Harley Weir gets honest about the hustle of fashion

Tallulah Harlech: Let’s wind it back to the beginning. How did you decide to go to CSM and study Fine Art?

Harley Weir: I always wanted to do art. I didn’t really know much about schools and CSM was well known, even though I got into several schools I chose Central Saint Martins because they had the best reputation. I hadn’t realised it was mainly for fashion. At the time, it was really exciting. I couldn’t believe I had gotten in…

TH: And then how was it? How was your foundation and then through to the full fine art degree?

HW: I really enjoyed the foundation. It was what I thought university would be, there were obviously lots of very specific projects and things like that. I learned different mediums. I really enjoyed photography and loved the conceptual parts of the course. That’s why when I went to do the BA I ended up in 4D [conceptual art]. That was probably the thing that didn’t feel quite right. I don’t think I should have been in 4D. I liked conceptual art on the course but I’m not a conceptual being. Coming from a very emotional background, my work was always very emotional and this kind of very traditional type of art didn’t fit in 4D at all.  I tried really hard for it though. So many people always told me never to give up. So I was like, I shouldn’t quit, I should stick with it so I can make it work. But really, what I should have done was change. Change courses.

“Learning how to quit… It’s really a special thing.” – Harley Weir

TH: What would you change to?

HW: That’s the thing. I liked everything so there wasn’t really a place for me on the course. I don’t like that it’s segregated. I would’ve done sculpture, conceptual art, and 2D together. I’d have done it all!

TH: Would you have stayed at Central Saint Martins?

HW:  I was really set on making it work. Learning how to quit… it’s really a special thing. And my tutors did try to tell me, they were like: “Do you want to quit?” I was like “No way, of course not!”

TH: At the same time, you’re tooling around on Flickr…  Who in fashion then found your work on Flickr? How did that happen?

HW: It wasn’t actually “fashion” but it was Vice Fashion. It makes a bit more sense.

TH: What were these pictures? Do you still have them? Are they any good?

HW: They’re probably still on my Flickr. They were just pictures of my family, my friends. They weren’t fashion, more documentary reportage.

TH: Do you like them?

HW: Yeah. (…)  My sister was actually my first muse.

TH: How come?

HW: Because she was around. She’s great. She’s like a little girl but with long black hair, writes poetry and has hundreds of tiny animals – that’s what she was obsessed with.  Her room was quite scary, all these tiny animals laid out. I wonder where they went.

TH: So Vice [Magazine] came for you. Commissioned you to do what?

HW: A fashion shoot. I got quite excited by the idea of being paid for a creative job.

TH: Did Vice pay you for an editorial job? Wow.

“I did actually end up paying for one of my years from photography. I was really proud of myself for that but then at the same time, everyone else was exploring themselves through art whereas I was working hard to pay for my course but not actually being present. ” – Harley Weir

HW: Yeah, they gave me a budget. They said “we’ve got a budget of 200 pounds”. And I was like “Whaaaaat! I’m gonna go to Tesco to buy a sandwich, pocket the change, and buy three rolls of film.” I put a lot of work into it. But it did eventually kind of take me away from my course. Everyone gets going in different ways, but I do regret that sometimes.

TH: But you did finish. You’ve got your degree.

HW: Yeah. but I got distracted as I began working full time since my foundation. I did actually end up paying for one of my years from photography. I was really proud of myself for that but then at the same time, everyone else was exploring themselves through art whereas I was working hard to pay for my course but not actually being present.

TH: Do you then strike up a relationship with Vice and start contributing to them regularly?

HW: Yeah. Like, once a month. Or whenever they used to come up.

TH: So you’re pocketing £200 once a month?

HW: I also had a pub job on weekends. Then, this magazine called Citizen K came for me. I don’t know how they found me. They’re a French magazine. It was so bizarre, I don’t even know how this happened. It took over completely.

TH: Do you remember the first money job you got? Or a big editorial?

HW: There was an advertorial for Citizen K for Yves Rocher and I got £500.

TH: Did you then think to yourself, I quite like taking pictures?

