Award winning photographer Janina Wilde is based in the UK, where she works exclusively producing stunning multiple exposure images and running a variety of courses and workshops. She has also worked as a teacher for many years, winning Teacher of the Year and speaking about education strategies at a variety of conferences. I spoke to Janina to find out more about her beautiful work.
What got you into photography?
When I was 19, I went on an overland trip from Harare to Nairobi and bought a point and shoot camera to take with me. I took photos and later on I bought myself a SLR but never really got off the auto settings. Instead, I worked on composition and getting that right. In 2018, I had purchased another camera and figured out that I wasn’t really using it properly. So I went to a couple of evening classes and actually found it quite easy to get off auto and onto manual, although these days I mainly shoot in aperture priority mode. That’s my go-to setting but I can shoot in manual! Just after lockdown in 2021, I did a creative photography course online. At the time I had a leadership role teaching science and wasn’t getting home until 7pm. Online courses opened up a world of opportunity for me.
I joined a creative photography group which led me nicely into double exposure. We had ‘homework’ where we shared the images we’d shot in the last week and one gentleman came along with his multiple exposure shots. I immediately said, “I need to know how to do that.” So the chap who was running the club said he’d teach us and the next week he showed us how to do multiple exposures on Photoshop and gave us all the instructions as well. I never looked back. I originally wanted to be a travel photographer, but I quickly got bored because I couldn’t find different angles – everyone photographs the Eiffel Tower from the same angle because that gives you the best shot, to give an example.
My first multiple exposure experiments were with travel images but then when I decided I wanted to leave teaching, I realised I wanted to concentrate on building a business in photography. I’ve been a teacher since 2001, have presented in conferences to do with education and used to write for TES (The Times Educational Supplement), so my first thought was education and applying that to photography. I now run courses and give regular talks.
Multiple exposure is what I really enjoy – I think it’s the most creative because there is no right or wrong. You can still obviously get the composition right, but you are creating something that’s unique. Multiple exposure is all I shoot now, both in camera and out. It’s such a varied genre – I’ve done band photography, landscapes, cityscapes…there are so many things you can do with it.
My next question was going to be do you have a favourite genre of photography, but I think that’s fairly obvious!
The three things that I love about multiple exposure are firstly that it’s creative – I never felt creative as a child as I was into science and sport. Multiple exposure makes me feel like I’m creating. The crafting within multiple exposure allows me to feel like I’m creating art rather than just pushing a shutter.
The second is for wellbeing and calmness. I can go through images and lose myself in editing – Photoshop is my easel. I find the editing really mindful and creative. And even if I’m shooting ‘in-camera’, I still end up editing when I get back into Photoshop because I see what I can create. I want to create what I can see in my head.
The third thing is that it’s unique – there’s 21 blend modes in Photoshop for example, but I have no qualms about sharing how I create things because no one is going to create the same thing. I want people to be able to create their own style. There are so many ways you can interpret something. That’s something I think is really special about multiple exposure.
When you go out to a specific location to shoot, do you have specific images you want to capture? You need a portfolio of base images to work with – do you go out with a list of what you want to shoot?
I’d love to be that organised! I tend to not have a stack of base images, but I tend to have a big collection of textures. Birds are my favourite thing to photograph! The vast majority of digital cameras will save both the RAW files, and your processed multiple exposure saved as a Jpeg if you’ve done the work in-camera. You can then edit on Photoshop or other programmes such as Affinity. You can even edit on your phone with the Snapseed app.
What kind of influences do you draw inspiration from?
Everything and everyone! I follow a lot of people on Instagram and will try various techniques before adapting them to my own style. I do also run two courses about influences as well. In one we look at various artists such as Monet, Klimt and Matisse – I will show several of my images that have been inspired by the artist and then the students go away and have a month to come up with their own interpretation. That is my work and teaching, but it also influences my own photography. I’ve also just started a new course with a similar concept but looking at photographers such as Helen Trust and Claire Pistache. Pep Ventosa and his ‘in the round’ images have also been a huge inspiration.
What kit do you shoot with and what’s your favourite bit of kit?
I shoot with both a Canon R6 Mk II and a Fujifilm XT-5. The Fuji is great for going around and shooting things on the go like architecture and its in-camera multiple exposure tools are fantastic as well. The R6 is great in low light and it’s full frame so the quality is exceptional. For any kind of landscape shots the Canon will outstrip the Fuji, but the Fuji is so good with its multiple exposure capabilities.
My favourite bit of kit is my Lowepro camera bag. It’s tiny and the best bag ever. It is comfortable and does everything it needs to do. My other favourite bit of kit is my Peak Design camera strap – it’s so long that you can just swing the camera around your arm and it makes your camera far easier to use.
What are you working on at the moment?
To begin with I want to keep going with the courses and talks. I didn’t expect the camera club talks to take off. I’ve just booked one in North Carolina that I can do over Zoom where I’ll be doing a talk and judging a competition. My courses are my favourite things that I do but it can be difficult to fiddle around and fit them all in. At the back of my head is the thought that I want to run a photography school. I already have one friend, Rachel McNulty, doing a course for me. Photographers will do their courses through me, and I’ll advertise and promote the courses. I get frustrated about the amount of time I’m spending at work (teaching) because I just don’t have enough time to do everything.
I’d like to sell my images but I’m aware it’s difficult. I’d like to sell images to hotel chains as I think they’d look great, but I don’t have the time to look into that at the moment. I’m also running courses abroad as well. I’ve got a trip to Gothenburg in Sweden set up and I plan to eventually have three courses running in different locations.
What would you say is your goal with your photography?
I haven’t won any competitions, and the multiple exposure area is unrepresented. I don’t enter as many as I want to as I don’t have time to pick the images and work on what would be most suitable for a competition. There are more creative categories appearing but it’s not always possible to enter a competition. I’ve had my work exhibited on the Shrewsbury Art Trail and in the SheClicks gallery, but my goal to refine my style enough so that one of my images wins one of the bigger competitions. I would like to get the accolade for my actual images – I know my education is sound but I want to get my imagery to a standard where it fits a competition while still covering my photographic ideals.
As a female photographer, do you feel that you face any particular challenges? Do you feel that the industry is favourable towards women, or would you like to see any changes?
I think I have more problems with shooting multiple exposure than being a woman, and I think I’d have the same problems shooting this genre if I was a man. I’ve found the opposite but only because I was encouraged to do what I’m doing by women. I’m a member of the SheClicks female photography Facebook group and I do get a lot of women on my course. There are a lot of women who come on my courses who just need to be told that they’re good and be given encouragement.
What advice would you give to budding photographers?
I would say make sure that you are exploring all the different genres until you find what you like. There are so many things you could do out there so make sure you have a go at all of it. You will find what you like but if you don’t explore all of it then you won’t know what you like.
You can view more of Janina’s stunning work on her website or follow her on Instagram
