simon filip we chat to californian photographer simon filip about his whimsical & dreamy imagery.
I have a hard time describing my style of imagery since it’s simply my naturally developed style, but I try to tell a subtle story with each shoot. It’s always nice to get people wondering and to see someone explaining their own idea of what fantasy a photo is telling. My imagery is usually commented on having a whimsical and dreamy feel. What inspires you to keep shooting and creating? Other than the fact that I will always love shooting in general, the simple act of creating something is enough to keep me going. I’ve been shooting only film for a while now, and that is something that adds to the excitement of shooting a story. My mind has lately been a bit scattered, but anything like a good movie or a good song can click me into an inspired mood to create, which lately has resulted in concept ideas to store for later, or creating new ways to work on color. Do you prefer spontaneous shoots or preplanned ones? I’d say I like a bit of both. Most of what we’ve done has been spontaneous when it comes to locations and placement, but I’d like to get more into pre-planned shoots. There are so many possibilities creatively when setting up a shot, and I feel like I’ve taken a big step in the preparation process lately. The fact that I now feel like I’m progressing a lot in the act of writing concepts is something that I am happy about. So I’d like to put that to the test soon. I think spontaneous shoots have a nice feeling to them, but pre-planned shoots always have a better outcome. Between yourself and your sister Becky, you’ve got a whole bundle of talent tucked away. Is all of your family creative? Thank you! Yes, my whole family is either musically talented or artistically talented in some way. Do you have any advice for other aspiring creatives? I’m not the best at giving advice, but I’d say never stop learning, even if you think you’ve got everything figured out. There’s always more to discover.
Tell us a little about yourself. My name is Simon Filip. I’m 20 years old, I was born in California of English and Romanian descent, and I’m obsessed with photography and colour. When and why did you first decide to pursue photography? There was never a specific point in time that I can remember deciding to seriously pursue photography. I always enjoyed taking pictures and having a camera around, but practicing nature shots and joining online communities very gradually got me into taking it seriously. I actually started out with the thought that maybe one day I could shoot nature for something like National Geographic, which is a funny thought now. I quickly developed an interest in portrait and fashion photography after much practice and experimentation. It also helped to have a sister willing to model all the time. What do you love the most about it? Fashion photography was never something I saw myself getting into, but I really love how easy it is to tell a story through an editorial. I see myself as a visual person, so the fact that I can create stories simply through images would have to be the best part about it. Are you working on anything exciting at the moment? I am, but it’s a bit of a strange and completely random project. I have lately been into experimenting with color processing, and I decided to create an iPhone application for image processing with filters and textures with my own editing style. It will be available later in the year. It has sadly pushed back a few exciting collaboration editorials, but hopefully I can get going on those later in the year. How would you describe your imagery? To see more of Simon’s photography visit www.simonfilip.com