Behind the Lens: Samuel Lort talks being a photographer in the fashion industry
From Erdem to Julien Macdonald, Henry Holland to Hilfiger by the age of 23 Samuel Lort has already photographed for some of the leading brands in fashion.
Fashion week, editorials and backstage at some of the industry’s biggest shows, to many people this would simply be a dream. However, for 23 year old Samuel Lort it is all just another day in the office. Self-branded as ‘Mr fashion week’ on Instagram, the London based fashion and portrait photographer has travelled around the world attending fashion week for five years running, photographing the backstage antics and pre show prep of some of the biggest designers and brands in fashion.
Fresh off set, after a full day of shooting for luxury British lingerie brand ‘Edge o’ Beyond’, Samuel Lort meets us, radiating too-cool-for-school vibes in all black attire, a baseball cap covering his signature slicked back hair (a style he has apparently been rocking for as long as he has had hair on his head.) With seven years’ experience in the industry, Lort has worked with a multitude of high end designers and brands, including Julien Macdonald, Erdem, Henry Holland and more recently Tommy Hilfiger.
Photography has always held a presence in Lort’s life, with a cousin who specialises in interior design and fashion photography, he was introduced to the industry at a relevantly young age.
Discovering his passion when brought his first camera phone, Lort reminisces how he’d look up at the sky and take a photo of every plane that flew over his head. A year passed of relentless saving until the aspiring photographer saved enough to afford his first proper camera, which marked the beginning of his transition from taking photos of passing planes, to a career in fashion and portrait photography.
“I’ve always been interested in women’s fashion more than men’s and that’s something that surprises a lot of people”
He tells me, “I like being able to get a connection with my subject before I take their portrait. It’s all about having the best connection with the client and models and show to them you care about their work as much as your own.” To form a connection with those in front of his lens, Lort describes as being paramount to his success as a photographer, his ability to connect with clients and those he photographs has led to him forming career enhancing friendships within the industry.
His admiration for portraiture photography and women’s fashion is also carried through into his backstage work at fashion week. Lort gets up close and personal in all the action that occurs behind the curtain of the catwalk. Capturing intimate shots of the models, seconds before they walk on stage and also how ‘stupid’ backstage at fashion week can get as photographers swarm around models as a moth does to a light bulb.
As women who love to dip our toes into the fashion pool, we wonder what it’s really like behind all the glitz and glamour of the runway. Well, according to Lort the answer to this question isn’t so straight forward, toying with a response for a moment, he explains that backstage at fashion week is hard to summarise, “it’s crazy backstage...everyone’s getting ready, and there is a constant buzz around all the models and the team. But as a photographer you have to be aware of your surroundings, the models have a 30 second gap to change into the next look and get straight back on that catwalk, so you have to be a fly on the wall”.
Having recently worked the Tommy Hilfiger show (which he points out was his favourite show to date) Lort looked past the incredible clothes set for the runway and instead focused on the models, the production, the vibe of Tommy Hilfiger. Producing imagery that showed the models relishing in the excitement, bringing life to the designs, instead of the models simply being a canvas for the brand.
Fashion week is where Lort thrives, unfazed by the hordes of people circulating backstage, it’s the clothes that are important and the models that flaunt them. Drawn to brands that create clothes for the bold independent woman, Lort informs me one that never fails to impress at fashion week is Belgium fashion designer Dries Van Nortan. “Their collections always amaze me, I love the patterns they produce every season, and it feels like they actually care about their brand rather than others.”
Focusing on women’s fashion, his un-posed candid shots strip back the intimidating façade of ‘fashion week’ framing it for what it really is, a celebration of fashion, hard work and daring to be different. To stand out on the catwalk you must be bold, Lort’s photography puts the women at the forefront and the brands that dare to do just that.
“I’ve always found fashion interesting and there is nothing better than when you get a great girl in some great clothes creating the most amazing imagery”
Becoming recognised in the industry for the imagery he produces during fashion week, Sam Lort tells me there is not one particular photographic style he swears by, “I try to make every shoot different for the client as sometimes they ask for a certain way or style which they like, so I have to replicate that but eventually with whatever I’m doing I will create my own unique style.” Driven by both influence and experience, Lort works with his environment and the models to create unique images that both flatter those in front of his lens and unveil a raw unframed insight into the fashion industry.
Having some of the most sort after brands, designers and models under his belt already, the sky really is the limit for Samuel Lort. Before shooting off home, he hints that an upcoming career endeavour will involve him flying over to the Big Apple at the beginning of the New Year.