A Dream To Photograph People As They Exist

Featuring Milly Cope Words by Nastasia Khmelnitski

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Milly Cope is a London-based self-taught photographer whose work is focused on discovering and empowering the human. She aims to bring forth the authentic self of the person standing in front of her lens by allowing the character to open up freely. Through her work with analog cameras, Milly seeks to capture the truth of the moment and preserve it as a memory. Milly explains her decision to work with analog equipment, “With every image, there is an imprint being left. There is proof of the conscious decision made to capture a moment. It is closer to life in some way, with all its silly mistakes and all.”

By establishing a safe and judgment-free environment, Milly comes to celebrate the person, their body, and individuality with her work. Self-photography and modeling experience became essential to how she engages with the subjects on set and creates a story. Milly successfully brings her vision and statement to her fashion projects, creating a fine line and alignment between professional and commercial work.

Starting from self-portraiture and moving forward to capture others, Milly shaped her themes to concentrate on the person and the empowerment of the person. We discuss the connection between analog photography and memories, and the physicality of an image. Milly explains how she works with her subjects and creates an atmosphere that brings out authenticity. We touch on the state of digital media and policy, a lot of times rejecting artists’ work that comes to empower. “We come out of a body into life, yet we later become so fearful of it — like it's on par with witnessing a horrific act of violence.” — Milly explains her take on social media. 

‘Sometimes knowing the mechanics of it all can make the work produced feel more plastic and less fluid, and sometimes, knowing too much can interfere with the emotion.’

My Story

Hi Milly, so happy to speak with you about your work! How are you doing? 

Hello! Thank you so much for having me! It’s really a pleasure and a privilege — thank you so much. I am doing quite okay today, thank you. I hope you are well too. 

How did you get into photography, and what, in your opinion, are the pros in terms of technique one can develop and the themes one can address as a self-taught photographer? 

I got into photography when I was around fifteen. I spent a lot of time on Tumblr at this point and was quite deep into the escapism it offered to me, alongside books and hours spent hiding away watching movies. They always made more sense to me than my reality as quite a troubled young person. 

I particularly remember watching this beautiful Australian movie Somersault and thinking how I wanted to be a cinematographer, even though I didn’t realise what that meant back then. I think I became quite obsessed with documenting things, trying to make sense of it all whilst also trying to capture the confusion in it. I started with a digital camera and with taking self-portraits. Later on, my uncle gave me his old Olympus Trip.

I think being self-taught allows more space to understand the importance of mistakes, to see mistakes as an essential part of the process — to learn through the mishaps and to not be told there is right or wrong — to discover there is that middle ground for experimentation. Your work forms itself without a frame around it. It's your own voyage, and no one is telling you which way to go or how to make work. You are just discovering it for yourself.

Everyone will make mistakes, whether you are self-taught or not. I feel that not engaging too much with the technical can actually be an advantage. A certain degree of understanding is something that can be discovered through mistakes, as it’s always a journey. Sometimes knowing the mechanics of it all can make the work produced feel more plastic and less fluid, and sometimes, knowing too much can interfere with the emotion.

‘I think people have become partially disengaged with the idea of memories because of their phones. Memories have become too easy to pick up and put down. Stories become ways of exercising ego rather than recollecting the presence of that moment.’

Analogue Photography

What is your main drive behind choosing the equipment and deciding to work with analog? 

I have been thinking a lot about this recently. The space in-between taking the image and then seeing it on the other side of its development — the process it goes through — light creating an image onto a negative at the moment of decision, which is then later revealed with chemicals crafted in a kind of dark aquatic space. It is a lot like sending a letter: there are spaces in-between the conversation. I think it’s beautiful. There is a sensitivity that this holds that digital will never have. An image feels more like a time stamp. It is unforgiving and can’t be deleted. There is beauty in the physicality of the negative, the inability to see the image before it has gone into darkness again, the possibility of mistakes for difference, and the unknowing. 

Everything now in the world has become so instantaneous — there is little space in-between the experience and the recall of it. Like how people take photos on their phones of their nights out and then declare it the next day, almost as if showcasing these photos on social media were the purpose of the night and the experience. I think people have become partially disengaged with the idea of memories because of their phones. Memories have become too easy to pick up and put down. Stories become ways of exercising ego rather than recollecting the presence of that moment.

In what way does it affect the result and the story you're creating?

I love the element of the imperfection, the fragility of a moment — when captured, it becomes physical. A decision that can’t be erased. Even images on film are never able to showcase the full picture, the full moment — but it’s closer to that ‘moment’ or feeling. With film there are surprises. 

I find myself quite an indecisive person. I think the limitations of film lend a hand with that. There is always a beginning and an end to a roll — space in-between. With every image, there is an imprint being left. There is proof of the conscious decision made to capture a moment. It is closer to life in some way, with all its silly mistakes and all. 

I say all of this, but with the prices of film becoming extortionate — it's not really quite as beautiful and free in this land of analog at the moment. Shooting film does complicate things a lot of the time. I wish it didn’t, though!

‘I want people to feel like they won’t be judged in front of me or my cameras, to feel safe and to trust in it all, and not to feel uncomfortable or judged with what they reveal in that time we spend together.’

