Michelle Watt Interview, Part 1

Michelle Watt’s pictures are strange, elegant, and awkward, so of course I love them. At my request, we met up for a Q & A about her life and her work, and how they influence each other.

I’ve known her for 10 years, as she used to work on my set, but our friendship has deepened as she’s moved from photo assisting to being a successful shooter.

Watt was born in Hong Kong, grew up in San Francisco, and attended NYU’s photo program. After graduation she worked as a photo assistant for eight years before embarking on her own shooting career in 2018. She soon had a number of impressive clients, including Allure, Adidas, and Rémy Martin. She is now represented by Redeye Reps.

What do you bring to the table as a photographer? What's unique about you?

I think that I'm shooting in a style that not a lot of people are shooting in right now; I somehow matched my tastes to a niche that was lacking in the industry.

I've gotten familiar with the process of building lots of visual layers, with multiple talent in one shot. Often on location, or with set builds, with lots of texture and curated in a colorful, fun, surreal, whimsical way.

Remember when we were talking a few years ago, and you were concerned about the murky film-based photography? You were worried that you wouldn't fit into that marketplace.

Yeah. I did a lot of like writing about that that was very bratty. [Laughs.]

I was being angsty, I would shit-talk the photography at the time. There was a moment when I realized I should not shoot for other people. Just fuck it, I thought, I don't care if nobody wants this…

And just having that naïve trust or focus, I think that worked for me.

How long had you been a full-time freelancer when COVID hit?

I think in 2018 I decided.

Do you think the fact that once you got started COVID hit was an advantage or a disadvantage?

It was coincidental as I had already intended to take time off to help take care of my family. The pandemic just extended it.

What was the catalyst to get you to stop doing other work and to focus on being a shooter?

I was stalling for a long time, and I think I used assisting and rock climbing, and other forms of gaining validation to feel satisfied.

That was a good eight years of stalling, between graduating college and becoming a full-time shooter.

I wasn't ready. And I was worried about the wrong things.

Like, status or reputation or being good or making good photos, and I wasn't focused on the actual craft, if that makes any sense. Like, all the stuff that comes with being successful, but not actually making good photos.

But now I just want to make good photos, and the other stuff is extra.

How did you make that shift in your mind?

It was baby steps of “If I can get over this, I can do the next thing.”

The one thing that was really hard at first was reaching out to people.

Do you mean potential clients?

Not even that, because I wasn't even looking for work yet.

I wanted to build a portfolio, so it was great practice for clients later because there's still rejection when it comes to that. I wanted to reach out to collaborators, like models, stylists, or makeup artists.

You want to work with good people, and at that time you're not good enough yet.

The first real hump was when I reached out to modeling agencies. I was intimidated, and then I just emailed 15 all at once. I Googled all their random emails.

I just needed one person to say, “Here's a model.” And then the first model I got; I remember I was so nervous. I was nauseous the whole day.

When I first saw your work, there was a mix of available light - things in the world like relaxed portraits of friends - but then you would talk about the tableau stuff with multiple figures from college. You'd say, “This is what I'm supposed to be doing.” How'd you go from that period, which was maybe five or six years ago, to this strong fashion work now?

I was doing world scenes, just like normal daily photography. Not because I was passionate about it, but a lot of my friends were doing it, and I guess it was my way of staying in touch. I do think that it helped me practice framing and composition. And then at some point I think I realized, well, the tableau stuff is what I do want to be doing, and there was a huge gap there.

Then I realized that if I just break it down into baby steps, I'd be able to do it. I started with a lot of test shoots.

And it has to be a collaboration. I want to tell these stories, but I want it to look a certain way. So, there needs to be styling, there needs to be good models, there needs to be hair, makeup, set design, and…

I had to start simpler. It's still stylized, but it's just one person.

When you were in college, you were doing the tableau stuff and people loved it - and you were one of the standouts in the photography program. And then when you left school and you didn't have the same critique or resources all of that momentum evaporated.

How much of that was because of the practical stuff, like having access to studios and models within the school structure, and how much of it was lack of having an intrinsic sense of direction?

It was actually that I had no incentive. In college, I had a thesis and a deadline, and I wanted it to be good. I had people to impress. I wanted to be better than anyone else. [Laughs.]

I wanted to make an impression, but after school there was none of that.

Why would you want to do that in the school context but not in the greater world?

Because I didn't really feel like I had an audience.

I got the sense that you were groomed to go to a great school and kill it and be a top student. And then once school was over, it was like you're pushed out into this barren desert of…

Yes, it was barren.

In those instances growing up, or even in college, there's a community. There are people that you want to impress. Initially it was my parents, and then it was maybe my classmates in school, teachers, and then in college it was people in the university, but once you go out into that barren landscape … I didn't know anybody, you know?

You’ve now gotten to a level of momentum that is unusual. You now have an incentive and direction, where is that coming from?

When I was testing, when I was making that jump, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, and I wasn't proving to anyone else. I think that was a difference; In college, I wanted to prove to everyone else that I could do it.

How would the you from five years ago view you now?

I didn't have a sense of great self-worth, and I was easily swayed in those years. And I think it made me a good assistant in a way because I was trying to prove to everyone that I could be stronger than them. I could lift more than them.

And I was doing that in rock climbing too. I realized this a couple days ago actually, I don't think I really like rock climbing. [Laughs.] I just wanted that validation.

I was chasing “Greats.”

Aren't you doing that now with your photography? I'm not saying that's bad, but I do wonder like…

It’s different in that initially, I was just doing it to see if I could do it. I wanted to shoot the things I wanted to shoot, and I wanted to see if I could get the result.

And then people started noticing, like, “Oh, that's kind of cool. She might have a vision that's consistent.”

I realized I need to figure out what I want to do and who I want to be, and it made me a better person too. Like, morally. [Laughs.]

I started learning how to stand up for people because I suddenly had my own values. Whereas before I was just sort of going with the flow.

Read Part 2 here

Top Image: “Vqgan Dream” for Vogue Arabia, by Michelle Watt

Second Image: “The Wait” for Blanc Magazine, by Michelle Watt

Third Image: “Presence” by Michelle Watt

Bottom Image: “Gottmik” for Allure Magazine, by Michelle Watt