Spotlight: Francesca Owen
Francesca lures her audience in by capturing the magic that unfolds through the elegance and movement of suspended dance. The gentle shapes of the body as it flows through water combine her passion and experience into one.
Francesca’s intrigue for the water began at the tender age of eight when she was introduced to Synchronised Swimming. Her dedication and success shone through when in 2012 she was selected to represent Australia in the London Olympic Games. After hanging up her competitive bathers, she picked up the underwater housing for her camera and hasn’t left the water’s edge since.
Francesca brings the majority of her art back to raw basics, often using greyscale to illustrate the contours of the human frame with the aim to showcase the surreal and peaceful feeling one perceives when completely submerged. Her work has graced the walls of Paris, New York, Byron Bay, and more. Her focus is on bringing escapism to your home with her photographic prints, with the hope her viewers will be transported to a world where anything is possible.
Your work plays with lines, shapes, and symmetry of the human body. Where do you draw inspiration for your subject or themes and even palette?
My early works focus on black and white imagery, I wanted to focus on and highlight the female form and that feeling you get when completely submerged. I have leaned towards working with colour as of late but am selective when I do so, I want to make sure the colour helps to tell my story and add to the image. I don’t want the viewer to be distracted by the colours. When working with black and white I draw inspiration from Peter Lindbergh and his timeless approach.
How do you stay current, and where do you find and source inspiration?
Staying ‘current’ have never been a thought of mine. I feel I draw my work from my emotions and that doesn’t tend to necessarily align with being current. My source of inspiration is from the women I capture and my life experiences. I studied photojournalism at uni so I always find it more organic to capture my imagery with a story attached.
What's it like shooting underwater compared to an above-ground shoot?
Good question! When I came back from the Olympics I was photographing a lot of weddings which I fell into naturally after my studies. However, I knew there was something missing… I really missed being in the water with my fellow teammates, so I decided to purchase my first underwater film camera (a Nikonis-V) and started capturing my close friends moving beneath the surface. It is a totally different realm and experience from photographing on land, and I have never looked back. I feel more free and expressive but also at home because I get to merge my two passions together. How lucky am I?!
Your work was recently featured in Vogue, tell us a bit about this?
What an experience that was! I was very fortunate that I had the opportunity to capture the 2020 (2021) Artistic Swimming Olympians when they were doing a training camp at Chandler, a local pool in which I used to train at. They carved out the afternoon for me to capture them, with my vision I was able to curate the shoot. I wanted to capture them in all their athleticism but also at such a pivotal point in their careers and life. I remember that time for me, and it was filled with a lot of nerves, so I wanted to try to make this shoot a space to let go. It isn’t your typical Synchro shoot, it instead explores the antithesis of the sport, offering the audience a different perspective of the Olympic Swimmers themselves. Their individual expression and their unscripted movements and their relationship with one another. People loved the series which was amazing and led to it being in Vogue, The Daily Telegraph as well as on billboards around Australia by JCDecaux.
Take to us briefly through one of your most loved projects or captures? Inspiration can come at any time and our process isn't always linear.
This is a hard one, when I look at my imagery it takes me back to the time and location which is filled with so many memories. I would have to say ‘Inner Harmony’ which was showcased in Paris last year and ‘Ladies in Waiting’ are my highlights as they are both personal collections for me. My work is driven by emotion, and also the experience I had working with the models and the story behind the image, and these would have to be a standout.
