58 INTERVIEW BY GINNY FARRELL Claire Gillo
From photographing live music and coastal weddings to documenting everyday life during lockdown, local photographer Claire Gillo loves telling stories through images. Running two photography businesses, she brings a quietly observant style to everything from small business branding to wedding days - always searching for the moments that feel most real. Ginny Farrell met up with Claire at Blackpool Sands Café to find out more about her path to becoming one of the area’s most in-demand photographers.
O
n any given week Claire might be found photo- graphing a local café, at
the edge of a stage capturing the energy of a live music performance, documenting behind-the-scenes moments at a theatre production, or shooting a wedding somewhere along the South Hams coastline. Based in the village of Strete, she
runs two photography businesses. Claire Gillo Photography focuses on commercial, portrait, lifestyle and event work; while Salty Rose Weddings is her wedding photogra- phy brand. Living on the coast with her two young children, much of her work happens close to home, oſten within the familiar curve of the South Hams coastline. Her approach is simple: observe what’s happening and capture it
honestly. Claire is also interested in the small details that help show the personality of a place or an event. “Real moments are usually far
more interesting than anything you could stage,” she says.
“I love finding the little details that show what someone’s about.”
Creativity runs in Claire’s family.
Her father, John Gillo, is a success- ful local painter known for his expressive depictions of the River Dart, Dartmouth harbour and the surrounding South Hams Coastline. But while he works with paint and canvas, Claire found her own way into visual storytelling through
photography. While studying photography at
Arts University Bournemouth she became fascinated by the origins of photography, experimenting with early photographic processes such as cyanotypes and exploring the effect of light on photographic paper. “It wasn’t commercial work at all,”
she says. “But it helped me under- stand photography at its core level and also to think creatively.” Like many graduates, Claire leſt
university with enthusiasm but no obvious career path. Aſter her personal circumstances
changed she temporarily crashed on a friend’s sofa, and worked at a local aquarium while figuring out what to do next. “You leave university thinking
you’re going to be an artist and people
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