HW: Yeah. I was always complaining about it because I didn’t realise that you could actually do what you wanted to do. I was always doing what other people wanted me to do in some ways.

TH: At the beginning of your work, the beginning of your career, what were your worries? Are they in any way similar to the worries of now?

HW: I think I was always worried that I couldn’t show enough of myself when it came to fashion. There are so many people involved. And usually, it was always the stylist that came to me with the idea or whatever. I was always a bit frustrated that I wasn’t able to do exactly what I wanted to do. I love the aspect of collaboration though. I think I’m a good collaborator. I don’t think I was thinking in the beginning.

“I was doing all these editorials, and there was a point when I couldn’t afford to get the train to the airport to go home.” – Harley Weir

TH: You weren’t thinking about money? Was it something that you thought about but it wasn’t worrying…?

HW: No, I wasn’t worried about it. Actually, there were a few years where I got really, really poor when I moved to Berlin. It was actually when things started to pick up. But it was all editorial work. And the budgets were small or there weren’t even any budgets anymore. From a few hundred quid to zero. I was doing all these editorials, and there was a point when I couldn’t afford to get the train to the airport to go home. I needed to come home to shoot a portrait, it was probably only going to pay me £200. There was a point when I had to go to my friend and be like: “Can you lend me the train fare so I can get to the airport?” I was definitely worried about money at that point. My Mum thought I was crazy, she was like: “Why are you working for free?” She thought I was mental.

TH: What would you say, if you could just whip back to that age that you were then when you were at your poorest, doing all this editorial work. What would you say to that version of yourself?

HW: Slow down. Stop doing so much free work and be more selective. But I could say that to myself today. I’m a yes man… a yes woman?

TH: What are you worried about today?

HW: Saying yes too many times.

TH: Were you signed at that point by any agency? Was anybody telling you, “Just keep doing the editorial, you’ll get the commercial job”?

HW: I hadn’t been signed yet. But I got signed soon after that.

TH: Was that with Mini Title?

HW: Yeah, a great agency. I love them.

TH: How do you think it [a photographic career] suddenly moves into booking commercial jobs and making money?

HW: That is one long journey. When I moved back from Berlin I lived with my parents until I was 27. If I hadn’t have done that I wouldn’t have been able to continue doing fashion. By paying rent, I wouldn’t have been able to continue doing what I was doing. Maybe that would have been a good idea and I would have been more selective. I wouldn’t have done so many ridiculous things. But everyone gets where they’re going in different ways.

“By looking at fashion you can see where things are going politically. ” – Harley Weir

TH: What is it that you like and what is it that you don’t like about working in fashion?

HW: Most of my work at CSM had been about the female gaze, trying to figure out what my desire was as a woman, finding my place. I think fashion gave me a really interesting space to work through the stereotypes of women. It really felt like a female’s world in a way, even though it wasn’t exactly. The idea of being a woman, the idea of dressing up. When I was a child I loved dressing up, that transformation, how the clothes dictate the character. If I hadn’t been an artist, I would have been maybe an actress, or some kind of weird performer, I love to change characters. That idea was always really interesting for me: trying to understand a woman through fashion. It’s a visual subject, and we don’t realise how much of an impact it has on the nation. By looking at fashion you can see where things are going politically. I think it’s really important and I’m happy to have been a part of some of the more positive aspects of that. For me, that was a way of changing society. Little by little, nothing major. I wouldn’t say I have done anything radical, but just having a different point of view is important.

The bad side of the industry is the pollution. And so many people. So many people… If there’s money in anything, it’s always corrupt and fucked, so there isn’t anything like a clean luxury profession, right? The luxury business is corrupt, very corrupt. When you look at some of the factories…. Luxury businesses at least haven’t had any horrendous things come out but you know, H&M, Zara, I wouldn’t work for them because of the damage they do to the environment. I have in the past, a long time ago, but I wouldn’t work for them again until they push things forward, to make things right as fast as they need to. You know, they’re not paying their workers at all.

TH: What if H&M said to you, but we have our ‘conscious’ range?

