Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Chetley

Hi Victoria, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

I’m a beauty, fashion & still life photographer currently working in Melbourne, Australia. I grew up in the South East of England and had a fascination with cameras from a young age. Both my parents were very into art so it was a huge part of my childhood. My dad used to take me out at sunrise to take photographs at the beach, and would often pose for my weird teenage angst photoshoot ideas. After studying photography at college, I went on to study Fine Art Photography at the University of Brighton, UK. After graduating I moved to London and started shooting fashion photography for vintage fashion dealers as well as socially conscious print and online magazines. Most of this was pretty low paid, but I loved every second of it.

I moved from London to Manchester and continued working in house for fashion brands, eventually moving into beauty and still life too. My focus has always been portraiture, and working with people remains my favourite type of shoot day, but I also love looking at objects and finding the relationship between them and the humans around them. I think that’s why when I eventually started shooting still life professionally it felt like an easy move. This was during Covid, when it was impossible to work with models, so having the still life route to fall back on was a huge relief. After 6 years working in house for brands, I made the decision to go freelance and opened my own studio. It was amazing to see the network I’d built over the years and in the two years it was open I worked with over 40 clients across the UK.

Last year my partner and I decided to move to Australia (as he’s half Australian), which meant shutting down the studio and saying goodbye to all our UK clients. It’s been a big change, but I’m already working with new clients in Melbourne and have even shot my first billboard which is really exciting. I feel like my story is ever evolving and changing, and each job or client I pick up takes me in a new direction which I love.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

Oh, absolutely not. But why would you want it to be?! I think the struggles are what teach you the biggest lessons.

I think initially just finding a job, or someone to take me on was a huge struggle. Fresh out of university I applied for so many positions (some of which weren’t even paid!) in London and rarely heard back from any. I was lucky to find a small business owner who liked my work and also my attitude and personality so she offered my a part time position working for her vintage brand. That gave me a solid start to build from. If I could go back I would approach things slightly differently, but after nearly a decade in the industry it’s much easier to see what route to take than it is at 21.

From time to time, when working in house I’ve struggled to fit into a specific mould set out by a marketing team or brand team that maybe felt jarring to my own creative style, so learning to not think of each brief as a something connected to me was hugely important. Work is work, and it pays the bills so I can shoot more creative images in my spare time. That being said I’ve been lucky to work with a few brands where we’ve completely aligned creatively and those jobs have been fantastic.

On a freelance basis, there is a list as long as my arm of struggles and mistakes I’ve made. When you start any business there are so many things you don’t think about until they happen. It can be basic things like not pricing myself correctly or taking on clients who want luxury content but won’t pay for the time to create it, or more complicated things like not having an important clause in the contract. Learning the legalities of image making was hugely important for me, and not something that came naturally. I’m now at a point where I have pretty water-tight contracts, one for UK clients and one for Australian clients, but it took a lot of “whoops, that should have been in the contract” situations to get to that point. It’s something that seemed really scary at first, but now I try to look at it as a new skill to learn. Same with book keeping & budgeting.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

My work is split about 50% fashion & beauty, 50% still life. I mainly work for small-mid size brands, but have worked for a few household names through the years. People always ask for specific brands when I tell them I’m a photographer but sometimes I feel a little cringe listing them out, I think the work can talk for itself!

I always say my work is all about colour. I’m obsessed with colour, how different colours work together and what you can do with it under different lighting set ups. I spent most of my university years in the colour darkroom, so I think this really shaped my entire process. I was also heavily into fashion magazines like Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and iD, as well as music magazines like Notion growing up, so the style of those magazines in the early 2000s definitely had an effect on me. My work is both honest, and a little silly at times. I love a high fashion spread, but it’s more fun if we can get some emotion in there too.

I like to think I’m known for a hard work ethic and a good attitude on set, I’m fairly strong at directing and connecting with my subjects to get the best out of them. I’m also never one to give up if an idea doesn’t work first time, I will find a way to get the shot even if it takes a little longer.

I guess most of all, I really really really love what I do. I couldn’t imagine my life without photography, so every day I step foot on set is another I’m grateful for. I think that is something people pick up on as positive energy, and makes my sets a nice place to be.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?

Being stubborn is one for sure! A lot of people I know have left the industry or gone in different directions because it can be really hard at times. I genuinely don’t know or care to know how to do anything but be a photographer, so that’s really pushed me through the times where work has been tough. I just won’t take no for an answer some days.

Being an empathetic person helps both in the creation of my art and also how I deal with my clients needs. I’m able to anticipate and understand where people are coming from and try find solutions to potential problems ahead of time.

Over the years I’ve definitely become more confident, and that’s been a massive help in furthering my career. Actually going out and asking for what I want has moved things on much more than being passive ever did.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://victoriachetley.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriachetley/

Image Credits
Shot 1 –
Model: Klaudia Gawora
MUA: Ange Oatley
Hair: Ellie Beardsworth
Styling: Rinesa

Shot 2 –
Model: Kea Deas
MUA: Ryoko Ushio

Shot 3 –
Model: Lea Combres
HMUA: Mak Young

Shot 4 –
Model: Shai Fassom

Shot 5 –
Model: Shai Fassom

Shot 6 –
Brand: UpCircle Beauty