When I first saw Anna Jane’s images, I was struck by their freshness and simplicity. They are soft, romantic and dreamy, and a tiny bit whimsical.

Her beautiful images revolve around the purity of beach, sky, and flowers; the colour schemes are often worked around a single hue. The colours are clear and bright, and are filled with shades of pink, aqua and mint. But despite the apparent simplicity, these are not random shots. These are very carefully composed – they focus tightly on a single subject and contain nothing unnecessary, and often utilise strong diagonals to produce images that always appear dynamic and fresh, full of light and air.

 

 

I asked Anna recently about her work with mylittlepixels, and her formative influences.

“During my uni days I worked in a photography lab, developing film as digital cameras hadn’t quite taken off yet. It was still quite expensive to buy film and have it processed, so even though I enjoyed photography I didn’t spend as much time with it as I do now.

However, when I got a DSLR, the camera really allowed me to be able to create wherever I went and whenever I felt like it. I started uploading my photos to flickr and got lots of positive comments, but when people ‘in real life’ started asking me how much a canvas would cost, or how big they could have a photo printed, I realised that my work appealed to other people too, and my business has spiralled from there.”

 

 

 

But waaay back, what was it like?

“I was very creative as a child, and I put a lot of effort into my homework! I remember trying to make it look like pages out of a magazine. I also used to spend hours sketching out designs for my barbie dolls; be it clothing designs, or props that I could make for them. I took it all very seriously.

My earliest memory of photography is receiving a 110 film camera for my birthday one year. Unfortunately for me, the camera had a slight delay between the shutter and the film, so I would try to take pictures of scenery, but unknowingly ended up taking pictures of my feet!”

 

 

 

Creativity, and a strong sense of the graphic is in the blood, and she counts herself lucky.

“My parents owned a craft store for 20 years, so I was always surrounded by all the art and craft supplies that I could have possibly wanted, as well as my mum’s creativity and ideas.

My grandfather was an artist, but to pay the bills he used to do graphic design work, designing signage, posters and ads for local department stores. He used to show me the pages and pages of typography practice he had done; he had to master the hand-drawing of typefaces for each design, as this was before the age of the computer! Birthdays and Christmas always meant beautiful hand-illustrated cards from him and I was always very impressed by the artistry and craftmanship that this required. To this day, I feel inspired by the beautiful, clean typography that was his specialty.”

More broadly, her influences include Andy Warhol, Cuba Gallery, and her home town of Hobart.

“Warhol is a big inspiration for me, both visually and philosphically. His ideas about allowing yourself to be excited by the banal, ordinary aspects of life have influenced how I approach photography; I am constantly looking for art in everyday places. Once you allow yourself to really see your surroundings, you can think about them creatively. I also adore the photography of Cuba Gallery, with their unique perspective on landscapes and their use of colour and design principles.

My favourite thing in Hobart would be the abundance of beautiful beaches. I can’t imagine what it would be like living completely inland and not being able to see the water. I actually have a small beach at the bottom of my street!”

Sounds idyllic!

 

 

And the best piece of advice she’s ever been given?

“Don’t compare yourself to other people.”

You can find more of Anna’s work in her Etsy shop, mylittlepixels.

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I would like to thank Anna for her words, and the use of her images.