Statement of Intent/Visual Influences.

My 20 images, I hope, reflect the main body of my work for the past two years. My intention is to constantly try new things and ideas and look to new photographers to inform my work.

I have been heavily influenced by Bill Brandt and Edward Weston.  I like the way they use of depth of field and foreshortening to distort the image of the human body, retaining its beauty. Weston’s “Nude Series” is sensitive, simplistic and abstract. I like the idea of taking a familiar form and looking at it in a completely different way.

A more contemporary influence on my work is Chris Coekin, particularly his documentary of retired men’s social club. His images are simple yet thought-provoking and truly beautiful. I like the way he formats his books, using new images alongside gathered redundancy letters and old nostalgic family photographs. I was interested in its scrapbook-like quality as it differs from many other documentary photography books. I have kept his work in mind whilst shooting my most recent project of the documenting a local village pub

Alongside Coekin I have begun looking at the work of Stephen Gill, especially “A Book of Field Studies” which includes studies of the back of billboards, cash machines, disorientated people and commuters on the train. His focus on boring and mundane subjects turns them into something very interesting and individual.  Many of his other projects share the same unique qualities; for example he takes objects and matter that he finds in his surroundings and then places them into the body of his camera. The end result is incredible and very beautiful: “This technique meant I was grappling at the point where intention collided with chance. It gave me less control, and there was a considerable element of surprise, but working with photography’s weaknesses alongside its subjective descriptive strengths is a challenge I enjoy

I continue to be influenced by these photographers and their methods and intend to experiment with the medium further and to attempt to do so in a unique way.