How Isla Loba finds creativity though her home comforts

London-based photographer Jasmine Engel-Malone’s latest editorial, ‘Isla at Home,’ is the latest addition to her ongoing project, ‘Girls at Home.’ Through this photo series, Engel-Malone is shining a light on women's spaces where they feel most comfortable, aiming to capture the beauty in creative freedom. Through this concept, her latest series showcases fellow creative, part-time model and content creator Isla Loba. Here, we look to the work of Engel-Malone and discuss with Loba how creativity thrives in her space.

Photography

March 3, 2023

How would you describe your creative practice?

I am a part-time model and content creator, mainly focusing on TikTok with videos that feature fashion, lifestyle, day-in-the-life videos, cooking, or whatever else is on my mind. I get to film whatever I want when I want. I mostly try to capture the most interesting parts of my life that I think people can relate to.

What inspired you to start content creation, and what made you want to pursue it?

When I used to use Snapchat, I’d flood my private stories and spew nonsense about my day —mostly just random thoughts and feelings. I was too shy to post to my main story on Snapchat and Instagram because few people actually cared about what I was saying. I thought, ‘F this! Let me start posting on TikTok instead,’ and I was able to start fresh and build my own community. Like most people, I started posting during the 2020 pandemic when there wasn’t really a lot else to do. At the end of the year, I began doing daily vlogs, showcasing what I was doing around the Christmas season, and people began to take a liking to them. Soon after, I started posting regularly, making videos about anything I felt that I wanted to share within the day.

What are the things that make you feel creatively inspired?

One thing that inspires my creativity is my comfort TikTokers. Although their content may be completely different from mine, such as fossil hunting or vintage watch collecting, I admire the consistency and effort they put into their content because it’s not easy.

What do you do if you’re in a creative rut?

Since my content creation revolves around me being me and being true to my personality, I dig for inspiration anywhere possible if I’m in a rut. When I’m feeling uninspired but I feel like cooking or going out somewhere, I’ll just make a video doing either of those things and boom! I’m out of it. Once I start getting feedback through likes and comments, I feel like I’m on a creative roll again.

What does your day-to-day routine look like?

For the past six weeks, my day-to-day routine has been exploring New Zealand and spending at least a couple of hours a day trying to convince myself not to move there because I’ll be too far away from my mum. But if I’m honest, I thrive from not having a fixed routine, and that’s why I love doing what I’m doing. I don’t have any pressure to get up at the same time every day. I just film what I want, when I want. The only thing that is consistent in my life is eating breakfast every day – I can’t go a day without the most important meal!

What do you do to celebrate your career successes?

Honestly, I feel like I have imposter syndrome most of the time. So, when I achieve something, I don’t fully realise it until maybe four months later. Then when it sinks in, I’m like, “damn! props to you, sis,” and then I’ll probably just turn up with my friends.