Painting with light

Roger Loosley | Features | Work in Progress

Date posted: 1 Apr 2015

Subject: Julie Skelton, a photographer who lives in Guildford, Surrey. Julie is married with three children.
Age range: 40-50 years.
Interests: Music, handicrafts, baking.

RJL: How did you become a Christian?
Julie: I come from a Christian home. When I was 14, I went on a young people’s weekend to Perthshire and on looking at what God has created, I realised that he had created me. On my return home I asked Jesus to be Lord of my life.

RJL: Please explain how you came to be a photographer.
Julie: I followed my father as a hobbyist photographer and gradually photography became my main hobby. I trained as an infants’ teacher, which I did for four years. When we started a family I gave up teaching. A professional photographer saw some of my photographs and encouraged me to pursue photography as a career. That was in 2008. I set up a website to show my portfolio and gradually added to it. Slowly at first, I received commissions. My reputation and business developed by word of mouth.

RJL: Do you have any regrets about your choice of career or do you enjoy what you do?
Julie: I have no regrets. The skills that I learned in the past have all come in useful in my business. I enjoy what I do because everything I do is different. I have a creative brain and feel my work emotionally, so I need new projects.

RJL: Do you work with other Christians?
Julie: There is a florist who I work with sometimes who is a Christian. I particularly like working for Christians who are getting married as I can enter into their special joy.

RJL: Does your job give you opportunities to witness?
Julie: Indirectly: sometimes I know the hymns better and sing louder than the rest of the congregation! Also in my demeanour – I remain calm and focused during what can be a stressful time.

RJL: Do you have problems or disagreements with clients?
Julie: Not yet!

RJL: What is hard about your work?
Julie: The business side can be difficult. I have to spend time on the website and social media. If I spend too much time on this it affects how I deal with people. This is particularly true during winter when I have less work on.

RJL: Are there any conﬂicts between your job and your home/church life?
Julie: It is a fine balancing act, with much of the desk work done on weekdays, while I’m often out and about on a Saturday. It means I’m available for the children on weekdays and I’m grateful for having a husband who is happy, willing and able to take the reigns of childcare when I'm busy on Saturdays! A full working day at a wedding is both physically and mentally demanding and has made me really appreciate having Sunday as a rest-day. When I started out, I knew that I would want to decline any offers of work on a Sunday as my ‘day off’, and it has really heightened my awareness of Sundays being God’s provision for us to rest and recuperate, to concentrate on him, spend time with family and church family, and to realign ourselves in readiness for the working week.

My peak period for work is during the school summer holidays which means that I spend less time with the children than most mothers are able to do. This is balanced out during the rest of the year when I am at home more. Also, during the summer months the longer days mean that I can work in the evenings and be with my family during the day.

RJL: Are you subject to any particular inﬂuences which are not compatible with your Christian beliefs?
Julie: As I am a ‘one woman band’ I obtain professional support from various on-line forums. Sometimes the language used and the sentiments expressed on these are quite bad. I have to be careful what I write in response.

RJL: Would you recommend photography as a career for a Christian?
Julie: Yes: it is a super way of interacting with people you wouldn’t otherwise meet.

RJL: What are your ambitions?
Julie: I would love to see and photograph the Northern Lights and also some celebrities who I think have interesting faces.

RJL: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers about being a Christian photographer?
Julie: Photography is ‘painting with light’. When the light is not there I have to work round its absence. Personally I miss the light during the winter months, but the Lord Jesus is good for me as he is the Light of the World.