The Enchantment of Detail: Photography, Fashion, and Craft in the World of Jessie Lily Adams
2026 marks an extraordinary milestone: two hundred years of photographic history. To celebrate this anniversary, we present an interview by Chiara Cesari with Jessie Lily Adams. Her work, composed of romantic shots imbued with deep femininity — and at times enriched by a refined taste for embroidery — enchants the viewer, transporting them into a universe of rare beauty.
Jessie Lily Adams is a renowned photographer and photo editor based in London. Having cut her teeth among the pages of the most prestigious independent fashion magazines, she has held prominent roles as Picture Editor, currently working for Violet.
The Girls, Jessie Lily Adams
CC: Hi Jessie, it’s a pleasure to interview you. To begin, I’d like to talk about your stylistic signature: your work is steeped in nostalgic romanticism and a very authentic femininity. How did this vision come about?
JLA: I think by nature I am a nostalgic person, most of my references, and the visual landscape I am most happy and perhaps comfortable with is from the past. Any contemporary art or photography that interests me often has a certain amount of nostalgia to it. I actually studied nostalgia for my university dissertation many years ago, and the fascination has never left me. The idea that the past was more romantic, which is of course not true, but creates this safe place when contemporary life is too frightening. I don't believe my work has ever fit in to what's currently in fashion. I have never quite felt accepted because of this very obsession. I have never felt "cool". It took me a long time to accept this, and instead of trying to fight against this natural instinct to create the way I do, I embrace it, and play with it.
Jed, Jessie Lily Adams
CC: How do you approach this vision for Violet? As a Photo Editor, how do you balance your personal taste and your distinct aesthetic with the need to curate and select works for an impactful narrative?
JLA: I have always found it easy to remove a certain amount of my own visual language when editing others' work, or commissioning the best team for a story. My own visual language may not be there but what remains is taste. Taste is something you cannot to a certain extent learn. I appreciate so many stories that may not be the exact way I would tell it, but the images remain objectively wonderful. It's important both editorially and commercially to have this ability to go beyond your own narrow view, and adapt to what is needed for this project. Use your taste and referential understanding of context of where the images sit in the world, and how they need to be received.
LEYLA AND BETH 2, Jessie Lily Adams
CC: When working on a photoshoot for a magazine, what is the quality you look for immediately?
JLA: When it comes to commissioning a team, often it's very obvious to me who should shoot it. Either the references or the subject matter already have a connection to a certain person. If it doesn't come naturally then it's about work. It's researching and taking risks. You have to also allow photographers to have their own view, everyone sees and reacts differently to a starting point, that's what makes it fun.
CC: Based on your professional experience, what do you think is the value of a print magazine in a world dominated by digital media and Instagram?
JLA: As an Editor at a print magazine, of course I believe in the vale of print. There is nothing like absorbing images either in magazines or books. I am a huge book collector, and I still refer back to my library more than the internet. I also adore the different ways print can be used, techniques, different sizes, papers and bindings fascinate me. Instagram has been a huge source for me to connect with talent, and in that way there is nothing like it. To be able to have a platform where you can get work seen is amazing. However I have noticed recently that most of my work is hidden. I feel like we are slowly losing what this platform was to clips and reels, and images that generate quick views. I still find and connect with people, but it feels less organic.
MIA, Jessie Lily Adams
CC: What was the most important (and perhaps the most difficult) lesson you learned from launching an editorial project from scratch?
JLA: When I began The Ingénue Magazine, I had been at both Lula Mag and Violet already. I believed I had an idea of what it took to create a good magazine. And in some ways I did but in others I had no clue. I think looking back I learnt different lessons than I realised at the time. The most important being that naivety can sometimes be your friend. We didn't ever think anything was too hard to make happen. We emailed who we wanted without a thought for the fact we were so new and did not have any reputation within the publishing world. We were so free to create exactly what we wanted to, which resulted in such an eclectic but incredible body of work. The interviews with female NASA astronauts, politicians, designers, artists, and features telling Trans stories meant a great deal to me, and is something I am still very proud to have been part of.
CC:Are you a supporter of film or do you prefer digital? Does the choice of medium change the way you decide to tell a story?
