Lesley Castle

“I think life is short so we better make the most of our time here. We better catch as many sunsets and sunrises as we possibly can, we better sleep well at night, eat well, and spend time doing what we love.”

Intercru: Where are you from?

Lesley: I was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and grew up moving quite a lot, beginning from the West Coast to the East Coast and then to the US Virgin Islands when I was 15. If I had to pick one place, I’d say I’m from the Virgin Islands, which has been the home base for my family for over twenty years now.

Where do you live and work now?

I live between Maui, Hawaii and the US Virgin Islands, although at the moment I’m currently living in Maui. I work anywhere work takes me, and often work remotely on creative projects. I love to travel and having grown up all over the place, I am quite adaptable between both the city and more remote places.

I feel most at home in places near the ocean, with warm ocean waters, and a diverse community of people. It’s important to me that there is, intellectually, a liberal and creative base where I live.

How did you get started in photography?

I started studying photography when I was 18 years old. At the time I was attending the American University in Paris, France and enrolled in a photography night course at Parsons School of Design. I learned photography using film cameras and processing film in a darkroom. Paris was a wonderful backdrop to study photography and begin photographing the city.

Years later, I trained with a wedding photographer in the Virgin Islands and after graduate school I started my own photography business. It was at that time that I further trained with a few fashion photographers who were traveling through Los Angeles, where I was living.

What do you do to find creative inspiration?

I find creative inspiration in other photographers’ work, in beautiful places, mostly outdoors, in architecture, music, art that evokes emotion, and in people’s faces/eyes. I like to think that the camera captures a moment in a person’s life that will never be exactly the same again, that can never be recreated precisely. This forever inspires me to work behind a camera.

What do you love the most about Maui and the Virgin Islands?

Both places are very relaxed. After living in Los Angeles for ten years and studying/working in the field of architecture and design, I really value a relaxed lifestyle. I think I’ll live longer this way, with a relaxed life! I love that islanders stop to watch sunsets, they pause to have a BBQ with their families and friends often, they value quality of life over quantity, they tend to respect the outdoors/nature, and seem to have more free time than city dwellers.

I think life is short so we better make the most of our time here. We better catch as many sunsets and sunrises as we possibly can, we better sleep well at night, eat well, and spend time doing what we love.

Do you prefer digital or film more?

Oh, I think I love both, but for different reasons. Film is always a surprise, which I love, but it can be a little more stressful if you are getting paid and have less immediate feedback about the shoot. The color of film is hard to recreate in digital works, and a lot of photographers try to recreate a film look in digital photography.

I think of them all I love polaroid, because polaroids have the most irregular and inexact visuals, each is entirely unique, the colors swirl and turn, which I find really beautiful. It’s more of an art this way to me, when the colors and the film itself can never be recreated the same.

Digital is great for direct feedback. With the new mirrorless cameras, it’s incredible to have razor sharp focus ability, and focal points that can be tracked by the camera. This is a huge breakthrough in cameras and I am beyond thrilled to not have to try and track someone’s eye manually anymore while they are moving in front of me! What a relief!

Really though, I feel each camera is different and that’s what makes it so fun. With each camera you may get a totally different outcome, so I like to mix up cameras in a shoot as much as I can, and have a little time for experimentation.