Hi my name is Ella O'Brien, I am an Irish photographer from Dublin. I grew up heavily involved in all things art and at age sixteen got my first DSLR to attempt to make my own zine with a friend. Although the zine never actually materialised, a love of all things photography and creative direction was inspired in me. I now primarily shoot on film as its what I love the most. I feel it has a unique quality of preserving or even romanticising an atmosphere and invigorating nature's natural colours! Ultimately life looks best on film. I often shoot my friends so my shooting style is heavily centred around making my subject or more so my friend-turned-model as comfortable as possible and seeing a very authentic comfort and confidence captured as a result. I like to focus on interesting composition and sharp contrasting colour.
I have gone on to shoot digital and print covers for 17:23 Magazine and Roll Up Magazine and have had features in other smaller Irish and UK zines like Ethereal Mag and Sleaze Mag. For the incoming year I'm the Trinity College Dublin Photography society's exhibition officer curating the 4 college photography exhibitions open to the public so if you're in Dublin please stop by!
If you'd like to work together please reach out! My instagram is @ella0brien for a more comprehensive oversight of my work :)
This photoshoot is brought to you from my friend's mother's bedroom - small budget but big ambitions. This portrait session focused on the models' faces and the pops of color we placed on different parts of their faces. I wanted it to balance the intimacy of the close-ups with the striking contrast in colors. It was really fun once again working with friends who double as beautiful models. Of course, I'd like to disclaim that I don't strictly use friends as models but love giving people chances at first-time modeling, getting to know, and working with different people. This entire shoot was shot on a mix of Ultramax and Portra 400 35mm film, two film stocks that capture vibrant colors beautifully.
This shoot took place in the Dublin Mountains and was shot primarily on 35mm film which was challenging at times considering how cold and windy it can get up the mountains. I worked closely with my friend Noah who was also our primary model to use items we both already owned. Nothing was bought new for the shoot. The basis of this shoot, amongst other recent projects I have been undertaking, was trying to produce something high quality with the resources I already had to highlight that you don't need a big budget or the fanciest equipment to execute fun yet high-quality shoots. Instead, you can rely on being inventive with locations, styling, and equipment. This helps promote a sustainable approach to fashion photography while also trying to challenge the accessibility of "professional-looking shoots". Here, I used one of my dad's old suits for the messier shots of Noah launching himself into and lounging in the bog and the rest of the pieces used also belonged to me or Noah. I love convincing my friends or people I have met before but have never modeled before to give it a try for my shoots as it is a fun opportunity within a safe, relaxed environment. Nothing is too serious! If anything, I usually end up making a fool of myself by contorting myself into weird stances to get unique angles. It makes the experience for first-time models a lot less vulnerable.