Jasmine De Silva
Fine Art | Last Updated: February 11, 2021
Hello! My name is Jasmine De Silva, and I am a London based Photographer and Filmmaker.
I have been developing my photography since I was a teenager, so over 10 years now! Last year I studied my Master’s Degree in Fashion Photography at the London College of Fashion (where I also studied my BA), and that’s when I started working on creating short films as well as still photography.
My personal work focuses upon creating an ongoing series of images and films that centre around expressing the ideas of the human desire and obsession to be perfect. I portray the sense of how we are constantly putting ourselves through a physical state of reconstruction that is limitless and exhausting to achieve.
I aim to express this through surreal, retro-futuristic aesthetics and hand-made set design in studio set-ups, with a touch of humour.
My camera kit is fairly minimal for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I spent the last few years studying which meant I was lucky enough to have access to multiple camera choices, both digital and analogue.
The other reason is that I love experimenting with different cameras to discover a new feeling and mood in the images.
My favourite outcome so far has been shot with a large format Arca Swiss camera with 4×5 Kodak Portra 160 colour film
and a 50mm lens. My work strongly focuses on colour, and this analogue option captures the colours in such an interesting way that I can’t achieve digitally, creating a dreamy effect where the subjects appear to stand out of the image. One day I hope to have my own large format camera!
Shooting on medium format has also become a love of mine over the past couple of years. The Mamiya RZ67 with an 85mm lens and Kodak Portra 160 is what I shoot with when using medium format.
I still shoot digitally on my first ever DSLR which is a Nikon D90. My grandfather gave this to me after I finished school. I have a Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8
lens which is a perfect all-rounder for fashion and portrait. My preferred lens choice is 85mm
, so I need to purchase one soon!
In my ShotKit image, I also have a Bronica ETRsi medium format which my grandfather purchased for me second-hand. This was the first medium format camera I started to experiment with, and I use this when I don’t have the budget to hire a Mamiya.
As I have moved into creating short films, I mainly shoot with continuous lighting, usually working with Arri. I love using film lighting for still imagery as it tends to capture a vintage photography aesthetic, especially when shot with analogue.
When shooting with flash my preferred go-to is Profoto D1 Air 1000w.
I always have a sketchbook lying around as I sketch out all of my images before, testing out the colours I think I want to use in the set design, makeup, hair, styling, etc. This helps me to visualise everything before I shoot. If I don’t have my sketches, then I forget everything on set!
www.jasminedesilva.com | @jasmine_desilva
Check out these 8 essential tools to help you succeed as a professional photographer.
Includes limited-time discounts.
