Staffordshire university

Artist Statement

My practice consists of photographing architecture, interiors, exteriors and the urban landscape whereby I attempt to convey a particular narrative within a space. I take into consideration a number of factors before I decide the outcome of the photograph, which include, assessing the space and light available; I consider the photograph from varying perspectives and I look at how I can exploit line and form in order to reveal a particular composition. In each photograph I make, I want the image to be seen as a vessel which is capable of communicating ‘something more’.

The photographs I create aim to construct a certain scenario rather than document reality. I use very minimal props and hardly any other equipment apart from myself and my camera. Every time I go to photograph a space, I am interested in seeing how the language of photography can depict a completely different scene to the one that is visible through the human eye. The camera gives me the opportunity to dissolve the boundaries of architectural photography and create unlimited artistic compositions within a single space.

As an extension to this, I transform my photographs into another stage of visualisation. Using the Kelvin scale which is used to measure the colour of light in photography, I use editing software to fill in these areas of colour on my photograph, which are always shot in black and white because I believe this offers another dimension to the photograph’s interpretation. In addition, I re-create a blueprint of the space and I print each of these versions onto pieces of acetate. The final stage is where I layer these one on top of the other, which results in a 3D representation of the initial photograph.

I am greatly influenced by architectural photographers Ezra Stoller and Julius Shulman where a lot of their photographs were visually heightened by a decisive decision to distort the camera from a particular viewpoint and thus creating some of the finest architectural photographs.

On a recent visit to my home town of Sheffield, I spent a good few hours taking in the vast array of architecture which now adorns the city’s skyline. It was interesting to pick up on certain elements, which I never had paid any attention to before. Each photograph that I take has to reflect some aspect of a building or feature. It was definitely an experimental game of luck, as the weather was extremely unreliable. I had to make sure I timed each shot, just as the light was managing to pierce through the clouds. My favourite image of the day is from a piece of architecture which stands adjacent to the train station. The reason for this is the way I accentuated the curve and I caught the people in the far distance, displaying human interaction with the area.

Architecture is full of character, composition and scale. All of my photographs are produced in black and white. The reason for this is the intensity of the contrast in colour, the texture that a black and white can pick out of a photograph and the ‘feel’ the photograph can offer a viewer.

Before I photograph a building I take into consideration how I want to frame the camera angle, what is the lighting available, is a strong depth of field going to compliment the image, is there anything specific which I should take into account and do I need people in the shot?

The values that I explore in my work are the exploration of space and composition. I try to play with structure and form to see what the consequences are on humans being present in some of the photographs. How does this impact on the viewer?