Why I Photograph Familiar Places Differently
If you have stopped to look at my work at an event or if you have seen me in my Red Brick Market space, I usually make a point of saying that I try and do things ‘differently’. Some people immediately ‘get’ what I am trying to do with my artwork, some need to take a little longer to look again to appreciate it, and yes, there will be some that don’t like it and that’s fine!
But why did I decide to pursue and develop this type of Art Photography?
If you have read an earlier Blog post titled ‘Now We Are 4’, you will know that my business was sort of started by accident! One of those random series of events that put things in motion, then, when you look back, you ask yourself – how did that happen!?
I’ve always loved taking photographs, and when I started taking photos of quirky things inside the ‘old’ Red Brick Vintage space in 2017/2018, things just escalated!
But I didn’t just want to take simple photographs. I wanted to be different and, I felt, I needed to be different if I wanted my business to succeed. I was very conscious that there were already lots of talented and established artists and photographers about and I was not going to measure myself against any of those. I needed to find my own ‘space’.
Gradually, as I tried out new techniques – some of them ‘happy accidents’ and others being created from hours of trying out various ideas, my confidence grew and so did my limited edition photography range!
For me, the challenge isn't simply to show people where a photograph was taken or give them yet another image of a well known landmark. It's to make them stop and look at somewhere they may already know - and perhaps see it differently. If a photograph makes someone say “Oh, I hadn't seen it like that before”, then I think I've done my job.
Cities like Liverpool and Manchester are full of architecture that people walk past every day. Visitors are naturally taking their own photographs, so simply recording what is there isn't really enough for me. Even places like the Royal Liver Building can be viewed in so many different ways & that’s the challenge I love! Whether it’s being helped out by a random puddle on a rainy day or by a helpful pigeon who just happens to flap at the right time!
Once I tried experimenting more with double exposures and other in-camera techniques, another side of my work developed – those ‘make you look again’ images. Building up and blending images together to capture the hustle and bustle of a busy city but in my own unique way.
The ‘other side’ to my art photography is the Nature and Gothic side… as much as I love the shapes of the city, I also love wild landscapes, dark woodlands, mist, fog and graveyards! Of course all these subjects can be photographed in a fairly conventional way (but you know that’s not me!). People often look at these images and ask ‘Where is that?’ The specific location doesn’t really matter too much to me. I want to capture the atmosphere of a place and then let the viewer create their own story within that scene.
And then there is the question of format.
Most of my photographs are created as square compositions - something I’ve come to love because it gives me a different way of looking at familiar subjects. It can change the way the eye moves around an image and, for me, often makes the finished artwork feel quite different from a more conventional photograph.
However, not everything works as a square - my Liverpool Waterfront panoramas being an obvious example! - but the square format has become a big part of the way I present my work.
Of course, taking the photographs and creating the art is one thing, but the other vital part of my work is deciding what to ‘put out there’ as a print. When I first started selling prints, I didn’t number or sign the mounts (I think that was a lack of confidence thing!) but then I soon decided that was the way to go - making my work limited edition and giving each piece a little more individuality.
I suppose that brings me back to where I started. I don't want to produce photographs that simply show you a place. I want to create artwork that makes you look twice.
Familiar places. Different perspectives.
And hopefully, artwork that you'll still see something new in every time you look at it.
