Questions and answers with Jake Terrey.
{October 2019}Title: Tartan (something). I can’t remember...
Home: Sydney. Scotland island originally.
Where was the final image from this photoshoot featured?
Vogue Australia. Sometime during 2018.
Give us a bit of background on the photoshoot concept.
This one was for a part of the magazine where they talk about a certain dressing trend and have a big DPS (double page spread) image accompanying the idea. Usually it’s quite simple or something we do on the back of a bigger shoot as it’s only one image but Petta Chua (stylist) always pushes things to be as big and amazing as possible so… that’s why we turned up to a nice quiet park on a Friday afternoon with a six piece bag pipe band for one image.
Why did you/your client choose the final image compared to the outtakes?
The nature of this part of the magazine is that it has very strict guide lines on it’s formatting and content. It has to amount to 2 full pages horizontally of whatever Vogue’s page crop is. Nothing important to the image can run through the centre as it will sit in the gutter of the magazine. The clothes have to look the best for the trend etc. etc. which is why we ended up using the digital version as we could check these things while we shot. All my outtakes are film.
Honesty I’d just begun to start shooting a lot of film and thought this one would be amazing for it so I shot all this knowing it would never go anywhere.
You can tell this is early in me learning to scan negatives the way I do as it’s super dodgy haha.
I think I scanned all this in a hotel room in Auckland with an artists tracing pad for a backlight and my credit card to hold down the negs (otherwise my thumb…).
I did leave these all uncropped and unedited however.
Any cheeky moments during this photoshoot that you'd be willing to share?
Is it being cheeky or just being an arsehole to turn up to a family park on a sunny afternoon with 6 bagpipes + drums and a smoke machine while people are picnicking?
What’s it like being on set with you?
This seems like a trap. Either I’m too self aware to know what it’s like externally or not self aware enough and it’s equally inaccurate. I think a lot of photographers have trouble knowing what its like to be on set with them objectively.
When I was first starting and working on other peoples sets as a videographer I met a few people who I thought were so rude, and you hear a lot of stories but I can guarantee those people aren’t going home thinking, “I suck to be around”.
I think, or I hope.. it’s relaxing and fun to be on set with me most of the time? Sometimes the job sucks for everyone. Sometimes it’s a really fun day.
I know I play damn good music on set and if anyone wants to debate me on that I’d be happy to tell them why i’m deluded enough to think I know best.
Dali said something like… “The only difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad.”
Who’s to say really…
Do you prefer photographing with a big or small team on set?
A big team usually means it’s a big advertising job which is not generally not the most rewarding thing.
Describe your ideal photoshoot.
Travel somewhere ridiculous. shoot. drink. See something new.
What makes a photograph special, in your opinion?
Depends on the photographer and the objective of the image.
Some things that were special a year ago I hate now and some things I hated 3 years ago I love now.
Express what photography means to you.
It’s a direction for myself.
Do you photograph full-time? If not, what pays the bills?
Yeah been full time since I was… 21? 29 now.
Instagram and photography...need we say more? Give us your two cents.
No technology is inherently bad but people are inherently addictive and abusive things. You can’t just put something out there that has the potential to fuck things up and not expect people to take it as far as possible… but that’s progress and it’ll always happen if the thought is there.
I’m definitely one of those people who pushes things as far as I can, so I unfollowed everyone on it as it was making me anxious and depressed.
I put my stuff out but I don’t take any of it in as I realised it doesn’t help me to create by seeing what everyone else is doing.
If anything, I think it produces this circle of people making what everyone else is already currently making.
So much better to look outside of what is happening now if you want to be making the thing that is happening next.
Do you have any suggestions to budding photographers out there?
If you want to shoot fashion work on something else so you can bring it to your fashion work later on. The best fashion photographers came from outside of it all.
Any additional info you'd like to share about yourself and/or your photography?
My cat is in vogue this month and I didn’t even shoot it. Probably the proudest moment I’ve had with the magazine. He’s a good boy.
We obviously believe this outtakes concept is brilliant, but why do you think it's important for outtake photographs to be promoted in the industry?
I think it’s cool to talk about the process. Photographers don’t tend to be friends with other photographers I’ve found. Most of this shit you have to work out on your own. Not sure that’s a bad thing though…
Share a quote you live by.
The only thing worse than not getting what you want is getting it.
~Oscar Wilde.
I’ve had enough disappointing “achievements” to know it’s the trying that is most important.
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