Statement of Intent
“No place is boring, if you've had a good night's sleep and have a pocket full of unexposed film.” — Robert Adams
By any stretch, ‘Statement of Intent’ is a fairly grandiose title for a webpage. However, it’s probably a decent enough start point for an outline of how I look at photography. I increasingly see intent as a vital component of the photographic process. But more of that later… For now, if you want to skip the history I now class myself primarily as an observational travel photographer. If you want to know what that means in practice you’ll need to read down. But, for the more patient reader, in working out where I’m intending to go with my photography, I think it’s helpful to explore where I am now. To do that a brief recap of where I’ve been helps provide a little context.
Times Past
I mention on my home page that I’ve been taking photographs most of my life. Not good photographs, but photographs. I started taking photography a little more seriously while I was working, but at that point I was time poor (although fortunately in a position to indulge my hobby). The turning point came around 2020 when I took early retirement, which gave me the time to pursue and develop my hobby.
Club Photography - Extending Range
I firmly believe that I have no monopoly on good ideas. (Indeed, I’ve spent a lifetime building a solid body of evidence to support this hypothesis). On that basis, finding a group of experienced photographers to learn from and shoot with seemed like a good idea. Despite the pandemic lockdowns, a couple of local clubs were still active (primarily on Zoom), and I joined Paisley Colour Photographic Club, where I was an active member for four to five years, including a stint as club president.
Competition also helped sharpen my practice. Feedback on competition images and separately organised critique sessions provided plenty of guidance and direction. I can honestly say that in the time I was active, the quality of my photography improved.
While a full-blooded critique of the strengths and weaknesses of the club construct is, perhaps, a topic for another day, I would unequivocally recommend that anyone starting their photographic journey should get involved in some form of club or group.
For my own part, as well as the social aspect, my understanding of my photography benefitted immensely from access to a range of genres that I’d never shot before, all under the guidance of experienced members who were generous with their advice.
Moving East - Excitement and Frustration
In early 2024, after close to 30 years living in the west of Scotland, we moved east to Berwick-upon-Tweed. (Those who think we moved south would do well to look at a map - it might surprise). We had a few reasons for wanting to make the move, but one of the attractions was the undoubted beauty of the Northumberland coast.
While I wasn’t naive enough to be able to simply shake the camera and expect the compositions to tumble out, I was caught off-guard by how difficult and frustrating I found trying to exploit the photographic opportunities in my new surroundings. There were opportunities, but it wasn’t as transformational as I’d perhaps hoped. In all seriousness, I contemplated giving up photography completely.
This is no place to revisit the self-indulgent angst of trying to work through my unhappiness with my photography, so to cut to the chase I ended up identifying two sources of frustration; familiarity and expectation.
Familiarity first: if you’ve only ever seen six photographs of Bamburgh Castle, it looks like a viable location for producing distinctive images. When you see a dozen a day, ranging in quality from superb to absolutely bogging, you quickly realise that there is very little that you can add to humanity’s understanding of Bamburgh. So, what do you do - take the shot or give up?
The second issue is expectation; if you define yourself as a landscape photographer then (at least as far as those who only consume photography through social media are concerned) that creates a set of expectations about the types of images that you take. Golden hour, sunrise / sunsets, blue hour, long exposures… The quandary: the more perfect the composition, the less interesting it becomes.
Digging Deeper - Doing the Research
I’m not the first photographer to suffer from this sense of frustration and nor is this a new phenomenon. It made sense, then, for me to look for inspiration in the work of others. Without delving into the gory, angst-ridden details I eventually found my way to the New Topographics exhibition of 1975. There were a number of aspects of the work that appealed, but in terms of my immediate concerns it was the shift from landscape as spectacle to a cool, observational and apparently neutral perspective that struck a chord.
External research can only go so far; some review and personal reflection also proved fruitful. There is a maxim that you should shoot what you enjoy; what I take pleasure from is photographing the places I visit, be that five minutes or 5,000 miles from my front door.
Observational Travel Photography
The tag ‘Observational Travel Photography’ brings us back to the Robert Adams quote at the head of the page - “No place is boring, if you've had a good night's sleep and have a pocket full of unexposed film”. Except today it’s more likely to be a charged battery and a formatted memory card.
I prefer ‘Travel’ to ‘Landscape’. as a description While the latter is a rich and varied genre, I think that the public perception too often distils down to elements such as golden hour, wide angles and long exposures. All of these can be fun, but it’s not how I want to be defined and stepping outside of these tropes requires explanation. The travel genre on the other hand encompasses a wider range of subjects and conditions.
If the light is bright and harsh, then that’s the impression that needs to be conveyed. If the place is defined by its architecture or its flora or its geology, then they become the subjects. A trip to the Farne Islands necessarily means photographing the birds, a visit to an air show should include the aircraft and a local walk might yield photographs of local landmarks in good light.
If ‘travel’ defines the subject then ‘observational’ defines the style. I’m more interested in documenting my experiences than I am in using them as a base from which to create spectacle. In practical terms that means not seeking out exceptional light or aiming for ‘perfect’ composition. Instead I look to photograph what catches my eye and what I think characterises any given place. I’d like to think that if someone visited a place after seeing my images they’d not be disappointed.
Which is not to say I won’t or don’t photograph other stuff - I enjoy most forms of photography and my primary photographic aim is to have fun. Shooting long exposures can be fun; a day shooting motorsport can be a healthy distraction and an afternoon’s macro photography can be a fascinating diversion. It’s all good fun.
But, at heart, I am an observational travel photographer.