RADAR: Niamh Falter, Self Portrait Shero

In our ‘Selfie’ culture, every so often a true hero will arise and present a photo of ultimate self-confidence while blessing our social media screens. I’m sure we all agree that some selfies should be kept to oneself but, on the other side of the coin, there truly can be an art to it all. Meet Niamh Falter, a fearless self-portrait artist and editorial photographer that has been taking photos nearly every day of her life since the age of 10! I first discovered Niamh on planet selfie aka Instagram and instantly went down a rabbit hole scrolling through one image after another of Falter recreating her identity over and over with fashion, set design and cutting edge beauty. Her ability to share with the world her many alter egos, brilliantly executed and immortalized in photos, is a concept to be praised. As she masters her craft pursuing a photography degree at Savannah College of Art and Design, Falter continues to produce published work as well as her ongoing Self-Portrait series. For the launch of our ‘ones to watch’ RADAR series, I caught up with Niamh to go deeper into her universe and get some insight into her courageous creative process.

Can you define your views on the ‘selfie’ vs. the self-portrait? Why is it important in your art?
I love a selfie! I think they can be a great tool for self-confidence and (for me at least) a fun diary of different outfits, makeup looks, etc. But to me, a self-portrait is different because it’s an extensively planned image that’s meant more to be a “piece of art” than a snapshot. Often I want to express some emotion I’ve been feeling and just put it out there, like, is anyone else feeling this too? Really it’s just a way to connect with myself and hopefully others as well. Sometimes it’s just for fun! I still very much have that 12-year-old little girl inside of me who loves playing dress up, and I feel like that shows in lots of my work.

How long have you been a photographer and how would you describe the type of photographer you are?
This is a tough question. I’ve been taking photos since I was about 10 but started calling myself a photographer around 16 years old. My work/school friends would ask me to take their senior portraits and from there I began photographing babies, engagements, all of that. I think 18 was my first real fashion shoot, for the back cover of Azalea magazine. The entire time what I really wanted to do (and what I was doing on my own time) was somewhere between art and fashion, so I started to dedicate myself to that in 2017 at 23 years old...finally! When I’m at my best I create fashion-minded work with a fine art or surrealist feeling. I like experimenting by doing things like setting photos on fire or photoshopping in an extra limb. That’s when a photo feels most true to my style and excites me.

How do you get inspiration for the ideas you produce? What’s your creative process like?
My inspiration and process changes with every image. Sometimes a fully-fledged idea will pop up out of nowhere, and because I’m ridiculously impatient I just go into this mode that’s like “don’t drink, don’t blink, don’t breathe, just wanna’ get it done”. Those take maybe 4 hours from idea to finished photo. Other times I develop an idea bit by bit. I’ll see a piece of art that inspires me and take a photo of it, then hear a song and write it down, and so on. After a few weeks of that, an idea has formed from the mess. That’s a much more chill process!

What do you predict the future holds for your art? Any career goals?
I wish I had any idea of the future. Not knowing drives me crazy! I’ve done a handful of self-portrait shoots for different brands, being able to do that more often would be a dream. I always feel a strong bond with those clients. That one-on-one relationship between two types of creatives is special. I would love to find an art family here in the bay area, too! My ultimate dream is to be part of a power team of set designers, MUAs, stylists, etc. who make amazing editorial work for magazines and designers. I feel like that’s every fashion photographer's ideal life. For the time being, I’m working on my first book so that’s exciting! It’s been brewing in the back of my mind to make a self-portrait guide for years, so it feels like one of my long-term goals is finally coming to fruition.

Any favorite or funny memories of projects you worked on?
My first runway shoot was so fun. I was only 17 or 18 and got to work backstage for a few days, taking behind-the-scenes photos of the models getting their hair and makeup done and posing against a backdrop right before they hit the runway. It was the first time I was surrounded by all these crazy talented people who loved the same thing as me, it was like a dream! At lunch one day I told the lead hair/makeup artist that I really wanted to do editorial makeup, so she let me do makeup for three shows the next day. I got together the only “kit” that I could muster the night before and brought it along in the world’s tiniest Caboodle. The other MUAs were nice enough to let me borrow everything else. I made up and photographed so many faces that day. It was so fast-paced and fun. I learned a lot about photography and makeup really quickly. I wish I could snap my fingers and do it again right now!

How do you approach merging fashion and art?
Because I’m always immersing myself in clothes and makeup I feel like the photos I take naturally have a fashion side to them. I use my own closet, so I try to get creative with the styling when I can and make the clothes look more unique and less “I bought this at Target 5 years ago”. Most of the time I focus on the idea first, and from there I decide what kind of “character” best portrays that idea. What would that character wear? How would they do their makeup? Those kinds of things come more easily to me than coming up with ideas for photos. I think that the way people dress says so much about who they are as a person, so fashion and portraiture have a natural connection.

If you could change current art/fashion culture what would you do?
I wish that it were possible to make a living! I’ve never met a fashion photographer who doesn’t have another job or do one million other things on top of taking photos. If you want to be an artist you also have to sell lightroom actions, write books, plan workshops, make videos, manage a Patreon, and on and on. Luckily I enjoy those things, but I think it can be a tough industry for an artist who just wants to make and sell work or get hired to do shoots. Before social media came around, working in fashion was more often a real, sustainable job. Now it’s become industry standard for people to go out-of-pocket for a shoot. It’s the “if you really want it you’ll pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality that just doesn’t work for anyone but the top of the top. I’ve even seen “magazines” start to pop up that CHARGE people to feature their work. Like, you pay $50 and they’ll publish you, and then they make money off the magazine sales. It’s absolutely, completely insane. And people actually do it because they don’t know better or feel like they have no other choice. And, of course, then the magazines think, well what’s the point in paying someone for content if we can charge them to make content for us? It becomes this vicious cycle.

What is your superpower?
My superpower is problem-solving! Years of self-portraits without an arsenal of supplies made me very resourceful. I’ve used giant blue buckets over my lights as gels, made a million sets and props from cardboard, weighed down dark green fabric in my apartment pool with dumbbells to make it look like a deep swampy river, and so on. Self-portraits are all about doing the most you can with whatever you have on hand!