Luna Sweetheart: Gemma Chua-Tran
☆ By Saachi Gupta ☆
Photos provided by Gemma Chua-Tran
ENTICING AND SWEET - Gemma Chua-Tran captures her work with an elegant touch. An actor who has appeared in ABC's “Mustangs FC” and Disney's “Back of the Net” amongst other works, Tran first picked up photography as a hobby in school.
Since then, her passion has grown, and her photography has developed into something more distinct and eye-catching. Through colors and a sweet feel to her images, Tran creates photos that capture viewer for more than just a quick glance. As a queer woman of color in a male-dominated industry, Chua-Tran aims to change the narrative and provide the representation that marginalized communities crave. Her photographs are taken to stun, amaze, and make an impact that lingers on long after the photo was first seen.
Read on to learn more about Chua-Tran's inspirations, style of photography and how her acting and photography intersect.
LUNA: How are you taking care of yourself these days? How’s your quarantine experience been like in Australia?
CHUA-TRAN: Having to go back home was quite a shock to me, but I’ve spent a lot of this time hanging out with my younger sister as we’ve been stuck at home together. It’s been so easy to fall into a routine of doing absolutely nothing, so I’ve been trying my best to pick up new hobbies (it’s not really working). Since restrictions in Sydney have been loosened, I’ve done a couple small shoots with friends which has definitely helped me get out of this creative slump.
LUNA: You got into photography as a hobby alongside film making and animation. What’s the transition from “I take pictures for fun” to “This is part of my career and people pay me to take photos” been like for you?
CHUA-TRAN: I’m honestly still transitioning into the career stage! My best friend introduced me to film photography as a whole, so seeing him flourish into somebody who does do it for a career definitely helped me see that it was actually possible and that I could do it as well. At the moment, I still find it difficult to ask people to pay me for my work since anybody can take a good photo and I truly just enjoy shooting.
LUNA: What are some of the main ways you’ve seen your style / creative process evolve since you first started?
CHUA-TRAN: It’s so exciting looking back at old works and seeing how much progress I’ve made just from practice! When I first started out, I shot a lot of street photography because it was always readily available. I shoot mostly portraits now; I’m still experimenting with various aesthetics, but I always tend to enjoy a clean image with minimal lines and flat colours. I purchased the cutest little handheld LED light and I’ve been having so much fun experimenting with it!
LUNA: Does your approach differ when pursing a brand project vs. studio vs. personal?
CHUA-TRAN: I don’t know if I’m qualified enough to answer this one! I take inspiration from the brands previous work, so my pictures blend in with their initial style. For my persona work, I have a dangerous obsession with Pinterest and I’ll try to find models/stylists to match a mood board, but usually I just like to hang out with the model beforehand and we walk around and shoot.
LUNA: Why were you drawn to film photography over digital?
CHUA-TRAN: I’m going to be honest with you, I hate trying to coax nice colours out of digital photography. Looking through digital images almost seems like a chore after the shoot but every single time I get a Dropbox link back, it’s like the Christmas I never had. The colours, the process and the time spent into curating an image on film just has something more tangible than shooting on a digital camera.
LUNA: How do acting and photography intersect? Does one help the other?
CHUA-TRAN: Having friends who are already comfortable in front of the camera helps a lot when I want to just hang out and shoot. Knowing what works in front of the camera in terms of lighting and positioning from an actor’s standpoint also translates to my photography and guiding models when posing etc.
LUNA: What do you want to make people feel with your work?
CHUA-TRAN: Not everybody I shoot with is a classified ‘model’, and it is truly such a fulfilling feeling when the person gets excited about how the image turned out and the way they look.
LUNA: What/who are you drawing inspiration from lately?
CHUA-TRAN: I’ve been definitely going on Instagram for inspiration, a couple photographers I look up to are @peggyshootsfilm, @jmtubera and @kwlsey.
LUNA: What is a piece of art that has impacted you deeply?
CHUA-TRAN: Not any specific piece of art but the images and powerful statements coming out from the Black Lives Matter movement make me want to make a tangible change in the world.
LUNA: How important is representation to you as an artist? What role are you trying to play in impacting that end of the industry?
CHUA-TRAN: I think, as a queer woman of colour, the creative industry is so male dominated, every story has an internalized bias and I want to change that. To be able to work for a high-end magazine without being the ‘token’ diversity girl is the dream.
LUNA: This is a super broad question to take it how you like of course - what’s next for you?
CHUA-TRAN: I’m currently studying a Bachelor of Design at Whitehouse! It’s exciting and it’s really good learning the basics from an educative standpoint. I still can’t use the adobe suite proficiently and let me tell you, it is stressful. Hopefully I can incorporate my photography and design skills into making a zine or photobook!
CONNECT WITH GEMMA CHUA-TRAN
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From Pavietra 🕊️ https://t.co/BXVgWlZud8 -
slowthai by Rosie Matheson 🤩 https://t.co/z7SDfFQ5iF
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RT @i_D: Ian Kenneth Bird photographs young punks on Polaroid: https://t.co/MKT0tMUqO9 https://t.co/a0tTl12ML5
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RT @AnOtherMagazine: #DreamHome – this isolated idyll in the mountains of Lanzarote 🌵 📸 via Nowness, photography by Clemence Blr 🔁 https://t.co/GUusdxD0cg