Testing out new techniques is indeed healthy way of finding out your interests – not least a method for determining your ethos and reasons for making work in the first place. Although Anna’s career has been somewhat angular, there are a few consistencies that have tied it all together: “As a Black queer artist, I do feel a responsibility to tell nuanced stories and convey my subjects with beauty, honestly and integrity,” she tells It’s Nice that. As a result, she strives to make work that makes her subjects and communities “feel seen”, achieved through honest, personal portraiture that places optimism and joy at the forefront.
With a career that began in Kingston while studying for an art foundation, Anna soon moved onto a graphic design course at Chelsea before ending up assisting photographers and finding her feet in photography. It was here that she realised her passion and started spreading her wings into film, working on music videos and shorts including several for Channel 4 Random Acts and British Vogue. But now, she’s transitioned from moving image to a more analogue process, having learnt the ropes of hand printing and developing her own negatives in the dark room. “I have loved getting more hands-on and tactile in my creative process,” she says. “Exploring slower processes has re-sparked my love of photography as a medium.”
Anna Fearon, a photographer and filmmaker based in Lewisham, proves wholeheartedly that change can be a good thing. For one, she’s moved about a fair bit from Croydon to Kent, the latter of which she says gave her “quite a culture shock” before heading back to the capital. “I love the vibrancy of south London,” she continues. But it’s not just her home that’s been in flux: her creative process is just as interchangeable.