Fantasy X Horror
Gabriel Monteregge, a London-based photographer, skillfully merges their unique fantasy vision with compelling character-driven and narrative elements. Their work is instantly recognizable for its distinctive flair and creative approach. We recently had a chance to catch up with Gabriel to delve deeper into their artistic process and perspective.
Fabrik: Hey Gabriel, thanks for taking the time to talk to us! We're big fans of your work, how would you describe what you do?
Gabriel: "To describe what I do I would begin to say I came from a storytelling background as a filmmaker and crossed into the world of lighting for photography. So after years of being a lighting technician, I began shooting primarily as a fashion photographer. I also can't resist dipping in and out of some cinematography work."
Fabrik: One of the first things people will notice when they see your portfolio is your incredibly unique and refined style, have you had any major influences?
Gabriel: "Thank you so much for your kind words about my work, in regard to major influences the main master I keep topping up on is the work of Yoshitaka Amano. The real sense of world-building, elegance and seduction in his work always draws me in and keeps me experimenting with the visual format.
Besides him one of the most real-life major influences has been the photographer I've worked with the most who goes by Jaw Midnight. No doubt their style and boldness has impacted my own for the better. I'm forever grateful for the relationship we have and the fact we still get to collaborate to this day."
Fabrik: Did you quickly fall into creating work in this style, or is it something that emerged over time?
Gabriel: "The style I work in has emerged over time and will continue to change. I feel like with each project comes an opportunity to experiment and extend your brushstroke or sense of style. It's also nice to take the viewer out of what they're so familiar with. There's always a way to shock someone with a culmination in a visual piece that they have never registered before or in a long time. Personally I feel the more I look away from photos and into a lot more painting and illustrative work, I can see ways to test my style and add elements I've never considered.
Fabrik: Do you have any standout projects or jobs you’ve worked on?
Gabriel: "For me personally, I would consider my cover shoot with Bimini for tmrw mag a stand out piece. This is because the mag actually didn't accept any of my own style/versions of the shoot. So, once I had compromised, it became this huge personal journey to edit those images and find myself in them after the fact the shoot went to print.
After this experience of pure rejection, just finding that place where everything sat in my own world with its original intention just showcased to me really what this artform is all about. I just had to find myself in these images to move on, even if they weren't the front cover or spread in the magazine."
Fabrik: What’s on the horizon for you (if you’re allowed to divulge)?
Gabriel: "On the horizon for me, to be honest, should be more editorials building on short stories that are accompanied by short films. These are slices of narratives I'm able to tell and lean more into my fantasy-meets-horror world. Besides that I'm on the lookout for some more long-term projects with brands so that I can build up more long-form narratives. A campaign would be perfect to set a character of mine loose and give everyone more than just a slice of a story. "
Fabrik: What’s your favourite feature of Fabrik?
Gabriel: "What made me join Fabrik was the easier learning curve applied to the site-building. The fact it's tailored towards creative occupations means it's super intuitive to navigate and format as a creative. Keeping things less dense and technical really helped me at a time when I needed all my work established as a portfolio in a short space of time for an affordable rate. "
Fabrik: What’s your favourite feature of Fabrik?
Gabriel: "My favourite feature really is the style of layouts and formatting options that follow a real clean and minimal aesthetic. The main mission is to display my photos and videos so the fact that it's easy not to overload the webpage with formatting options such as breaks or features is perfect."
Fabrik: Thanks for chatting with us Gabriel - lastly, any advice for budding photographers looking to pave a freelance career?
Gabriel: "So the advice I would give would be to seek out assisting work with visual artists that you feel comfortable around. I feel like it's important to avoid toxic environments so that you can keep on top of practicing and learning without falling out of love with the art form due to a toxic influence. This will help with the longevity of your working relationships. Besides this I would say it's important to keep consuming your artform, and if you get bored of strictly looking at one, start looking at another to cross reference, e.g painting references for photo and video ideas are always out-of-this-world inspiring."
Gabriel uses Canvas, a feed-style theme featuring a sidebar and layout options aimed at providing more control over the placement of text and images. A great choice for portfolios that require images to be displayed uncropped or in portrait format.
