Sweet, Sweet 16

“I am inspired daily by the people I’ve met on Flickr, they make my life a little bit better every day.”

Like most other 16-year-old girls, Laurence Philomene is planning for college (Dawson College in Montreal to study photography). She enjoys long walks,and rollerskating in summer. She’s also a “big fan of reading and writing. Until last year, I used to write in my diary every day, but lately I’m just too tired and lazy for that.” But unlike most girls her age, Laurence Philomene is already a photographer with a global fan base and an acute eye for fashion. She had a Flickr Pro account that blows up every time she posts an image.

“My parents gave me my first camera when I was 5 years old. As a kid, I loved to take photos. It was a natural thing to do for me,” she writes in English, via email. (“Actually, my first language is French. I learned English by myself over the past few years, and I’m definitely not perfect at it!”) “I would look at photo albums for hours and hours - I still do. I got my first digital camera for my 12th birthday, and that’s when I started taking pictures more regularly. In 2006, I discovered Blythe Dolls, quickly became obsessed with them, and made a Flickr account. At first I almost only posted photos of dolls, but after a while I started uploading more personal work as well.”

Although her stylized photography draws inspiration from prominent sources--"I love Annette Messager, Mark Ryden, Sofia Coppola, Wes Anderson, Tim Walker, Eleanor Hardwick, Gina Garan, Anna Gaskell, Lina Scheynius, Nicoletta Ceccoli… Actually, I don’t think this list would ever end,” she says--she is equally inspired by the community that continues to encourage her. “I am inspired daily by the people I’ve met on Flickr, they make my life a little bit better every day.” Similarly her ambitions are very grounded. “I would love to be a freelance fashion photographer, and maybe some day have my own little gallery. That would be nice.”