It was the legendary Ansel Adams who famously asserted that: “Photography is an austere and blazing poetry of the real.” Undoubtedly, this quote applies to Selena Jutton’s immense passion for photography. Her work gives a real, meaningful insight into who she is as an individual. Though a high-spirited, cultured and amicable woman, when it comes to her photography, details and quality are of optimum priority to Selena. “I love to express my creativity, but I also like to ensure things are done well. I work off my mood so I may take a day, an hour, or even 30 minutes to work on a photo. I just have to be satisfied by the outcome!”
Her photography brand ‘Moods Lens’ captures the cultural and ethnic diversity of Caribbean women within unique visual contexts and eye-catching aesthetics. “I officially started photography four months ago, but I’ve been doing it on my own, for my Instagram page. The editing is where the magic is for me, so I would ask random people to quickly snap pictures of me and I would just edit them to perfection. I wanted the quality of the work to look a particular way and for it to express the type of person I am”.
Jutton’s approach to photography, retouching, and editing is a needed departure from the stereotypical images put out by many Caribbean photographers. “I sometimes have a reference which most time doesn’t work out the way I initially plan but I end up loving it more than I envisioned. However it’s usually hard to settle on satisfying my desire for perfection regarding my art.”
Regardless of how talented you are and how big your dreams are, if you do not know the value of working professionally, communicating promptly, and paying attention to details, success will be nothing more than an illusion for you. Jutton explained: “I can’t allow my obsession with perfection to hinder me from moving forward with my art. It’s like a perpetual battle for me in that sense” Having had marketing stints in corporate Jamaica, with companies like Epican, it’s no surprise that Jutton understands how to brand herself in an alluring manner. This is exactly why she has captured the hearts of so many, both with her photography and her endeavours as a model.
Individuals who are popular on social media often run the risk of overexposure. At times, the demarcations between personal life and public influence get blurry, and quite frankly people get tired of ‘influencers’ very quickly. If your eyes have ever been privileged to come across the profile of Selena Jutton, then immediately you understand that she does not fall into this category. “To be honest, I was surprised at how fast my following grew, but Instagram is not the real world and I’m tired of these cliché portrayals of life that come with it. Our real culture is still maintained in the countryside of Jamacia and that’s where I find most of my inspiration. I love that raw and authentic expression of our culture and that’s all Instagram is to me…just expressing who I am as a creative.”
Very few people have anything they can say about Selena Jutton, other than the undeniable fact, that she is breathtakingly beautiful. As stunning as she is, it would be culturally irresponsible to extol her for the beauty alone. Her astounding talent as a photographer is equally as compelling as her luminescent melanin skin. In a paradigm of social media where so many influencers are seen as nuisances with very little substance, it’s refreshing and inspiring to see the work Jutton has created thus far – ‘Moods Lens’.
