10 Questions with Jasper Jones

1. Can you please tell us a few words about yourself, where are you from.

I’m 23, I live in South London and work in a Photography Studio

2. What is your photography story, how did you start? How did you get where you are now?

I started photography back during my GCSEs so I would have been about 13 years old. I enjoyed photography in School, but fell in love with it when my Grandad gave me his old Nikon f-601 when I was about 17 that was when I fully dived into the craft.

3. What’s your favourite gear to use (camera, lens, film) ?

I will literally just shoot the cheapest colour film that’s getting some sort of promotional deal at my local camera stores lol, I don’t think shooting films like porta ect is worth the money, I’d rather have more rolls in the fridge to keep my workflow up. Fav camera talk is a tricky subject because if some irritating youtuber gets wind of it those Ebay prices are SKY rocking, just look at how much a Yashica T4 is now or an Olympus mju-ii costs now, over £250 for a plastic point and shoot? Crazy. But I will say that undoubtedly the most underrated film camera is the Nikon F-100, that thing is incredible and still very under hyped so the prices are very reasonable, it’s huge bang for ya buck. And regarding lens at the moment it’s been 28mm all the way! Great versatility and my fav for everyday shooting, I do also like a 50mm if im looking to focus on straight close portraits.

4. What do you enjoy shooting the most? And Why?

My ideal day of relaxed street shooting is a British Summertime in central London, just wearing a t- shirt, feeling light and airy bouncing around the streets with a few of my other friends who shoot, vibing off each other’s energy and enthusiasm and passing through a few pubs along the way. But I’m really trying to go into more reportage and documentary work soon, I had the biggest project of my life planned but everything has been halted because of Covid, but the opportunity is still there and I’ll get back to it when this mayhem eases up, hopefully summer.

5. How do you educate yourself to take better photos?

Books and film is an obvious answer, but what really helps me progress as a photographer and create better work is conversations with other photographers and artists that you respect, just going through each other’s work speaking about your intentions, what worked, what didn’t and what you’d do to better the image if you could shoot it again is a really helpful method and I hold those people I can have the conversations with very close to my heart.

6. Have you ever doubted yourself? And what helped you to overcome that?

I doubt myself constantly. In fact, I now have a 15 min a day cap on Instagram, and I’m feeling a lot better for doing so. social media is a great way to share your work, but you can go on a downward spiral of self-doubt very quickly. Photography is supposed to be fun, just know that if you love one of your photos, that’s enough.

7. What is the most rewarding part of being a photographer for you? 

For me, the most rewarding part is when you get an image that you think has the potential to stand the test of time an image that’s going to age like a fine wine, and hopefully one day people will look at it and think back to a time when things were different. Some of my favourite places to shoot in London I highly doubt will be around in 25-30 years’ time, and representing places like that during their prime is a beautiful thing.

8. Among your works, which one is your favourite? Tell us the story behind it. 

Hmmm one image popped into my head right away so i’ll go with that one. It’s a portrait of a guy a met called Nobby he refers to himself as the King of Camden, I was out shooting night stuff during Halloween and got approached by a guy who started recording me asking me what I was doing and why I was taking photos of people, me and him got talking and it came about that he was actually in need of a photographer as he has been working on a documentary project on some of the local legends of Camden, we had a drink and spoke into the evening, I returned the next morning and spent the day with him meeting locals, shooting them and just generally chewing the fat. The stars aligned during this portrait of Nobby and I don’t think it could have come out any better, I love every aspect of it and trust me, that doesn’t happen often.

9.What gives you inspiration? 

My friends.

10. Exactly what it is you want to say with your photographs?

Authenticity is one of the most important things to me within my work I love people who are unapologetically themselves, uncompromisingly original, real stories, real life. I don’t want to put my own opinions on my work out there too much, everyone should take what they want from an image, and everyone will take something slightly different, that’s the beauty of it.

You can follow Jasper on Instagram @jasperleonjones and visit his website jasperleonjones.co.uk