RINKO KAWAUCHI

I love love love Rinko Kawauchi's photos, when you see them individually they don't have much power and always look a bit banal - but when you see them series in a book, they are just so poetic and beautiful.

INTERVIEW: JOANNA BROWN

I really wish I had known about Joanna Brown's wedding photography when Ant and I got married all those years ago, as I love her style and attitude – romantic but also with a keen eye for interesting compositions. Joanna has been busy setting up the project, From our Hearts with three fellow female photographers (one of which is Emma Case who recently took the photos at my friend Hayley's wedding) and I think it is fantastic to see more women moving into an area that has always been dominated by men (why was that? it seems obvious that women would make far better wedding photographers!). The above photos are from my friends Ellie and Dan's super cool London wedding in November, and Joanna captured brilliantly the happiness, laughter and love that filled the day (BTW didn't Ellie look gorgeous in her 6os style dress...).

What are you currently working on?

Good question I am involved in a new project called From our Hearts it is a collaboration between me and 3 other photographers: Debs Ivelja, Anna Hardy and Emma Case,we all run our own photography business’ and met through mutual respect and admiration for each others work.  We realized that we all share the same ideology of wanting to realize our full potential as artists and help facilitate that in others too. We have created a blog http://fromourheartstoourhands.blogspot.com/ where we are sharing our work, ideas, supporting each other and we are opening it up so people can get directly involved.  We have also created a Flickr group so that people can submit their work and ideas to photography projects that we launch from the site. It is really exciting, as this project has grown totally organically, it was never intended, it just happened as a direct result of meeting kindred spirits. We all recognise that creativity is fundamental to us all in and out of our work and we identified the need to feed and nurture it.  This project is really important to each of us; we are developing lots of ideas for the future so watch this space…

What attracted to photography?
It was very natural and intuitive when I first picked up a camera, I was curious about the world and  wanted to record how I saw it.  I then learnt the craft of developing film and printing in the darkroom; I was hooked – I have never looked back.

What has been your career path?
HA HA, the path I have been down did not have any signs on it there were clearly no distances or destinations, I had to find my way, here is my path; receptionist for a magazine, page layout and design for a magazine, photographers assistant, graphic designer, waitress, lecturer in photography and art, tutor for young adults with learning difficulties, chef, sandwich maker and delivery girl, receptionist for an alternative health clinic, graphic designer, illustrator, worked on a cider farm, workshop leader for people with learning disabilities, photography workshop leader... Then I set myself up in business as a wedding and portrait photographer, when I look back at that path it now all makes sense and has led me to where I am today… I followed my heart, made mistakes on the way and seized great opportunities

What has been your proudest moment?
Building my own website, launching my business – making it happen from scratch all done by my fair hand a real achievement.

What or who has been your biggest influence?
This may sound odd but David Bowie, when I feel bit vulnerable with putting myself and my stuff out there I think of him and in my head hum Absolute Beginners, he is a legend in my eyes, so creative, so honest, and a little bit nuts

What inspires you?
Most things that I see, people that I meet, music inspires me and landscapes do too…I am easily pleased and inspired I try to take in as much as I can most of the time…

What is the last thing you saw that made you go wow? 
The waves in Cornwall this year when I went away

What makes you happy? 
A sunny day, crabbing on a pier, adventures, my darling, my cat, my mates, my kitchen, a fire, nothing out of the ordinary, the smell of roses, making jam, simple pleasures really…

What's the best advice someone has ever given you?
My Nan she said that you can’t do anything without your health  – so true, I try to look after myself as it is the one thing we sometimes take for granted.

Who’s your favourite artist?
I love painters and had a dream to be one (I still paint when I have the time)  I love the work of Anselm Kieffer, Frances Bacon, Edward Hopper and even more so I adore Peter Doig, Thomas Scheibitz and Dexter Dalwood.

Favourite film?
Oh now that is hard I love The Sea Inside… it is quite depressing but beautiful.

Favourite book?
My complete set of Blue Peter annuals

What's next?
The sky's the limit really, more photos, more sunshine, more film, more home made lenses, more adventures, a whole lot of love…..

INTERVIEW: SPENCER MURPHY

Spencer Murphy is one of those talented photographers equally adept at shooting landscapes as portraiture. Having moved from deepest darkest Kent to London, he now combines working on his personal projects - photographing people on the fringes of society or epic landscapes - with commissions from magazines including The Guardian Weekend, Monocle, Wired, Rolling Stone Magazine, GQ and Dazed & Confused. Whether he is shooting people or places, his beautifully lit photographs always seem to capture a sense of stillness and melancholy.

