Headline artist
Jillian Edelstein, the headline artist of Stardust, is an internationally acclaimed photographer renowned for her compelling portraits of artists, writers, musicians and public figures. Her photographs are held in major public and private collections, and her work has been widely exhibited and published internationally.
Born in Cape Town, Jillian started her career working as a press photographer. In the eighties she moved to London, where she is currently based, to study photojournalism. Her portraits have been featured in many major international publications, from The New York Times Magazine through to Vogue, and her work has been recognised and exhibited worldwide.
Between 1996 and 2002, Jillian produced a significant project documenting the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, which culminated in her book Truth and Lies, published in 2002, which went on to win the John Kobal Book Award. We caught up with Jillian to find out more about her career and her individual approach to her portrait commissions.
Q Great to meet you Jillian! Can you tell us a little about your background please?
I discovered the Film and Photographic Society on campus while enrolled as a student at The University of Cape Town in the social sciences faculty. Using a camera, the injustice of the oppressive Apartheid system, and early visits to the townships led to my decision to become a photographer.
I began assisting professional fashion and commercial photographers in Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa. Learning darkroom skills at the Space Theatre, I shifted to working as a press photographer in Johannesburg during the height of the Apartheid era. As the State of Emergency was declared in 1985, I left my position at the Star newspaper in order to attend the LCC’s first year of their photojournalism course.
While on the course I was ‘picked up’ by the Photo Editor of The Sunday Times, who said to me ‘what are you doing here?’ I had won two awards – one was a World Press Award, plus I had spent time printing up my portfolio in the press darkroom. At The Sunday Times I was commissioned to shoot many portraits of celebrities. Because of my assisting experience I knew how to set up for the studio, how to light, how to process and print; portrait and documentary photography became equal in focus.
Q Was it a little daunting at first to find yourself in the celebrity arena and how do you prepare for a session with someone who already has such a high profile and potentially a public perception about their image?
At first it was a little daunting but then it didn’t take long to begin to look at high profile personalities as people. They were people that I highly respected, but also that I needed to concentrate simply and strongly on, producing the strongest visual capture that I could, one that would do them justice, that would highlight their personality and that would somehow surprise the viewer, which I believe any good and respected portrait artist should do when they go about this privileged work. And I use that word privilege, because it is a privilege to meet the very people that one admires, and respects, and I value the fact that I’ve been chosen by a commissioning editor to do that.
