Faces of Galway 58/100

View fullsize

Meet Julia from Warsaw, Poland  

Five years ago Julia came to Galway to visit a friend. It was October and she was surprised at how sunny it was. She decided to move to Galway for a couple of months. Julia arrived with 3 small suitcases and quickly realised she would need clothes to cater for the Irish, four seasons in one day, weather!  She had no real network but knew a chef who worked in Cava. One evening when she was in the restaurant she took some pictures and put together a small blog post. The post captured the attention of restaurant's owner - JP McMahon. He asked Julia to take some photos in his other restaurant: Aniar. Shortly after that, JP received Galway's first Michelin Star. Along with fame from Aniar, Julia started to build a name for herself as one of Galway's best photographers.

Growing up in Warsaw Julia believed she would work at any job and photography would be nothing more than hobby. She was 16 when she bought, together with her parents, a Sony DSC F505. Photography was a creative outlet but a career in it wasn't even on her radar until she was 20. Julia studied Sociology at university and had fun documenting life around her and taking creative self portraits. One of these portraits was going to change her life. Julia was approached by big publishing house in the UK. The amount of money she received for one image was comparable to a months wage for her parents. Shortly after that, she became noticed by on-line art communities, started to take part in competitions and won her first DSLR: a Nikon D50. Suddenly a career in her passion became an achievable goal, not just a dream.

When you look at Julia's photography (see her website here) it is obviously a passion. All images are creatively and perfectly executed. Julia works primarily in commercial and editorial photography. She works by the three legged stool rule analogy. To ensure balance and success she makes sure she always has three types of photography to offer; portraits, food and life-style. Portraits, mainly self portraits, were what launched her career. Food photography is what Julia is best known for around Galway. Her client base varies from five star hotels, Michelin Star restaurants, to some of the best food producers in the West of Ireland. Life-style is a mix of both her commercial and creative work; where she shoots events like Macnas and spreads for magazines like Galway Now. 

Julia has a very distinctive style and once you have a look at her work  you will realise that you have seen it and thought, wow that's a great photo!