Words From The Girls Behind The Lens: Brandy Eve Allen

Cliché question first - how and when did you start with photography? 

I started seeing things through a lens as early as a child but didn’t take it up seriously until I was 18 years old. I’d always been making art, however I gravitated towards the camera because it was the best tool to communicate what I was feeling inside.  

I read that you just picked up and moved to Italy for 3 years in your early twenties. What was the most valuable lesson you learned with that move? 

So many valuable lessons, I learned so many things, how to speak another language, how to cook amazing food, but in terms of lessons… I learned that there’s a bigger world out there and it didn’t make me feel small, the curiosity and expansion of learning new things made me feel whole.  I learned about the importance of dedication and process.  How to make mistakes and learn from them, to not be afraid of fucking up.  

In what ways do you think it influenced you as an artist? 

I think I already had Italy inside me so when I got to the country, all of the history, culture, decaying architecture and lush landscapes felt like everything I had been envisioning and wanting to experience, now having the chance to do that.  The accessibility of beauty and the intimacy created through new forming bonds were a huge part of my photography at that time.  While my friends were in school learning about art history, I was living in it.  So much of my education as an artist is learned through living rather than studying. 

What inspired the series "Sunken Dream" and what why did you find shooting with multiple exposures a good medium to showcase your vision? 

My process is intuitive, most of the ideas remain within my subconscious and I get sort of possessed and find a way to bring them into a conscious state.  The work always stems from an emotional experience, those emotions are then explored through imagery.  I like working with the nude figure because there’s a huge sense of vulnerability, a timelessness, movement is a big influence in my work.  I have all these things that attract me in this world, things I find beautiful, things that move me, things that I relate to, all of that comes into my photography.  In order to create this alternative universe I wanted to combine imagery and create these sort of photographic collages, exposing various subject matters onto one negative.  I always aim to make someone wonder how something was done, to make them question and work through some curiosity. 

And now, drum roll for the hard hitting one: as an artist, what would like people to remember about you and your work, let's say, 50 years from now?

I want the work to be remembered as being authentic, having feeling, I want to be remembered for bringing something beautiful into this world.

You can follow Brandy on Instagram or go to her website to see more of her incredible work!