HW: They’ve asked me that. I wouldn’t work with them until everything was not the way it currently is. The clothes they make are ready to fall apart. I know that people don’t have money to spend on things but I’ve lived my whole life buying vintage clothes and I look fucking awesome. We don’t need it! I know that’s the argument everyone makes, that not everyone can afford it. But go to a fucking charity shop and get vintage H&M. I can’t really talk though, because I’m very privileged at this point and I’ve worked with these brands in the past, but before I wasn’t fully aware of what was going on.

TH: There wasn’t that same awareness all that time ago. There just wasn’t.

HW: I didn’t know where anything came from.  I don’t buy first-hand fashion. It does feel bad to be a part of fashion when you’re not even a part of fashion yourself. I have to say I’ve bought some new things since this lockdown. Up and coming designers, I feel like it’s good to support them. I collect Jean Paul Gaultier and Issey Miyake. I usually always buy vintage stuff. I went to Issey Miyake a few days ago. I bought some first-hand stuff from the shop. I have a plastic bag that I wash them in because they’re quite bad for the environment due to the little bits of microplastic they have, but you can buy these bags to wash them in.

TH  Do you enjoy creating fashion imagery? Or is it the only way for a photographer to make money?

HW: A lot of the time I love it. Depends on the group of people you’re with. Sometimes it’s so fun. You know, when you really get on with a stylist. Because when you really get on with the stylist  – creatively it’s like magic.

TH: Would you have ever wanted to be a stylist if you love clothes and the sense of character so much?

HW: No. I’m not organised enough. I have to say as I get older I hope I can wear all the ridiculous things I have in my closet because I always end up just wearing jeans I can bend down in for work. Not even jeans, they’re too uncomfortable. I wear gross unflattering cargo trousers.

TH: How would you describe your style as an artist?

HW: Eclectic. I would say it was a bit violent. But I don’t think anyone sees any of my personal work that much.

TH: Why don’t we see it? Why don’t you put it out there?

HW: I will at some point. But it’s not the kind of thing people like. Everything is a lot scarier. I think what you see with my fashion is very watered down. Nice, money, commercial.

“All of my works that you’ve seen in magazines are a collaboration between me, someone else, the models, and the magazine. So that’s what I’m prepared to share with people I don’t know very well.” – Harley Weir

TH: It’s very sensual. You know, I’ve always been such a lover of when your personal work and when still life comes into an editorial that you’re doing. I’ll never forget the half-eaten peach on the stick and things like that.

HW: But those rules are made in the studio of the fashion shoot. It’s different, I’m being watched you know.

TH: True, but, I know I would be ripping out the page that had the peach on the stick as opposed to the page next to it which is a shot of a wonderfully styled model by Vanessa Reid. The fact that it was combined together and that there was always that space in a lot of your editorials, at least within the independent magazines… That always got me excited.

HW: Yeah, it was nice. Actually, Pop [Magazine] is great for that. They allow you to have these extra pages.

TH: I like the fact that you answered as actually, your inner true style being far more violent.

HW: I think it is. All of my works that you’ve seen in magazines are a collaboration between me, someone else, the models, and the magazine. So that’s what I’m prepared to share with people I don’t know very well.

“Image has changed so much now, it’s not precious anymore. ” – Harley Weir

TH: What is it that you feel about the industry of fashion and image-making at this point?

HW: Image has changed so much now, it’s not precious anymore. We look through Instagram, and we like to scroll through things. When I was younger, I remember looking through a magazine and it was so sacred. There wasn’t anything else to look at, so it was just so special. Now we’re inundated with images constantly. I don’t think fashion will ever be the same as it was then when it was sacred. People need things too quickly now. Even when I was starting out people needed things too quickly, in the lines of “You have four days to finish this.” That rhythm has changed the art world too; people get bored of things so quickly, you need to be constantly moving, constantly making new things, and then you just end up with too much stuff. And then what’s precious?

“The reason I ended up doing fashion is because I felt more comfortable with it. It felt like there was a purpose to it. ” – Harley Weir

TH: Do you think there’s any way of somehow resolving the oversaturation of fashion imagery?

