An interview with Susannah Conway, photographer

This week we're pleased to bring you an interview with Susannah Conway. This is part of our  'An interview with...' series.

Susannah is a photographer, writer and the creator of the Unravelling e-courses. A Polaroid addict and very proud aunt, she is currently editing her first book, This I Know: Notes on Unraveling the Heart, ready for publication in spring 2012. You can read more about her shenanigans on her blog at SusannahConway.com and connect with her on Twitter.


Thanks for agreeing to take part, Susannah, I've just been enjoying some of the beautiful photos on your site. Okay, on to the questions...


What drives your creative work?
The slightly obsessive need to share what I know :)

What would you say to yourself if you could go back in time and meet yourself at the beginning of your creative career?
I’d tell younger me to be patient. She was so eager to make a name for herself (when I was working as a journalist) and wanted to have her books written NOW! But it takes time to develop your own true voice — time to hear it, to work with it, to figure out what you have to say. The older I get, the more I appreciate having all these years behind me — ten years ago I didn’t know what I wanted to say; I’m excited to see what else I’ll know in ten years time.


How do you keep creating when things get difficult?
I don’t, really. I tend to procrastinate horribly and then have mini panic attacks. When work’s overwhelming me, I try to get outside and walk it off — even popping into town for an hour helps, seeing other people and breathing in the traffic fumes. Working from home is a very solitary existence and even though I wouldn’t have it any other way, I do have to remind myself to go be with the rest of society once in a while; it helps to keep my brain moving in new directions.

How does your creative work affect the rest of your life?
My creative work is all of my life — there is no separation — and, actually, that can be a problem. I find it hard to switch off at night and often work through into the small hours. I always have a camera and notebook with me wherever I go, and drive my friends and family insane with my need to be constantly taking photographs. But it’s what I live for!

What is it like to send your work out into the world?
It depends what I’m sharing, and where. It can be scary, cathartic, emboldening, connecting, terrifying, revealing and satisfying. Usually all at the same time :)

What was the best advice anyone gave to you?
 In 1998 I was a mature student back at university doing my journalism degree. I’d scored a writing gig on one of the national newspapers and was working alongside a journalist I really admired. Her first book had just reached the shelves and I was lucky enough to be given a signed copy. On the first page she wrote: Carissima Susannah, le parole belle si fanno piano piano. It roughly translates as ‘beautiful words are made slowly.’ Thirteen years later, as I edit my first book and await its publication next spring, I know that she was right.

What helps you to pay attention to the world?
My Polaroid SX-70 camera. It’s like an extension of my own eyes.

Thanks again Susannah,
Kaspa & Fiona

images (c) Susannah Conway 2011