The photographer saving her friends from ‘shitty’ selfies

“In all honesty, I was sick of seeing my friends take shitty selfies that didn't do them any justice,” says 19-year-old Chloe Sheppard, a budding filmmaker-photographer. “I wanted to create proper photos that they can look back on when they're older and think, ‘hey, I really was beautiful back then’, rather than some lo-fi image from a camera phone.”

Not completely altruistic though, Sheppard reveals that it’s through this portraiture that she finds an outlet for her own insecurities. “Throughout all of my teenage years I never had much self confidence, so I rarely take or post pictures of myself. I use my photography and models to help create some kind of ideal self, so using females in my photos has always just made sense to me. I can make them look the way I'd love myself to look.”

Currently on break from her studies, where last year she began a degree in Magazine Publishing in London before realising she was keen to take up film studies instead. However, her time off has seen her shooting on 35mm film in the countryside, where she now lives, as well as tripping overseas to take photos in America.

“I recently visited the USA, and photographed some beautiful people while I was there, but the whole time I was a little sad, thinking that I'd have loved to have had someone to take pictures of me like that,” Sheppard reveals. “I never get much attention on social media when I post something about myself, but my friends and followers seem to like seeing pictures I've taken of other people, which just makes me do it more – it's the only thing that gives me some sick sense of self-importance in a way.”

To see more of Sheppard’s work, click here, or follow her on Instagram