AMY BROWN

Posted:
13 September 2018

Photos: Amy Brown
Text & Interview: Martin Hufnagel

Amy is a 23-year-old filmmaker and photographer, based in Scotland.

When I first saw her pictures on Instagram, I was amazed by the people she portrays. 'My work predominantly focuses on women, lgbtq, transgender and non-binary people', Amy says. 'I try to have an ungendered view in my work, which usually looks at lifestyle and sport.' She’s always been interested in photography, snapping everything, but it wasn’t until she found a subject matter that she cared about that her style began to take shape. 

From the moment I first saw them, her pictures felt real and beautiful to me. It was refreshing to see in a day and age where photoshopped pictures flood social media and create an unrealistic ideal of beauty.

Amy says that she's always struggled with her own identity from a young age. 'I honestly don’t think I started to find myself until the last couple of years. I grew up in a small town and went to school in an even smaller town. It seems a cliche to say that nothing ever happens there, but it’s true! Self confidence and body issues were just normal to me and my bunch of friends growing up. Comparing yourself to others was always top of my list. Maybe there was more out there, but I was just too wound up to see any of it. 

There was always a pressure growing up to study, do your exams, get good grades, go to university then get a job. This pressure mounting from multiple sides of my life had a massive effect on me mentally and forced me to take a completely different route. I’ve done things slowly, went to college, took multiple “years out”, and now at 23 I’m at university. Now I feel in the right mental state to be able to do that.

Since moving to Edinburgh and slowly surrounding myself with good people who inspire me, my outlook on my work and career has completely changed. For someone like me who has lacked inspiration all my life to now suddenly have my eyes open to all the amazing women around me is incredible! I feel as though I have a tool with which I can document these amazing people, and I owe it to my younger self and other young folk today to put it out there. I want to help promote the people in this world who I wish I could have seen and known about when I was younger. Even if I never made any money from doing this I wouldn’t care, if it’s what I love doing then everything else will take care of itself.'

'They say the things that finally break you
Are the words caught in your throat,
And she has years of thoughts not uttered
Crammed in the pockets of her coat.
A whisperer amongst a world
That’s learnt only to speak,
Where silence must be broken
For the proof that it is weak.
But wherein lies the weakness
Of keeping words held in your hand?
When others listen to reply
She listens just to understand.
Surely it strength when things unspoken
Fill the room up to the brim,
And she’s the only one among them
Who has taught herself to swim.'
(Erin Hanson)

Thank you, Amy, for being part of THE WASTED HOUR.

See more pictures by Amy here:
Instagram