All posts filed under: Storytelling

Shaping “Starlight”: How distance built connection

Francis Tama, visual creator and founder of post-production studio Casa Dusk, has a strong editorial eye and is the creative mind behind many fashion, beauty, and still-life photoshoots.  In spring, Francis took on the creative direction of Starlight, a fashion editorial for PAP Magazine. Featuring delicate contrasts between light and shadow, rich textures, and emotive color palettes, the editorial was built with intention: clean, calm, and focused.   What makes Starlight unique, is that it was created entirely remotely. Francis decided to collaborate with people he’d met while living abroad, after he’d connected deeply with them both personally and creatively. Starlight, conceptualized by Tama and Casa Dusk studio, was the result of a harmonious collaboration, a shared visual language and trust.   We asked Francis to tell us about the project’s concept, how Capture One made the remote creative direction possible, and the team’s collaborative process. Here’s what he shared.  Can you tell us a bit about the concept and story behind this shoot?  Starlight was born from the desire to explore softness, distance, and connection — …

Speaking with our RAW Talent Award winners

Recently, we had the chance to attend the postgraduate photography show at the London College of Communication (LCC), where we had the pleasure of seeing the work of many talented creatives. Among some inspiring projects, the work of three photographers stood out to us, not just for their technical skills, but also for their depth and originality in their visual storytelling.  Their work touches upon themes of connection, time, and memory, with each artist approaching their projects with a distinct voice. In this three-part feature, we sit down with our 2025 RAW Talent Award winners, Maggie Meijun, Zhenghan Huang, and Angus Stewart, to learn about the stories behind their projects, creative processes, and inspirations.   Maggie Meijun on emotional honesty and her Real Isn’t II project  Maggie is a London-based artist who, through photography, explores emotional realism, connection, and alienation, in a world that she finds ‘fast, fragile, and often a little unreal’. She mainly works with medium-format and plays with natural light, as she slowly builds her visual language rooted in color, emotion, and movement.  Her …

Unmasking the stigma of autism spectrum disorder

We recently attended the postgraduate photography show at LCC to present our RAW Talent Award to three creatives. During the event, we met Benjimen Green and presented him with one of the awards. His photography mainly focuses on people, telling stories that are often overlooked. He believes everyone has a unique story to tell, even if it is not the most prominent one in the room. With his project, he shared his personal story of being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Benjimen’s portrayal of masks in his images aims to break mainstream autism stereotypes and encourages individuals to embrace their unique identities without fear or shame. How did you first get into photography? In my early years, I stumbled upon my dad’s hidden film camera, which I wasn’t supposed to play with. Spending hours absorbed in its dials and buttons, I found it the coolest thing. However, my serious plunge into photography only happened later. In 2018, I purchased a small Fujifilm camera before relocating to Southeast Asia for work. Initially, it was about …

An intimate portrait of my grandmother

Recently, we had the chance to join the photography postgraduate show at the London College of Communication (LCC). On the hunt to award three creatives with our RAW Talent Award, we were blown away by An Liu, whose project was inspired by her grandma’s life experiences at 87 years old. We got the chance to talk more with An – like how she approached capturing intimate moments of her elderly family members, developing her dreamy storytelling style, to how LCC helped her grow as a photographer and combine empathy with artistry. How did you first get into photography?  Because I majored in computer science during my undergraduate studies, I didn’t have formal and systematic training in photography before coming to LCC. Aside from using a camera to document life during my teenage years, my first proper encounter with photography was during a university student union event. I needed to capture a series of photos showcasing the daily work life of an award-winning teacher. Since then, I have fallen in love with the storytelling aspect of …