Seasoned photographers Rosie Hardy and Rachel Sherlock have teamed up for a joint production house Hardy Sherlock. Below, they tell Wonderland all about it.
A conjoining of visions, an intwining of minds. Experienced and industry-revered photographers Rosie Hardy and Rachel Sherlock have, in coalescence, opened a new chapter in their rise to the visual cutting-edge, unveiling their united enterprise as Hardy Sherlock. Having both worked with major brands and magazines, the pair are now approaching the discipline from a collective front, and look set to continue to make their mark on the photography circumference.
Below, in a Wonderland exclusive, the two friends and trailblazers discuss their partnership, building a visual identity, and divulge what really makes a good photograph.
Read the interview…
Congratulations on joining together! What inspired you both to join forces and create this partnership?
Rachel: After many trips around the sun together and working our way through the different corners of the industry, it felt like a natural next step to put our heads together and start focusing on production. While I’ve been in the studio working in commercial and editorial spaces for folks like Rolling Stone and Vogue Asia, Rosie has been on location building a profile creating big digital art pieces for Disney and Kryolan. Having worked together and separately on a huge variety of projects, now was the time to go all in on our very own production house.
Rosie: Finding a good partnership is also such a challenge – Rachel and I have been through 15 years of solid friendship, too! This has accidentally built a really strong foundation of understanding each other, being able to complement each other and some very decent practice of lifting each other out of the depths of despair! Our skill sets are also quite diverse – my work is generally on-location and image manipulation heavy, whereas Rachel has the high-end studio experience nailed. Together, there’s nothing that would be new to us!
What do you think makes a compelling visual identity, and how do you help artists and businesses achieve it?
We really truly believe that it all comes down to connection. Helping a person or brand show their identity through stills involves all sorts of weird and wonderful people coming together, blending their skills, and achieving a final result a business or artist can be proud of. Connecting with those people is where it all begins and is arguably the absolute most important element of production. Leading with kindness and developing strong relationships with the right lighting director or florist or styling team will make all the difference when the time comes to bring an idea to life. No matter what the project is, visual identity blossoms when you choose the right people to invest in. No one wants to come to set and feel like they can’t relax, be welcomed as themselves, and have a good time! You get the best out of everyone when you create that environment.
What are the key elements that turn a good photograph into an unforgettable one?
Rosie: In a world that’s flooded with visual media, making our images stand out is super important – for us AND our clients. On our side, the starting point is a whole heap of research (a very sexy answer so far, I know). Think of it like baking a cake – if you miss one ingredient out, the whole cake can go completely wrong. And it’s not just about getting “anything will do” ingredients – it’s about making sure each one is carefully considered, weighed and stirred with enthusiasm, with some lovely music in the background.
Rachel: Deep diving into a business or artist’s previous work, learning about where they’ve come from, asking where they want to go, understanding their audience and the imagery they’re drawn to, all this exploration helps us build a solid foundation for our Photography Cake. From there, it really comes down to approaching the creative process with no fear whatsoever. If we’ve done the groundwork properly and truly understand who we’re working with, then every idea is worth writing down. We’ll get all our creative thoughts on the table and see how the vision develops when we’re not afraid to throw everything at the wall. After those early stages, with a lot of care and communication, we gradually form a concept and settle on a plan that will produce fresh, striking and beautiful imagery!
Can you share an example of a project that perfectly encapsulates the Hardy Sherlock approach?
We’ve been so lucky to work with many brilliant brands throughout our careers – Canon, Harper’s Bazaar, Adobe, Amazon Music and Logitech to name a few. We’ve also been working on an incredible production this week with a streaming giant and are so looking forward to sharing the results of that – keep an eye out for updates on all our socials!
If a brand or artist wants to build a strong visual identity, what’s the first piece of advice you would give them?
Call us crazy, but we would recommend doing it the Agatha Christie way. She famously began her novels by deciding on what would happen at the end, and from there she worked backward. Decide on your end goal, however that looks to you. Think about how you want your audience to react when they see the photos, figure out logistical details like social media mapping, decide on the atmosphere you want to create when you view your digital assets library as a whole. If you know where you want your visual identity to be by the end of a project, you’ll be able to progress with confidence and get the absolute most out of a production.
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