JLA: I work with both. I used to fight against digital but it has its place. Film is a wonderful tool to work with, it can make things slower and more considered, and there is still nothing like it. But digital is also a fabulous way to work and often needed. In a commercial setting I want to show the client the images, to make sure we are hitting the right note. Sometimes I choose it for financial reasons. However for my personal practice I still only ever use film.
THE ELIZABETH GIRL, Jessie Lily Adams
CC: Your portraits appear very intimate and natural. How do you work with your subjects to make them feel at ease in front of the lens?
JLA: I like to talk to my subjects prior to starting, we talk though the mood-board and the story I want to tell. I try to open up my ideas to include everyone on set, so we are all excited and working with the same vision. This can be contagious. I also think I am now able to adapt when on set. If a model is just not on the same page then I adapt to their page. Ok, the story I wanted to tell isn't one they have in them, so let's make a new story together that works.
CC: Julia Campbell-Gillies is a recurring and almost iconic presence in your work. What makes your collaboration so special, and how has your shared visual language evolved over time?
JLA: I first knew of Julia years ago, she was in a story for The Ingénue and I thought she was so cool and beautiful. She had this incredible talent for creating a character. I have actually only shot Julia twice personally. The second time she not only modelled, but I asked her to create some floral accessory pieces. What she made blew everyone on set away. She is so intelligent, she really understands the reference points, and then takes them further with her own vision. She also recently created the florals for my wedding which was so special to me.
CC: Julia is not just a model, but an artist in her own right. In what way do her personality and creative vision influence the direction of the shoot when you work together?
JLA: We have such similar points of view and work in parallels. She uses floral art and poetry and I use what I call a stream of consciousness because I am too scared to call what I write poetry. Florals are such a heavy presence in my work, it feels so natural that we would work together. Anything Julia does she brings her own vision, she is fearless, I think that's what I admire most about her. Nostalgia and romance are such defining forces in her work, but with an edge It's not just pretty, it's much more than that.
CC: Many of Julia’s portraits seem suspended in an undefined era. Is there a specific character or narrative that you try to build together when you shoot?
JLA: She responds well to references, so it's then easy to take that further. She just totally gets it, and then I get excited, and we go from there. I would love to work with her again soon, I already have many ideas spinning round my head.
CC: If you had to choose a single portrait of Julia that perfectly sums up your collaboration, which one would it be and why?
JLA: It has to be the attached. Julia's beautiful floral head pieces, and this beautiful steady gaze towards me. I love this picture.
JULIA 2025, Jessie Lily Adams
CC: I noticed that in the latest photos you’ve posted on your Instagram profile, you used collage and embroidery techniques. Can you explain this choice and what this manual craftsmanship adds to the photographic shot?
JLA: I have been writing for a while, it felt like a natural extension of my work. I read a lot, and literature has always informed the characters that I want to create. I am not sure how I came to stitching the words, but it all came out of experimenting. I took a step back and began as if I was studying again. Experimenting without pressure for an end point. Creating just to see what happened. The work I make now I feel is more authentically me than it's ever been, and for the first time it's also unapologetically me. I am too old now to care what anyone thinks to a certain extent. We can never let that desire to be validated go completely, but I feel it less than ever. I write whatever is on my mind at the time, it always comes out naturally romantic, maudlin and nostalgic; the influence of years of reading.
HAVE MERCY, EMBROIDRED PHOTOGRAPH, Jessie Lily Adams
MELANCHOLY, Jessie Lily Adams
CC: Is there a project or a type of story that you haven't told yet and that you dream of transforming into images?
JLA: Yes, around a million. I constantly have ideas, there isn't enough time to make them all. But I am going to try.
CC: Jessie, thank you so much for this conversation. It has been fascinating to discover how you weave the history of photography with such a personal and contemporary vision. Your work reminds us that, even after two hundred years, an image can still move us and tell the story of the soul. We look forward to seeing your future projects and your new experiments with embroidery and film. Wishing you the very best of luck with everything!
JLA: These questions were great, it's been a pleasure to think about these things, so thank you!
Julia, 2024, Jessie Lily Adams
All photograph courtesey of @jessielilyadams
Interview curated by Chiara Cesari