Photographer Carine Thevenau

Carine Thevenau is a freelance photographer specialising in the fields of advertising, fashion and music portraiture. Her artistic vision varies from conceptual, ideas based images through to raw photojournalistic styles.

Carine’s passion for the photographic medium has led to her being labelled as “a leading photographer of tomorrow” by Ilford photographics, as well being selected as a V-Raw featured artist. Carine’s images have been shown in galleries across Australia as well as at the Los Angeles Centre Of Digital Art in the United States. At 28, her work has appeared in such publications as Rolling Stone Magazine, iD Magazine (UK), Frankie Magazine and Monster Children Australia.

Hi Carine. What have you been up to lately?
I have just moved into a shared studio space in Chippendale, Sydney with 2 producers and a stylist. The space has amazing natural light and is an exciting opportunity as a young creative in Sydney. To surround yourself with other artists/creatives can inspire fresh ideas and you find yourself pushing your own boundaries.

How did you first get into photography?
I was chosen to attend an extra curriculum learning program when I was 8 called PEAC. I was allowed to choose 2 different creative courses to participate in. I chose darkroom photography and the second one was to make a book. Its quite amusing as now I take photos and wait to see them published in magazines. My mum was also really supportive and used to take me on day trips to take photos in Fremantle with an old kodak film camera.

Currently based in Sydney, you still do a lot of work in Perth and Melbourne. How are the 3 cities different in the work that you do for each?
That is a really interesting question as I have definitely found that I am hired for different commercial work in each state. In Perth I was shooting predominantly music portraiture and advertising. In Sydney I am shooting fashion and advertising, however saying that I recently shot Temper Trap for Rolling Stone Magazine. So it definitely varies between the states on how your work is received. People seem to love to categorise you. I just love to make beautiful images and try to engage the viewer.

What’s in your Camera bag? What is your most used piece of equipment?
A few camera bodies, 4-5 lens’s, synch cords, grey cards and so many other little gizmos. My most used piece of camera equipment would be my Nikon D3 body. Its very lovely.

What part of your job do you find the most challenging?
That’s easy..getting paid on time. Being paid as a photographer means you can buy that next piece of equipment that will make your work that much better or easier.
It also means you can eat.

Where do you find inspiration?
Music is probably my main source of inspiration. I began my photography career with the opportunity of shooting artists like De La Soul backstage before gigs. I am continually searching for new music to be inspired by. At the moment I am really getting into artists such as Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti, Animal Collective as well as The Walkmen. Recently my sister sent me a compliation CD with some really old world music listings and I love being exposed to foreign sounds.

I also find inspiration from watching great cinematography. I love the works of Guillermo Del Toro who directed the epic film, Pan’s Labrinth, and I also love the infamous Tim Burton. I enjoy seeing the way colour is graded on film. Lately I have specifically been getting into a lot of French film.

Also having a mentor is inspiring. I was lucky enough to start off my career assisting Allan Myles. He is a very well respected international photographer. His work and perspective on the world inspires me greatly.

What can we expect to see from you in the future?
At the moment I am working on a collaborative project with a stylist in the fashion industry, Charlene Kielty. We are trying to express the emotive strength within women and  bring a raw / rock n roll vibe into a body of work that still maintains a fashion photography focus. I want to steer away from the perfect glossiness of most of the images we are seeing here commercially in Australia at the moment. This project has again definitely been strongly inspired by music and the lifestyle that surrounds music
subcultures.

I also want to continue working within advertising and ideas driven imagery.

Who/ or which client would you most like to work with in the future?
I love working with anyone who has a great idea, is really passionate and shares a similar eye.

I would love to hook up with a great art director and produce some magic together…personal work as well as commisioned. Anyone out there? Please call me.

What advice would you have to photographers entering the industry?
Only enter the industry if you are utterly obsessed with light, people and are amazing at managing cash flow.

Links:
carinethevenau.com
twitter.com/CarineThevenau
carinethevenau.com/blog/