The Body

One of the main themes in your work is the re-discovery of the body through an authentic lens in an empowering manner while redefining beauty. What is important for you when you work with someone as a subject compared to working on a self-portrait? 

This is such a good question. We often forget to question the relationship of the photographer with their subject or collaborator: how did they make them feel, and were they comfortable? How did they feel in front of the camera that day? It’s important to think about.

I have been in situations through modelling in which I felt uncomfortable with being photographed, and I think this helped me understand how it can be — the opposite of how it would feel photographing myself, which is a situation in which I am fully in control. It can be violating to be photographed. I wish it wasn’t, but it can be, and there isn’t enough conversation around this — being a photographer should also come with a readiness to give kindness and respect to people in front of the camera. It can feel very easily invasive to have a camera in front of you. It’s easily intimidating to be captured in that way. You are giving your trust to someone, it’s difficult, and photographers too often take advantage of that dynamic. 

How is it different in terms of creating the right atmosphere in the photo and projecting the needed emotion?  

I really like to see it as working with the person to make the images together, rather than me projecting onto them who they want to be or who they are. It’s very important that someone feels comfortable with me. I think that’s the fun of it: to give space for them to offer themselves into the image. The atmosphere will always be different, but I think it should always be honest and safe. It’s always different whether photographing a stranger or a friend to a lover... but I think I go into it all with the same principles with respect to the person I am working with. 

There is a safety I feel with the self-portraits: to be reclusive feels comforting. I often struggle and have done a long time with social anxiety, and I think the absence of people has always been a comfortable way to make images. I will still battle the judgment towards myself, but it is less scary than an array of people. It feels easier knowing that the weirdness of it all is for me only in that moment, whatever comes up — but I wish for people to feel the same when being photographed by me. Being photographed is strangely intimate but also can be a wonderful thing. I want people to feel like they won’t be judged in front of me or my cameras, to feel safe and to trust in it all, and not to feel uncomfortable or judged with what they reveal in that time we spend together.

‘For me, it’s quite hard to comprehend the ways of the digital world now, and its ideas around what should be/is censored are very bizarre and obviously misogynistic.’

Digital World

You focus on portraits and self-portraits, at times, images that cannot be published uncensored in the digital realm, the world of censorship of art, and the beauty of the body. How do you think redefining beauty and creating art that includes the naked body can become 'appropriate'? 

I don’t think bodies are ever ‘inappropriate,’ and in a lot of ways, whilst we have progressed in society, we have also only simultaneously gone backward. It wouldn’t ever be about making the art appropriate, as art should be challenging and push boundaries. It would be about changing the way platforms moderate uploaded material. The bodies are never the inappropriate part, but the system and the attitudes towards bodies are the corruption.

Maybe the only way to change this would be to establish a way to normalise seeing nudity in a non-sexual way. To encourage seeing all kinds of real bodies, not just in porn or in a very forced, profitable, sexualised way. To see the reality of it, both sexually and non-sexually. To educate and promote open conversations around anatomy, love, consent, acceptance, pleasure & joy, boundaries, and liberation… sadly, the art that they often censor is what this could/would do if embraced by a wider audience. 

We come out of a body into life, yet we later become so fearful of it — like it's on par with witnessing a horrific act of violence. For me, it’s quite hard to comprehend the ways of the digital world now, and its ideas around what should be/is censored are very bizarre and obviously misogynistic. A nude body is not something that should be seen as inherently sexual, yet it also can be — there should be space for both.

This morning even kind of shocking videos of young women in an obviously sexualised way come up in the ‘suggested reels.’ It's strange how this kind of thing that would appeal to a sleazy male audience is promoted, whereas artists battle with having their work, which showcases bodies in an empowered and authentic way, is prohibited, labelled inappropriate in a similar realm to violent material — all in all, social media has become a very disturbing and confusing thing… Social media platforms are not the place to truly give appropriate space to artworks, they never were really, but now more than ever, this is becoming quite clear.

Moving Image

You’re also working as a director in music video projects, with the recent one Blue for Sarah Meth. The common thread between the still images and videos is your focus on telling an authentic story, going deeper into presenting the character, and letting a viewer into their lives. How do you ‘insert’ yourself and your vision when working on collaborative projects? What is critical to keep so your aesthetic is incorporated into the project?

I think it’s important to allow people's characters to come through. I think that’s sometimes quite a hard thing to do, as often people will become less themselves when a camera is in front of them and feel as if they have to perform. You have to welcome someone to bring themselves into an image or a story. 

I am mostly an introverted person and sometimes even find it hard to project ‘myself’ into something — but I am trying to see, being quite shy and reserved as a vehicle when creating something that has its own sensitivities. I think it also happens naturally when communicating deeply with whoever you are working with and then understanding the vision without even having to exert or verbalise it.

It sounds very voyeuristic but would be a dream to photograph/document people as they exist around me, not taking notice of me. I think sometimes my vision is less assertive, more like allowing space for things to happen, trying not to change or force too much — to let the moment happen. You bring yourself into something by simply being there to capture it with your nature and your unique way of experiencing the world.

A Sneak Peek

Could you provide us a sneak peek into the project you’re currently working on or some of the themes in development? 

I would really like to create something physical that can be held! I also was very lucky to have had role shooting stills on an incredible feature film that’s coming out next year, and I am excited to share these images.