Photography is my life blood. I need it to survive.To me photography is about really looking at the world and trying to understand it. Capturing it. Trying to find that ‘One’ image.As a photographer I have many conflicts about the way photography has gone in the last few years. When I first started nearly five years ago, traditional techniques where still accepted and practised, but in that time, digital technology has become widely accessible, to both professionals and amateur photographers alike. To me this is a good and bad thing, on the good side it means that as a photographer I can use digital as either a sketching tool for ideas or to produce reasonable work. It’s quick, cheap and has no real hidden costs, unless you include printing and paper. On the down side though, it is accessible to everyone so everyone and his dog is a photographer now, if they so wished. The only reason I have this misgiving is that photography used to be a trade, a craft, something specialist, but what with the way digital technology is going, it isn’t as much now.
Ok I use digital for a lot of my commercial work, because of the fact it is cheap and relatively quick compared to getting films processed and negs scanned, but you can’t escape the fact that you get a better print image and quality from film, hence why I prefer to use more traditional methods in my work. I have a love and passion for using old traditional methods of image making.Within my work, I try to draw influence from many other image makers as well as artists, but I try to do it in a way that I can develop my own style using elements of their work. It is very common to see, especially on a degree course, people taking influences way to far and just end up ripping off work. To me you don’t learn anything doing that. To me I am still finding my own style my own way of taking and developing imagery. Obviously there are differences in subject which warrant different styles of constructing an image. For example I would set up a landscape shot completely differently to that of a studio piece. Having said that, i try to be creative each shoot I go on, and try and do something different each time. This may not seem consistent but hey, you are only as good as your last photograph, so I think it is important to continue experimenting rather than getting into a pattern of making the same ‘type’ of image. For example Martin Parr, or to a point Joel Peter Witkin. These are two artists whose work is completely different but there process of image making is on the verge of obsession. All the images are the same, especially in Parr’s work. (but hey, I aint a great fan so I may be seeing it wrong!!!)
Artistically my influences are, Edward Weston, Joel Peter Witkin, Franko B, Mark Rothko, Caravaggio, the Bechers, Sugimoto, Alberto Giacometti, James Casebere, Thomas Demand. Critically (I hate that word) I am looking at, at the moment, Susan Sontag’s on photography which I am loving. Rachael Adam’s Sideshow USA which is a fucking good read if you wanna learn about sideshow freaks.Currently I am continuing my final year of my degree in photography at Northumbria Uni. I’m working on a project which is poking fun at society’s perception of the tattooed and modified body. It’s proving to be a fun project and am really enjoying myself doing it.
I’m also getting regular work from Skin Deep mag which is fucking amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better job going to tattoo conventions and taking photographs. Just wish it was more regular. Heehee!!!! Big thanks to Neil for giving me the opportunity and continuing to use me. Cheers bud!Header Banner Made with MyBannerMaker.com! Click here to make your own!Extended Network Banner made with MyBannerMaker.com! Click here to make your own!.. Myspace Layout Generator-Layoutgen.com
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