Lucy Helton

I’m a photographer and a producer and was born and raised in London.

I’ve spent 17 years working in the media industry. I began by freelancing for fashion photographer Elaine Constantine spending 4 years as her photo-assistant and later, production manager. Her shoots were wild and spontaneous, in a time when The Face and I.D. magazines were in their hay-day. I continued to freelance for fashion stylists, set designers and location managers, eventually choosing to pursue production management. Being hired by the Head of Production at RSA films, Ridley Scott’s commercial company in Soho, I found myself surrounded by wonderful directors such as Chris Cunningham, Sean Elis, Dawn Shadford and Adrian Moat. The caliber of their work inspired me to follow my creative dream and return to photography.

I moved to New York in the spring of 2002 and re-trained as a photo-assistant. I chose to work for still life and portrait photographers who use large-format cameras, such as Greg Miller and Grant Delin. After 4 years, I started the Documentary and Photojournalism course at the International Center of Photography, graduating in 2007.

I started my photographic series Rockne, Bastrop County, Texas in 2009 when I moved to Central Texas living in a small rural community during severe droughts and social economic problems. I believe in maintaining close relationships with my subjects; I use photography to understand who we are as humans.

Deciding to mix my production skills and passion for photography, I collaborated and realized 3 group photography exhibitions held in New York. This led to the co-founding of Sombra Projects, a platform for documentary and socially conscious art.

I live between Brooklyn, New York and London town.