit now.

Then I have a yoga class in the evening and after, a pizza with a friend. Perfect day.