JONATHAN CHERRY: What gets you up in the morning?

REBECCA MILLER: Today its Jet Lag, 4 am in California, but yesterday it was my friends cat that has been staying with my for a few months he yells at me for food in the morning.

JC: Are there any emerging photographers inspiring you at the moment?

RM: I am unsure as to who is emerging and who is established. At what point do you stop emerging? I ask myself questions like this all the time. Is there ever a time when you aren’t climbing anymore and you can just feel like ” Ok here I am, I’m at the top, I’ve made it” I wonder what its like to be Paolo Roversi or Annie Leibovitz or anyone at the top of their game. I suppose its a whole new set of worries when you’re up there.

Anyway I can tell you what contemporary photographers I have been in love with recently.

Bryan Schutmaat makes me want to escape with nothing but film and a good camera.

Scarlett Hooft Graafland makes me want to escape into my own head for a while to see what happens. She is so clever and I love the space that she leaves.

Eliot Lee Hazel makes me want to live in a completely different world all together. I love how surreal everything feels.

Maja Daniels makes me want to find Monette and Mady and make friends with them. Definitely check out her Monette and Mady series.

And my latest crush is Thomas Devaux, his photos are the kind of photography that made me want to be a photographer in the first place. Reminiscent of the greats Paolo Roversi and Sarah Moon but he definitely has his own vision.

JC: What is your current project all about?

RM: I don’t want to say too much, its still working itself all out to be honest. But I’ll say a little bit about the project. I have spent the past few years researching my family history and last year I spent 5 months traveling around the states documenting what I’ve learned through my research. I’m basically looking to create a family album. Thats kind of the most basic way of putting it.

JC: How do you find juggling personal & commercial work?

RM: Well it is a bit of a juggle. The commercial work funds the personal work, there is no way I could operate without both. Sometimes the personal work has to be put on hold just to raise the funds which is a bit frustrating. I have never applied for an artists grant or found myself a sugar daddy but there are times when both seem appealing. I do miss art school where you spend your days just doing work that is just feeding your own brain.

JC: Any advice to recent photography graduates?

RM: This is a really tricky business to be in, especially right now. I think you really just need to keep going, if you really want something you have to keep pushing, learn to take rejection, learn to live on very little money (at least for a while), learn to be self motivated, learn to stick to your own vision, learn how to be alone without getting lonely, and be patient.

JC: Favourite tree?

RM: Weeping Willow