On Wednesday 20th January 2021, I had the opportunity to listen to the journey of Sophie Traynor’s career in photography, after she graduated from the University of Norwich. Traynor completed her photography degree back in 2013 and since then has taken on multiple roles as a photographer to work on her photographic practise to later take on the opportunity of working on campaigns with brands such as Russell Hobbs, Primark and products like the Lasting Perfection collection. Throughout her practise, she has explored different forms of photography such as beauty, fashion, food and products; from small jobs after graduation to big budget shoots, Traynor has a successful career path which was interesting to explore and also a way of preparing to take on the world as a photographer myself.
Without much idea on what she could do after graduation, Traynor looked back at her old job at a bar, here she photographed the pub as publicity for the business; this was only her starting point and it gave her a head start for experience with a client. Later, she moved on to be a photography technician at Huddersfield New College, although she was nervous and didn’t feel ready for the job, she took the opportunity and enjoyed here time there, this was great for picking up new skills as a photographer and gave her a great confidence boost. Around the end of 2013, Traynor was working two jobs, one at the pub for some income and another at the college to keep her feeling creative. At this point, she wasn’t getting much work, so she decided to take on any opportunity that came her way, whether it was photographing horses, couple shots or weddings, any work was experience for her.
Traynor got her first job for fashion in April 2014, her friend recommended her for ‘Gorgeous Couture’, she brought in the lighting equipment which she borrowed from college and successfully completed her first fashion job. Charging low for her work, she was able to get the job for Gorgeous Couture, this was the start of making her portfolio. Wanting to expand on her work, Traynor rented out a studio in Huddersfield; she wanted this space to build up her portfolio, taking test shots and experimenting her practise. Purchasing her own lighting equipment and contacting models and make- up artists, she was able to create some work to show to clients later on. Although she didn’t get paid for any of her test shots, it gave her experience in different industries and was good for her photographic practise. This was an important part of her career as her friend asked if she could do some shots for Russell Hobbs; Traynor having not done any food photography accepted this opportunity and began practising her skills on food styling.
Throughout 2015, Traynor had many different jobs offers such as, her friend asked her to photograph his hairdressing for his training, this was good practise again for her. 2016 however, a friend of her asked if she wanted to be a photographer for an influencer. This was an opportunity for fashion photography and frequent work; this also helped Traynor build up her Instagram following. Other opportunities came her way throughout this year such as a company named ‘Truelove’, they asked her to photograph some dancers for portfolio shots, and ‘Look Magazine’ gave her a double page spread- this was a big opportunity for her to have her work published. In October 2016, her food photography skills got to work again for the food wholesalers ‘Fairway’.
Attending London’s fashion week, Traynor had the opportunity to work with Azurina, this was her first time working directly with a brand. Now being contacted by other brands such as ‘July Child’ and her friend as ‘Sassoon Intersalon’ for more hairdressing shots, Traynor’s career was beginning to grow as she got more business. A model from Azurina then contacted her asking if she wanted to do some work for charity ‘Never Fully Dressed X Copperfield’ where she would be working with these big brands and raising money for breast cancer; this was a huge opportunity for her to work with these clients so she accepted the offer. Brands such as Russell Hobbs and her friends Salon contacted her again for more shoots, she was now gaining frequent work from these businesses.
A company named ‘Yeti’ who were working with the brand ‘Primark’ wanted Traynor to shoot for their ‘Rick and Morty’ collection. As this was a success, they also wanted her for their ‘Toy Story’ collection; this being a bigger budget shoot, she had an assistant with her which she found useful when bouncing ideas back and forth, she said it was nice to have someone to work alongside her for this project. in 2014, Russell Hobbs wanted her for a fourth time to shoot their products but with the European team, this meant that her work was going to be more widespread, meaning she would be getting paid more and a bigger chance for people to see her images. ‘Primark’ asked for her work for a third time for their ‘PlayStation’ collection, this time her work was going to be displayed in the windows of their stores all across the country, her was getting seen by more and more people. Her friend got her a job shooting with ‘Cath Kidson’ and she also worked alongside ‘Yeti’ once again for the ‘Lasting Perfection’ collection and mascara.
Traynor’s career has come a long way in the past 8 years, from doing small jobs like weddings and photographing the local pub, to be a frequent photographer for big brands like Russell Hobbs and Primark. Traynor started her career by charging very little for her work, sometimes nothing, without doing these jobs, she wouldn’t have been approached by the bigger brands, building her experience and portfolio has been a huge part of her successful career which gained her more interest with brands looking for photographers. The career of Sophie Traynor is one small photographs that want to make it into the industry should look at and follow in her footsteps to become successful.
All Images taken for Sophie Traynor's Instagram:
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