There's massive shifts in the industry right now
I'm not about any of the male gaze bullshit
My name is Erica Von Stein and I'm a photographer
I grew up in Shettleston which is in the East End of Glasgow
Not an area which is known for its great reputation
But to be honest I always liked it
Turn your head this way and then prepare to swing
I can't tell you the moment I first picked up a camera
but I've always had sort of cameras in my life
Didn't necessarily have an awful lot of money
And not a massive amount of opportunities for creatives
so there was no access to photography related resources or courses
Or subjects at school
My uncle loved photography and videography
So he was in charge of all, the sort of family, home movies
so I was introduced to it from a young age out with education and financial limitations
So that's where it started for me
and what sparked my initial interest there
and it's just been a passion ever since
Okay, just look straight at me
At first it was like quite a long transition for me to find fashion per se
I just started off taking pictures of my friends really badly
then a friend asked me to shoot their wedding
So that spiralled on and before I know it
I had shot a whole ton of weddings
It wasn't really where I had intended on going with it
but because people were grateful about seeing my wedding photography and appreciated it
I just kind of went down that path
And then I started working as a nightclub photographer
I worked with lots of drag queens
I did photography for some queens from RuPaul's Drag Race
and then it kind of just evolved into fashion somehow
When Instagram first popped its head up
I made one of them
It just became a bit more connected, networked
rather than thinking of it as like me taking pictures my friends
It was more about the team
I think fashion is a massive collaboration
if you think of a fashion shoot as sort of a pyramid or a Jenga game
Like there's not one block that you can remove
without the whole thing collapsing
you need good models
you need good lighting, you need assistants
you need make-up, you need hair
you need the stylist, you need the art director
you need the photographer
So, really, it's actually quite nice to be...
you know, you're not the most important person on the shoot
it is like a proper unified chain
I like the busy-ness
the clothes are going everywhere
there's colours and there's make-up
and there's glitter spilled on the floor
That excites me
So I think one of the best moments for me as a photographer
is when I got my first image approved onto PhotoVogue
which is Vogue Italia's platform for photographers
The first time I got that, I was quite ecstatic
and I've had about 26 on Vogue Italia now
But getting that first one
because I'd been trying, and trying and trying
and getting the first one in there was always the hardest
once you've kinda proved you can do it once
it's a domino effect from there
But that first one was a bit of a nightmare
I'm quite hard on myself as well
so the achievements that I want to do
You know I've maybe won "X" award or been in "X" magazine
but I never really think of it like that
I always just think of what am I going to do next
what's the next project
am I going to do a photo book
am I going to an exhibition for this
so I'm always thinking of the next one
and not so much focussing on what I've done in the past
But I would say Vogue Italia was definitely one of the most exciting ones
There's massive shifts in the industry right now
I think I'm quite lucky that I haven't experienced any issues around the #metoo scandal
Perhaps that is because I'm a bit of a scary bitch myself
But I work with female models who are 15/16 years old
who have been put in uncomfortable positions
been persuaded to pose in underwear or nude with the promise of being published in magazines
earning careers, and that is just not what I'm about
I'm not about any of the male gaze bullshit
and I think the more we stick up for each other
and the more we speak about these issues
the faster we can stamp them out
and have a bit of a brighter industry in the future