HW: I think we’ll have to wait to see what happens to technology.  Having a phone like this, we’re just constantly getting new images and vintage images as well. It has definitely changed the idea of what is modern. People are always looking back. People always looked back, but I don’t think they looked back as much as we do now. Because we have resources to look immediately back at things. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but we look too much at the past. I did.

“I still don’t feel very comfortable selling my work and I try to make sure it’s not sold. If I ever do anything, unless it’s for charity, I find that I really don’t like selling my work at all.  ” – Harley Weir

TH: I get the feeling like more and more photographers who have the choice and aren’t at the emerging start of their career are at the point of reining it back in.

HW: I’ve always wanted to rein it back in  – even the day I started. I need to rein myself in general. I need to rein my brain back in!

TH: So do you ever see yourself leaving fashion and going back to fine art?

HW: I have problems with the art industry as well. The reason I ended up doing fashion is because I felt more comfortable with it. It felt like there was a purpose to it. Which sounds really bad. I didn’t have the confidence when I was younger to be like, I’m making this piece of work and someone is gonna buy this work off me. Making something for a magazine because they needed me to make it felt like a good reason.

TH: “I’m part of a cog in a system that is working”.

HW: When I was younger, I just didn’t have the confidence. I still don’t feel very comfortable selling my work and I try to make sure it’s not sold. If I ever do anything, unless it’s for charity, I find that I really don’t like selling my work at all.

“I’ve always been afraid of showing myself and I’ve always been collaborating for that reason. I’m kind of tired of collaborating.” – Harley Weir

TH: So then you’ll never really leave fashion. You don’t want to be a fully-fledged artist.

HW: I think I am an artist. In many ways. I just like to do it my own way. I do find the idea of selling my work uncomfortable. But at the same time, I would like to explore the idea of exhibiting my work because I feel like everything I do is secret or it’s online. I’d really like to be physical with things again, especially after lockdown when we haven’t been able to be physical. I really have that need to have a physical relationship with my work. I actually had quite a few exhibitions that were planned before lockdown that have all been cancelled. I have a build-up of work that I’ve been doing for the past three years, kind of just collecting it. I hadn’t given enough time to it and I wasn’t there yet. I’m still not quite there yet. But I feel like I’m in a good place.

TH: And is all of the work mixed media?

HW: It’s ceramics, or it’s these photo-collages I’ve been making. I just had one of them in a group show recently and it felt really good to go around and see it, see it aired out, and watch people pointing at it and trying to figure out how it was made. I felt like I needed to have the work be experienced more. I’ve always been afraid of showing myself and I’ve always been collaborating for that reason. I’m kind of tired of collaborating. I’m really bad at deadlines. I can’t finish anything on time. If I am with someone else, I can finish stuff on time. That’s another reason why I do fashion because there are deadlines.

TH: What advice would you give someone who wants to be a photographer?

HW: I would say, don’t think you’re not gonna have to fucking work hard.

TH: But for me what hard means is – you’ll be tired. You’ll be stressed as fuck, you’ll be coming up with the concepts, then at the 11th hour, they’ll be changed into something else. You’ve got to think on your feet. You’ve got to get on with other people.

HW: You’ve got to be really adaptable. You’ve got to try really hard.

“Growing up as a woman, you’re always second best, so you have to adapt and be available to change, to make sure that you’re a part of things because people don’t really take you seriously.” – Harley Weir

TH: Do you think you have to compromise?

HW: Some photographers don’t compromise and they’re fucking good. Some people compromise so much like me, and they’re still good. But maybe not quite as good. I’m sure Stephen Miesel doesn’t compromise. A skill I’ve learned from many men in my life is to not compromise, but I’m just really not good at it.

TH: That’s interesting because you’ve only named men with that trait.