Spencer has exhibited throughout Europe and North America, and was named as one of the Hyeres Festival’s emerging photographers of 2008. He has been included in the National Portrait Gallery Photographic Portrait Prize (now Taylor Wessing) exhibitions in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010 and five of his photos (including the above picture of Peter Crouch) have been acquired by the NPG for their permanent collection.

What are you currently working on?
I’ve got a couple of projects on the go at the moment. The main and longest running one is The Outsider about people and groups that live on the peripheries of British society (but not restricted to the UK). I’m not aiming to say 'look at these freaks' but to try and show an empathy with the subjects and show how similar we all are.
The other long running project is The Abyss Stares Back. This is more landscape based project about man’s relationship with nature. The pictures often show a human figure lost within a vast landscape looking out in contemplation. It is rooted largely in Romanticism and the idea of nature as a church and man’s fragility within it yet his need to dominate and be the ruling force.

What attracted you to photography?
I’d struggle to pin that on one defining moment or influence. I grew up in a very remote part of the English countryside with my imagination and the surrounding woodland and farmland for company. My Mother was a keen amateur photographer and she gave me my first hand-me-down SLR when she recognized my enthusiasm for image making at the age of eleven. I remember vividly the discovery of her old back issues of Life magazine with pictures of Woodstock and old Malboro advertisements, and the window it allowed me into this other world and time.
I think I would have always done something creative but photography seemed to resonate the most with me.

What has been your career path?
I firstly studied Design for 2 years then I went on to do a degree in photography at Falmouth College of Arts in Cornwall. I graduated in 2002, after which I moved to London and assisted Advertising and Fine Art Photographers for about 4 years, all the while pursuing my own projects. After that I went out on my own and I’ve just been slowly trying to build on my own projects and commercial work ever since.

What has been your proudest moment?
It’s hard to say really, I think I probably felt more excited and proud earlier on in my career when something went my way, so perhaps getting my degree and being awarded a bursary at the same time. I think my greatest achievement to date however is being included in the National Portrait Gallery Photographic Portrait Prize (now Taylor Wessing) 4 times in total and 3 years concurrently, that and being accepted into their permanent collection.

What or who has been your biggest influence?
Again it’s difficult to pin that on just one single thing. Family and friends, going to the National Gallery as a child with my Mum, and film is a huge influence on the way I think about picture making.
There’s no one person or event that influenced me so greatly that I can say 'yes, that’s definitely why I make the pictures I do'. I’m inspired daily by people, things and events and it all feeds me creatively.

What or who inspires you? 
Most recently:
Film: Animal Kingdom
Music: Hiatus
Book: The Road

What is the last thing you saw that made you go wow?
Today about 20 buzzards picking at a dead armadillo in the road.

What makes you happy?
Being out in nature.

What's the best advice someone has ever given you?
I don’t really respond well to advice. Probably a bad thing to admit but I think if someone tells me I can’t do something then I’d be more likely to go out of my way to try and do it.
There is a poster by Anthony Burrill that really resonates with me though, it just says 'Work hard and be Nice To People'

What advice would you give someone who is just starting out as a photographer?
'Work Hard And Be Nice To People'

What's next?
Who knows, hopefully lots more pictures.

You can currently see one of Spencer's portraits in the Taylor Wessing Photographic Prize exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, until 20 February.

LETTERBOXES......

.......are great. Especially for a super nosey person like me as they offer a secret glimpse into someone's private world. I have been thinking it would be great to do a series of these; maybe through the letterboxes of famous people or well know houses in London like Downing Street. Although it may be illegal....


© Liz Workman

WISH I WAS THERE....

Brrrrr it is freezing in London today and the weather men tell me it is only going to get worse. I hate the cold so much and have been torturing myself looking at these super pretty photos – where ever these were taken I want to go! Sometimes Terri Weifenbach's pictures boarder on chocolate box cutsey, however I do love the blurry quality and brilliant saturated colours.

© Terri Weifenbach

PORTRAITS #1

I went to see Mary McCartney give a talk the other day and I think I was probably more impressed by her serene confidence, than her actual photography. There is no question she has a great eye but her work didn't seem to have a strong style and if there weren't of all the famous people she knows I am not sure how interesting they would be.  Saying that I do think these photos of Jude Law and Kate Moss are rather beautiful.

photos © Mary McCartney

SUNLIGHT, SUNLIGHT

Today it really felt like autumn is here, so I was really happy to find these beautiful photos by Pelle Crépin that reminded me of the hazy, dreamy days of summer. Lovely.