This month's Curious Person is Jill Kerswill (she/ they)- you can see her lush brand photography all over my website!). We explored the theme of Finding the Light over on our collaborative Pinterest board taking inspiration from all things liminal spaces, confidence and (obviously) photography.
About You
Introduce yourself!
Hi, I'm Jill. I'm a portrait photographer based in Brisbane and it's surrounds. My background is in editorial and boudoir photography and I'm well-known for my work within the community about body neutrality (what we used to call body positivity).
I'm queer, neurodivergent, alternative and my work is focused on authenticity- I'm especially interested in the intersection between authenticity and branding. I've really found myself an interesting niche because I'm fundamentally an anthropologist- my interest is in people and I'm an autistic person who's fascinated by people, but I also happen to have this practical trade skill that I can apply to that special interest.
Did you always know you wanted to do what you do? What was the journey like to get to where you are now?
I was a really, really annoying kid, and when I was 13, my dad bought me a camera to give me something to do to make me leave my parents alone. I immediately took to it. It was the first thing that I was just like, oh, this makes sense. Because I was an undiagnosed autistic child (and very much didn't know) everything felt uncomfortable, and everything felt like I was forcing myself to do it.
But photography just came so naturally to me- I've never been good at written words but I can communicate really well through photographs for some reason. It's just a different format. My dad was pretty supportive but my mom was really unsupportive and so, my journey wasn't necessarily easy. As much as this has been something I've wanted to do since I was a literal child- I'm very proud of myself that it's something that I was actively discouraged from doing and I still managed to do it.
I'm self-taught. So, part of the journey for me that I really love about what I do is the fact that I built it. No one taught me, I taught me. My dad bought me that one camera and everything else I paid for myself. It's just this one thing that's just mine.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Rot. My job is so exciting and so interesting- I'm running through the forest and I'm on a mountaintop and I'm exploring an interesting place that when I'm not working I just want to lay down.
The Pinterest Board
See the board we collaborated on here.
Tell us what you think of the board theme- why does it inspire or interest you and what’s your connection to the theme?
So a lot of photographers obviously use flashes and things like that. I'm autistic and am really sensitive to light and I find flash quite disruptive for my brain.
So, that was why I started leaning into non-flash photography as my specialty because I just found it more comfortable. Natural light to me is a language. It exists in layers and directions, flows and waves.
The other thing about lighting is because I started as a teenager, my budget affected my ability to find resources. So natural light was one of those things that was available. I don't need to go turn on lights because there's a huge glowing ball of fire outside- so, why not use that to my advantage? And I just find natural light so f***ing beautiful.
If you could collaborate with anyone—living or historical—on a project around this theme, who would it be and why?
I don't hold a tonne of value in the past because I think that historically humans have been really stupid and kind of held back. So I think it would probably be someone modern who is currently alive and that would have to be Chappell Roan. I feel like together we would just have a great time and we would make something really incredible. Stylistically and creatively we definitely live in the same headspace on the same frequency.
What’s the absolute, non-negotiable piece of content you pinned that people must see?
I added some stuff from The Handmaid's Tale because it's a piece of media that visually (especially with natural light) is in a league of it's own in my opinion.
Closing Curios
Beverage of choice?
A crispy fresh coke.
Laura edit- did you know a can of full strength (lol) coca-cola has the perfect mix of sugar, caffeine and electrolytes to help mitigate a headache? For this reason, it's called a 'red ambulance' in my household.
Favourite recent find (could be a book, tv show, website, tiktok account)?
Doechii. Doechii is original. Real. Passionate. An unapologetic woman.
Where would you visit in a time machine? And Why?
I'm time blind, so time is meaningless to me.
So probably dinosaurs?
Favourite ever thrifted find?
I have a box brownie film camera (with the bellows) that's in a terrarium. Even though I hate film and I'm afraid of the dark (and can't go in a dark room) I feel like it's not pretentious for me to have that.
Last niche interest you dived deeply on?
I have a special interest in engineering and architecture, and I went down a really deep rabbit hole about dam failures. Historically, in the last hundred years, there has been a number of dam failures, and I was curious about why.
It's for a variety of reasons- some of them weather, some of them's structural.
What ridiculous item is on your wishlist that you want to buy but absolutely do not need?
An Italian castle!
Stay in Touch
You can find Jill on Instagram or see more of her work on her website.