HW: I hate to put it down to that. But there’s certainly a part of that. Growing up as a woman, you’re always second best, so you have to adapt and be available to change, to make sure that you’re a part of things because people don’t really take you seriously. I think it comes from a woman’s low self-confidence and they feel like they need to not make people afraid of them so they can still be able to get what they want. I definitely took that route in my work where I tried to become as invisible as possible. I think I’m coming out of that now, but through my career, I’ve always tried to be as less offensive as possible so that I can get by while being taken seriously at the same time. It’s hard to describe that feeling but I think women don’t want to make a guy feel uncomfortable because they’re good or they seem too smart, things like that. I wouldn’t say that’s a good thing to do and I think maybe the new generation is not like that. But I think my generation still harbours a lot of that wanting to be approachable.

“Everybody gets to where they go in different ways and that’s fine. There’s no right or wrong way to get anywhere and I think it’s good to be open to as many things as possible.” – Harley Weir

TH: Did agents ever try to cultivate your artistic manner; how you work, or, how you are?

HW: I don’t think they did, but I’m pretty agreeable.

TH: You’re a pushover?

HW: Yes.

TH: What was the best career advice you’ve ever been given?

HW: Everybody gets to where they go in different ways and that’s fine. There’s no right or wrong way to get anywhere and I think it’s good to be open to as many things as possible. And just do it! Nike already got that one! But sometimes you just need to do it. There’s no good advice just… get on it. Keep going, keep learning, don’t stop learning.

TH: Which photographers or artists do you look up to?

HW: When I was younger? Peter Beard. I loved his work. You can see that really clearly in my early pictures. All black and white. But the reason it was B&W, it was cheaper then. Now it’s more expensive to do black and white. I made a darkroom in my parent’s cellar. I think I took a lot of inspiration from Peter Beard. When I look back, all the photographers I really loved as a child were so pervy and probably all would be ‘Me Too-ed’. I also loved Nobuyoshi Araki so much. I love people like Jock Sturges. Balthus was one of my favourite painters. It’s all super dodgy. I used to love Sally Mann. But it was all very dubious. When I look back from today’s place, I don’t know which photographers I look up to now. It’s been my job for so long so it’s a bit weird to look up to other photographers. It’s better not to. I always love Donna Trope, she is fantastic. She’s such a genius.

TH: Where does research happen for you?

HW: Probably online. That’s the worst thing. But I try not to do too much research. But then I get a bit stale. What I usually do if I have to make a treatment – my assistant archived all of the pictures I’ve ever saved and all of my hard drives and she’s put them in a big folder. We usually pull from that. And those are random pictures of mine from years and years ago.

TH: Have you ever felt jealousy or envy that someone’s got a job that you wanted?

HW: No, I don’t mind about those things I really don’t. The less work I get, the more it means I spend on other things.

TH: A nice way of looking at it.

HW: It’s very privileged. I don’t really get too jealous, I really managed to harness that over the years.

TH: It seems to me that you know yourself as an artist.

HW: Yes. Exactly.

TH: That’s a great place to be.

HW: But it definitely doesn’t push me forward in fashion.

TH: Because if you had a bit of a competitive edge you think you’d be more…

HW: …trying harder to do crazy stuff but I’m quite lazy. But I’ve actually never been like that. Maybe that’s one of the reasons why I did well, but I don’t know.

TH: Because you don’t think you were very needy for it? You’ve never had a sense of desperation and neediness for fashion.

HW: No, and I think fashion people are attracted to that.

“You can also learn in your own bedroom, there’s plenty to learn in your own space. It’s exciting for me now to experience some alone time.” – Harley Weir

TH: The caveat with that is that you say yes to too many things. So that kind of flips it.  There’s something that you like about working.

HW: I love being busy and I’m definitely a workaholic.

TH: And you enjoy working?

HW: I love working.

TH: What’s the difference between working on a team, verses alone on your own project?

HW: Hard fucking work  – really hard – harder. I think it’s really nice to collaborate and interesting things happen as well. I love to travel. I love learning. So the more I can learn from other people, the more that excites me, but then, at the same time, it’s good to be alone. You can also learn in your own bedroom, there’s plenty to learn in your own space. It’s exciting for me now to experience some alone time. Though I do find it hard because in my natural alone time I would just be picking dead leaves off plants.