Annabel Elston

Questionnaire: Annabel Elston

Describe yourself in a single sentence?
– Obsessive image capturer with a taste for adventure

What was your last thought before falling asleep last night?
– I wonder where my dog and dad are now often jumps into my thoughts but last night it was I must repair my blown windows! Usually too tired to think, I’m a morning person, brain becomes active in the early hours when I get a chance to untangle the jumble in my head and I think more clearly about projects.

What would you never do in bed?
– Exactly!

If you could give your younger self any advice what would it be?
– Question more and show more of your work, don’t hide it away.

What is at the top of your bucket list?
– Publish another book, help prevent unnecessary suffering of animals and then if time become a pro at surfing!

What do you do?
– I am an interior /architectural /portrait /still life /landscape / reportage / street photographer …'

Can you describe the reasons why you photograph and how these reasons have changed, if they have, over time?
– It’s my memory stick, I have filing cabinets full of photographs and now have hard drives full of them. I love taking pictures and I’m lucky it is my job as well. It’s always been about capturing my memory, it’s like a diary, it’s a form of escapism, it frees my mind. If anything I take more pictures now but maybe that’s because I am shooting digital.

To what extent do you trust people?
– I normally trust people but it depends in what context

How do you know a project is worth realizing?
– When you get a little tingly feeling and then are given freedom and time to evolve and explore the project.

What is your favourite book and why? (Not limited to fiction, could be a photo/art book as well)
– Heinrich Hoffmann ‘Struwwelpeter’ with memories from my childhood

Is talent something you’re born with or something you can learn?
– You are born with an aptitude towards something but you have to realise it and once you’ve found it you can practice and nurture it.

What is your most twisted fantasy?
– Anything going at high speed and out of control.

Who has had the largest influence on your work except yourself?
– Peter Miles, who I worked with when he was with Fuel then later on my book Land, Published by Steidl - Miles

What do you think about sports?
– Exercise is very important for my mental well-being. I surf, cycle, do Pilates and go on early morning walks or runs.

Who would you like to be stuck in an elevator with?
– A fireman.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
– I love Magniberg for opening my eyes to black sheets and then mixing them with their great colours!

Photography by Annabel Elston, Devon, Cornwall, London August 2021.

Portraits by Minette Elston - Benjamin, Mary Elston and Malin Johannesson.