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A Little Bit Of Background: Sarah Ginn Discusses Her Debut Gallery Show: Sleep Deprivation

When talking about the photography work of Sarah Ginn, it’s hard for us not to gloss over the astounding number of man hours and the level of work she’s put into her imagery over the years. I think, honestly, we’ve probably taken her stunning images a little bit for granted, but she’s remained as enthusiastic about the acts we book and the music they play to us over the last eight years as we have - at one point she was commuting from Brighton every other week to document what was happening here; at her own expense. Basically, if you’ve followed our social networks or even casually checked out our web space since probably around 2006 you’ll have seen her images in all their glory and since then she’s become an integral part of our visual medium. Putting in the extra hours, incubating fresh photographers, training them up and setting them free across our venue she’s much more than a photographer to us, she’s a friend and part of the extended family. That’s why when she announced her debut gallery show, Sleep Deprivation, we wanted to help her shout about it. It’s now showing as part of the Converse Cons project at the Copeland Gallery in Peckham (where it’ll run until the 31st July), so we asked her to pick us out some of her favourite photos from the exhibition we shot her a few questions after her trip to this year’s Glastonbury Festival… Obviously we’re caught up on you and what you do but for people who might be seeing your name for the first time, can you explain what you do and what motivates you to do it? How did you get started in photography? I'm a photographer that specialises in documenting electronic music. Or at least I try to keep it that way! I've been very lucky so far… I work for fabric and a number of different record labels and clients including Red Bull Music Academy, Ram Records, Digital Soundboy, Critical Sound, Gutterfunk, All Roads Records, Swamp 81, Arcadia, Dub Police, Defected Records, Hospital Records, Burberry, Novation/Focusrite, DJ Mag, Trap Magazine and XLR8R. I started photography as a hobby when I was 17 and I'm self-taught bar a couple of years working in a photo lab which really made me fall in love with the medium after leaving university. My main aim or reason to my work is to create images that crystallise and preserve the power of music that I really love, for my peers and for future generations. I want people to know what the rave is like, I want them to go there after they see my pictures. Obviously music is the perfect vessel for emotion and memories, so trying to capture that in one single photo can be tricky, I don't know any other sense apart from smell that can do that. In an attempt to collect just a little bit of that musical power I hyper-realise my work and exaggerate it - futurise it - to capture that punchiness and vibrancy of the sound/atmosphere around me. In short I aim to make iconic images, every time I'm out shooting. Ya gotta aim high! Another motivation is that I used to study graphic design so I'm really really particular about the quality of packaging, presentation and the whole look of a product. I've always been kind of disappointed by club photography; though that's more down to the fact that cameras weren't as advanced when I first started clubbing. I used to think to myself 'Why is nobody pushing this? Why is nobody stepping up and taking good photos to match the music?' Really it was down to the expense of photography; it was fairly elitist cost wise at that point, though luckily that’s now changed. What's great now is that I can match the quality of the imagery I collect at an event with the music that’s being played. I use all the tools in the box post processing wise, and that’s what I have become known for. I use the electronic photographic processes to create imagery for electronically created music. You’ve been taking photographs here at fabric for a long long time. Do you have any preferred spots to enjoy sets or take the perfect photographs from? Wow, yes I've been shooting at fabric for 8 years now! It's been my school, musically and as a photographer. It's my home. I am beyond lucky to have been working there for all this time and even luckier with the amount of amazing clients I have met through that place. I'm not sure about my favourite spot, they change! I particularly like the old lighting desk in room two, just because you can get an amazing bird’s eye view of that room. I've only just been allowed access to it on the last year so it's still fairly new for me! We’re talking to you today to tip the world off to your first gallery show at the Converse Cons project in Peckham. Tell us about it? The title is Sleep Deprivation right…? I know it’s obvious how your shots meet the theme (considering they’re all taken at night) but was there a particular way you approached the selection? Yeah it’s my first gallery show, which is amazing! It’s a great opportunity for me from the Converse Cons Project. It's a fairly small show for the size of my archive so it's more a precursor to the big exhibition I'm getting funding for right now. The shots go amazingly well with the Cons project as many of the artists featured in the show are doing seminars and workshops for young creatives in the same space. Selecting the photos was fairly simple; it’s more work from the last 3 years in particular as that has been more varied, rather than purely club work. The title is Sleep Deprivation. Not just because I take these pictures at night but because quite often they are processed at night, in a dark solitary place. I tend to find editing easier in the dark as it’s more soothing. Also my editing is a special form of madness, as the post work is so in-depth. In a way it’s similar to music production, adding layers and adjustments until everything is perfect. Also I like the night, I can be myself at night. 2am is golden hour for me. Sleep Deprivation runs until 31st July at Copeland Gallery, Peckham. For more of Sarah's work check out our gallery section and Sarah's website: sarahginn.co.uk All pictures used here © Sarah Ginn. Except the header shot, that one's © Shaun Bloodworth.
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