South London photographer Ché Deedigan focuses his lens on the world around him. Deedigan takes a specialised approach to portrait photography and moving images, capturing the hyperreality of his social environment—the people and places closest to him. Inspired by his love of film and his parents' youth work, Deedigan seeks to explore the charm of adolescence and the fragility of coming-of-age. Here, he shares his motivations for working in this medium, reflects on matched sensibilities, and explains why it’s important to be both an observer and a romantic. – Amelia Szabo

SOPHIE MOORE Ché when were you first introduced to photography and what first drew you to the medium?

CHÉ DEEDIGAN I am lucky in that my older brother Conor is a huge cinephile and, from an extremely young age, would sit me down and show me some incredible films. This has definitely had a huge part to play in building my visual literacy. I first started taking photography seriously when I was a teenager as a way of improving my cinematography with aspirations of becoming a filmmaker. I developed a passion for photography from there.

SM Who inspires you the most, both within and beyond the realm of photography?

CD I’ve always admired people like Nan Goldin, Davide Sorrenti and Corinne Day, who all lived in New York or London and were embedded in subculture. However, after moving to London, I felt a real urgency to take more composed images that did not rely on waiting for candid opportunities. Opting to orchestrate my photos much more and making concepts the centre of my focus, I became really interested in people like Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Jeurgen Teller and Jeff Wall, to name a few.

Outside of photography, I’m definitely drawn to dichotomies in people. I like celebrities like Gervonta Davis and Chris Eubanks. I believe if you can emphasise juxtaposing ideals, you can deter black and white small-minded thinking. I think it’s easy to minimise people by pigeonholing them and I find these public figures so inspiring because they remind people how multi-faceted every person is. I’d love to create/celebrate characters like this in my work one day. 

SM In many of your photo series, you focus on ideas of youth and adolescence. What is it about the idea of youth that appeals to you?

CD My parents started a not-for-profit when I was a child, which my dad still runs. It mainly consists of alternative provision and community projects for children who aren’t in full-time education. It’s something I have been involved in since I was very young, coming to visit their music studios and after-school clubs, as well as going on residential trips with other young people during school holidays. I later worked there as an adult for a number of years as a facilitator, teaching 8- to 16-year-olds photography and filmmaking.

My parents have really shown me how crucial those coming-of-age years are, and that definitely influences my photography. 

I’m also really interested in how being in your twenties in the current social climate can stir arrested development. There is such rampant political and social disenfranchisement, so you end up nostalgic for youth and adolescence that you haven’t technically left. That’s something I really want to continue to explore.

SM How is the creative process different when you are collaborating with others? Do you find it more challenging or more enriching?

CD In a recent partnership with stylist Justine Doméjean, I felt for the first time that I truly collaborated on the creative direction. It’s not an undertaking I took lightly but from very early on, it became immediately apparent that we were very much on the same wavelength, with a list of very similar references and sensibilities to match. Arguably even more important is energy on set; I think it’s so important from cast and crew when trying to create a successful image. As time goes on, I think about the importance of dynamics on set. And that’s something I’m really grateful to have felt so naturally with Justine. 

SM What motivates you conceptually? Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the series Neighbourhood Girls?

CD Justine and I teamed up for the second time to shoot Neighbourhood Girls. The inception of the idea stemmed from a conversation we had about the types of girls in large friendship groups in our hometowns growing up. And how stylistically they blended traditionally masculine and feminine traits and were always good at football. We wanted to champion them. 

SM Which direction do you see yourself taking your photography in the future?

CD I’d like to work on a series where the ‘fiction’ of the photo is heavily affected by its execution in real life. Something like Jeurgen Teller’s book Go Sees, for example, where the concept of the book adds so many layers to the loaded interactions he captures. It makes it all the more interesting to me. 

Shooting young children could be a really interesting way to toe this line between the fiction of the story you are creating and the reality of the environment you’re photographing. Children are often so inherently themselves, even on camera, because they haven’t learnt how (or maybe don’t feel the need) to act or mask as much yet.

SM What has your work taught you about yourself?

CD I think that photography has made me identify some aspects of my personality that I hadn’t necessarily recognised before. To be a photographer, or really any type of artist, you have to be two things: an observer and a romantic. If you aren’t a romantic, you wouldn’t feel the need to document and celebrate that specific niche part of the world that fascinates you. If you aren’t an observer, you might miss it to begin with.

photographer CHÉ DEEDIGAN
stylist JUSTINE DOMÉJEAN
hair and make-up MIA CAIN
styling assistants FLOSSIE KILINGLEY
photography assistants WILL SMITH and GRACE RICHARDSON
models EFFIE and EMANUELA (lauren van meeuwen)
opening image EFFIE wears SARAH GARFIELD top, stylist's own earrings EMANUELA wears HERETIC NINE dress, GUESS ORIGINALS hoodie, LAG WORLD necklace