Ella Pavlides: Swinging Between Two Extremes
August 1st, 2023
By Jack Dunne @Jackdunne42
Ella is a beautifully talented photographer who focuses on capturing nature and the feminine. Intrigued and enamored with her visuals, I wanted to explore her personal connection with these themes - to deepen my understanding of her projects, and to find a more holistic view of her work.
In her flat in South-East London, I spoke to Ella. A truly personal interaction, I was given a chance to see deep into her practice, and to learn about the beginning of her relationship with photography. We explored the trials and tribulations of the medium and ended with her most recent work on Laura Misch’s new project, Sample The Sky. All of this is underpinned by a refreshing honesty, for which I can only thank her.
Jack Dunne: Ella, How did you get introduced to photography?
Ella Pavlides: The start of my photography interest came from my mum. She's a cinematographer so she's always had a camera at the house. She would get me to take photos. We went on holiday around New Zealand when I was small and there are photos of my mum and dad that I've taken. It's been built into my upbringing, which I feel very privileged to say because not everyone has that.
My mum is my idol… she's the coolest woman I know and one of my best friends. I look up to her in a really big way.
“My mum is my idol… she's the coolest woman I know and one of my best friends.”
JD: Do you feel this close connection with your mum has been helpful or a hindrance to your photography?
EP: I think both. I think there's definitely a lot of comparison that goes on. It’s not just my mum and me… I compare myself to lots of women, but it started with my mum. She’s such a strong figure and I have a lot to live up to. In that way, it's a hindrance but in another, it's helpful because I've been able to take inspiration from the way she's done things and see that it’s possible to be a successful female creative.
It's hard because in some ways that pressure has been a hindrance but, obviously, having a mum who's freelance, in the creative field… she totally gets all of it. If I can't come to family gatherings because I'm on a job that's fine. She gets it, that's the standard for all of us in our family. That's what’s expected, and it's understood.
JD: Do you feel pressure being freelance?
EP: I feel pressure. There are people that I assist who are like 30/31. They have made it, they're signed to an agency, and they’re ahead of me. I'm 26 and I feel this pressure… being a woman… I am worried about if I want children, I’ll have to think about that soon. There's this pressure that I should be doing what they're doing the level that they're at.
I'm lucky though. I'm in a generation where there are so many more women shooting. There's still a disproportionate level of men in the industry, but I've managed to find this kind of circle of women who are all doing super well and it’s so inspiring.
“I am worried about if I want children, I’ll have to think about that soon.”
My mum says in the 20 years of being on set in the camera department, she only ever worked with one woman who was a DOP. This was back in the 90s and early 2000s when she was a camera trainee and focus puller. I can only imagine what it must have felt like if the only people that you could look up to were white, middle-aged men. It must have felt like an impossible goal.
JD: I noticed two strong themes in your work, one being nature and the other femininity. Is there are reason for this?
EP: It makes sense to combine the two; I have a lot of close female friends and I’m happiest when I'm out in nature despite having grown up in the city.
I don't necessarily think I want to photograph the real world because it's ugly and I'm an escapist. With my images, even though I'm deeply intrigued by the politics and messiness of the world I am not pulled to photograph that. I want to photograph the places that I wish we were still in. Small details like vines thriving on the side of a building or the evening sunlight touching the street have helped me to be able to appreciate nature, regardless of where I find myself. Whether I’m on a Peckham backstreet or in the wilderness of Scotland, in these intimate moments of observation, I feel connected to the world, and that’s why I choose to capture this feeling with my camera.
I can sometimes be quite a nihilistic and negative person, as we all can. That's what I’m most intrigued by in other people. But I don't necessarily have the urge to go out and photograph that, and a lot of what I'm drawn to is aesthetics, beauty, and love; it's a very romanticised version of the world.
“I feel connected to the world, and that’s why I choose to capture this feeling with my camera.”
No matter how much I try, the soul of the work will always come through. As much as I may want to get away from one style, I am always led back to it. It's like there's this kind of life force that's beyond me, I'm just conveying it. Legendary Jazz musician Kahil El Zabar likened music to an ancient frequency that we need to tap into and I think the visual arts and photography are like that. We are just there to channel greater forces.
JD: There is also an undercurrent of mysticism in your work, why have you included this?
EP: Mysticism is inherently linked to nature and femininity. If you look at like witches, for example, that there's a whole story of paganism and the connection between Mother Earth. Nature, femininity, and the mystical - it all is a kind of puzzle that fits together. I'm a weird dichotomy of a nature girl who loves the pace of the city. The countryside is my short escape.
I’m not sure if I believe in it, but I’m Pisces and the whole symbolism is there are two fish swimming in opposite directions. The Pisces’ journey is to get the fish swimming in the same direction. The Pisces personality is one of chaos and order - trying to find a balance or the right path.
I feel conflicted, as a human being, about what I want and who I am. I'm always swinging between two extremes.
JD: I think these stories we tell ourselves are really important, how does your story impact your work?
EP: Yeah, I definitely have a story and it plays into my work in a massive way. One part of that story is that I just don't think I'm good enough. That's the crux of it, it’s my drive. It means I have an insatiable appetite for more and more, doing more. It means I'm never satisfied with myself. I wish I could pat myself on the back and be like… “Job well done”.
“I feel conflicted, as a human being, about what I want and who I am.”
JD: Do you think the Laura Misch project was a signifier of worth to yourself?
EP: Yes, definitely. The fact that someone believed in me and my practice was enough to trust the whole album with my vision. I contacted her asking to photograph this performance she had called the City of Trees. She loved the photos and she was like, “I definitely want you to photograph my album cover”.
There are a lot of similarities between us. Like me, she has grown up in South London and, yet, is a true nature girl. Her album is about London’s wild edgelands - from the plants growing in the cracks of the pavement to the ever-morphing expanse of the sky above us. It’s been super special to be trusted with this project and to work with someone whom I have such a sense of unification with.
JD: What was your favorite moment of the Laura Misch project?
EP: Definitely shooting the album cover. We hired two wind machines but it wasn't blowing her hair enough. It was really important that it felt like there was this gust of wind taking her. So, my assistant who was working wit me on the day said “What if we get string and we tie it to her hair and pull it?”
So, he and four other people all stood out of the frame holding her hair up. It was just the most like a “BOOM, YES!” moment. “This is the fucking money shot”.
That was a really great moment for me.
JD: Thank you so much Ella, this has been really illuminating.
About Ella Pavlides
Ella Pavlides is a portrait and fashion photographer shooting predominantly on film. Born, raised, and living in south London. Despite this, her work captures places far beyond the city and into the realm of the dreamlike and ethereal.
Her fascination with light itself stems from early experiences of encountering Olafur Eliasson’s Weather Project at the Tate and the Light Show at the Hayward Gallery as well as being influenced by her cinematographer mother who imbued in her an appreciation of the nuances in light and colour.
Ella graduated from Camberwell College of Arts with a Fine Art Photography degree in 2018.