About Me...

Julz Photography is dark romanticism and poetic decay; a visual manifest of natural elements, gothic fantasy and heathen glamour – imagined, created and captured.

Behind the lens is Julz, a Melbourne based visual artist and entrepreneur with a spirited imagination. She ambitiously explores photography as her creative medium, supported by the collaborative efforts of talented artists and models who share a curiosity for all things dark and beautiful.

Julz’ passion for photography developed at an early age, as she recalls the hours spent in the school dark room and late nights watching music videos on Rage. Fascinated by the visual concepts of clips by the likes of Nirvana, Marilyn Manson, Hole and Nine Inch Nails, music became particularly influential as she grew attentive to the sensory aesthetics, analysing whether the visual work suited the concept of the song, as well as the music itself. Embarking on her creative path early on, Julz fronted and managed a female rock band for several years, and explored her natural passion for visuals by photographing the band and other musicians. The photos caught the interest of a company who bought and sold her prints to music stores throughout Melbourne, however the potential future of the band meant Julz would study technical music production and photography would remain a secondary hobby.

After experiencing some success with the band before breaking up in 2009, Julz also launched an alternative fashion label – which attested to her marketing skills and led to a revisiting of her photographic interests following an overwhelming response to a photo shoot that commemorated the end of the label. Inspired, encouraged and suddenly inundated with requests to do photo shoots, it seemed a natural progression for Julz to explore the greater possibilities of photography.

On her walls, an inspired Julz has the paintings of Midsummer Eve (1908) by Edward Robert Hughes R.W.S. and Midsummer Night (1886) by John Atkinson Grimshaw, a reference to the influence of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood era, rebellious artists who revived the poetic and pleasing aesthetic visuals of beauty, nature and the supernatural. This style is most evident in Julz’ work as her imagery is less defined and structured by conventional design and instead driven by passion for the concept. She produces her visions by sourcing natural settings around Melbourne, utilising natural light and shadow to evoke the dramatic, placing adequate value on dress, make-up and props to enhance this, while striving to convey the subjective and darkly poetic nature of beauty in the relationship between all forms.

‘I like to take something so beautiful and then kind of f*ck it up a bit!’

In the midst of developing her tools, skills and method, Julz applies a resolute yet open-minded approach to every project with the aim to achieve the best possible translation of concept to product, supported by the talents of her team who contribute to a collaborative process. She also maintains strong influence in every aspect of the project and is unfazed by the challenges of hands-on creation, even making her own sets from scratch when location scouting proves fruitless.

Importantly, Julz believes in finding the right combination of people for each shoot, those who are both thematically suited and pleasant to work with, and designers she is personally impressed by. Her photography isn’t motivated by popular association and usually features independent, up-and-coming talent. For Julz, this results in a more fluid, meaningful engagement and has meant positive rapport and ongoing relationships with some of the best aspiring artists, models and product clients in Australia, all of whom have been integral to her ability to explore ideas and develop a constantly growing folio of memorable photographic experiences.

‘I get great fulfilment out of my style of photography. I get to use lots of different art forms to create the end result.’

Establishing Julz Photography in 2009, Julz is currently studying her Diploma in Photoimaging and commits to workshops, short courses and countless shoots for challenging and development opportunities in an increasingly popular and competitive art. She now has a strong folio, happy clients and regular contact by magazines and clothing labels seeking her unique visual style, including Inked Magazine Australia/New Zealand who used an image of local tattooist Ran Maclurkin by Julz Photography as a full page feature (Issue 6 Mar/Apr 2011).

‘I have so many ideas… enough to last me for the rest of my life. I am inspired by everything.’

Spurred by opportunity and unafraid to create them, Julz Photography has many exciting projects in the works and will continue the  exploration of alternative art through the lens and beyond.

Julz is armed with: 7d Canon and Canon 430ex ii Speedlite Flash, lenses, reflectors, studio lighting, a high calibre artist network and importantly, a killer imagination.

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Julz-Photography/173950139283225
Model Mayhem: http://www.modelmayhem.com/2186713
E-mail: julz.photography@gmail.com

Biography by Emily Stekly