Spanish born Ana Cuba is a photographer living and working between London, UK and Barcelona; where she took a course in audio visual communication before accepting a role as a photo editor in London. This time spent as a photo editor shaped her approach to photography because for three years, in her own words, she was the client. Commissioning work, she gained much of the elusive experience required to work effectively in the commercial photographic world. 

We caught up with Ana to discuss photography, life, the struggles of working as a commercial photographer and how that balance with personal work can be crucial. 

“I’m not the kind of photographer that had grandparents with really beautiful cameras that got passed down to me, or a mum who was a photographer. My parents weren't interested in the arts and I didn’t have a particularly creative education, very traditional and in fact, I hated art as a subject at school. It was the only subject which I struggled with, not being sure of how to prepare for a lesson or what good work was, it made me feel uncomfortable. It wasn’t until university that I was introduced to photography while on a course in Barcelona, studying audio visual communication. I had a boyfriend at the time who was a photographer and he got me started with cameras and shooting." 

Ana shot on a LEICA R8 / Leitz 50mm Summicron f/2

“I always shot film, I went immediately to a medium format Mamiya 645 camera. I must have seen someone using the camera on Flickr maybe and thought I wanted to try it. I’ve stuck to the 645 format since then actually, but I think the autofocus 645 systems are really great to use, and I like the idea of getting two more frames on a roll versus the 67 format; which I also find the body too large. After the Mamiya autofocus system, I now shoot on the Contax 645 which I always shoot on now. I don’t think I’m a kind of tech nerdy camera owner though, I see it as something I need to feel comfortable with and then I stick to it. I don’t really like to try new cameras much, I like to stick with what I know and feel comfortable shooting on.”

“I applied for an internship at Monocle Magazine, I was in Barcelona and I got it; I say I got it, like it was a massive achievement to get it [laughs], basically you work almost for free for three months. I was working in the photo department and they kept extending my role, and in the end offered me a job as a picture editor. I was commissioning photography there for three years, which I really liked, I loved the people that I worked with and it had never crossed my mind to become a photographer. The people I regularly commissioned were so talented, that I thought there was no way I could compete. I soon got tired of the internal politics, there was no progression for me there and so I left.”

Ana shot on a LEICA R8 / Leitz 50mm Summicron f/2

“I decided I wanted to be an art director, and I was confused because they were almost always designers, and not photographers or coming from a photographic background. I went to study art direction in Switzerland, but unfortunately I didn’t much like the school and the approach, so I left. It was an old school approach which didn’t suit my personality. I then got offered a photo director job at a platform Vice created with i-D called Amuse, which wasn’t so successful; though everyone thought the pictures looked nice [laughs]. Finally I said to myself, I would rather work in a cafe than work at Vice and became freelance. Fortunately I never had to work in a cafe as I had a lot of contacts, and from there I've always been a freelance photographer.”

“In the beginning I wasn’t picky at all, I would do a shoot here and there for £300 or whatever came my way to build up some experience. I got some experience at Monocle and Vice because sometimes I would shoot the articles, like one time I shot Harmony Korine, which was amazing but the portraits weren’t so good to be honest [laughs]. I had forgotten to ask the gallery to turn off the lights, which made weird shadows on his face. These kinds of things you have to learn by doing, or I shot Hans Ulrich Obrist for Amuse which has some pressure attached. It all helped, all of the experience I gained along the way.”

Images copyright Ana Cuba / Portraits copyright Jonnie Craig

To see more of Ana's work, please visit her website by clicking here.