Meet Samantha Fielding from London (via Sydney) who moved to LA 22 years ago to be close to her mother and sster who had moved over three years prior.
Was there a particular reason you chose LA?
I originally moved to San Diego but after 7 years down there I got the itch for more of a city lifestyle.
What do you miss most from home?
The British sense of humor.
What was your first impression of LA and has it changed since?
It’s a big city! The freeways were daunting. What do you find the biggest difference is living here versus London?
Sunshine and no public transport, oh and pie and mash shops. Cockney’s in Ladbroke Grove is a favourite in West London.
Do you have a hidden gem in LA that you want to share with us?
The is a great bar down the street from me called El Bar. It’s dark and gritty I love it. Also love the Black Cat for great seafood and The Little Door for atmosphere.
What would you suggest to others who are thinking about making the move here? LA is a great city to live in, not so good to visit, I find. It has a great music scene and nightlife, lots of bars and restaurants and you better like sushi, as we have some of the best in the world.
How can we find out more about you? I am a portrait photographer. Here is my website: www.samfielding.com and www.performerthebook.com. More recently I have been focusing on a personal project (called Performer) that has taken me to some very interesting places and with some very interesting people. It is based on night performers. Since starting this project every second with these performers has been incredible. I have found a new outlook, one that says it is ok to be different and to follow your dreams. These artists choose life. That has been my one of my favorite things so far. Getting to learn about how they became performers and how they chose their stage names is another. I have shot 45 performers so far between London, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Most have degrees of some sort and all are extremely well travelled. Most include some sort of subliminal message about gender or politics within their acts and have some beautiful things to say. They come from a good backgrounds, one has a twin that is a politician another’s father is a doctor, but once a performer there is no going back.
This project started out when I happened across a burlesque dancer and she asked me to photograph her. Having been a huge fan of dressing up myself I jumped at the chance to shoot her in all of her sequins and feathers. There started the birth for this project. It was kind of in my blood as I was raised by my mother who owned hair salons and nightclubs. Her club was next to a drag queen club and growing up I used to talk with these beauty queens and transvestites, so this is second nature to me. I set the bar high and once diving into this mysterious world and where the best night performers were the cities that kept coming up were London, Paris, Berlin, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. So I set myself a goal to get to these seven cities in three years to capture 100 of the best. It has been 18 months since I started and what an incredible journey. So many beautiful souls. I am constantly in awe.
I am heading to Paris in March and Berlin in Sept. I have already shot in London four times. Being British it was an easy start. I do however reside in Los Angeles. I am planning another trip to San Francisco, Las Vegas and New York this year too and I am always looking for unique creative talent.
Lastly lots of our members join our group Brits in LA seeking out words of wisdom – what is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
You have to get out there and socialize, like any city Los Angeles can be quite a lonely place.
Contact Sam through her Instagram page @performerthebook.
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