[epilogue-blog]

Shane Lynam

Hello and welcome back to Epilogue. We apologise for our absence over the past year, expect things to be more regular from here on out.

We’re kicking things off again with an interview with photographer, Shane Lynam. 

Shane Lynam is a photographer based in Dublin, Ireland. His most recent project entitled ‘Fifty High Seasons’ won the Gallery of Photography’s Solas Ireland Award in November 2015 which included exhibitions at the Gallery of Photography in Dublin and at Fotohof  Gallery in Salzburg. Fifty High Seasons was part of Circulations Festival in Paris in March 2016.

He has recently funded a book of this work which is still available to purchase via kickstarter. 

E: Many of your projects seem to be based around areas in France, why were you drawn to these areas in particular and do you feel that your perspective as an outsider influences the work that you produce?

SL: I have always been interested in public life in France and how important discourse is there. Everything is debated and challenged and big ideas play a central role. Although this level of discourse doesn’t necessarily yield better results, the ambition behind it can still be admired. Both Contours and Fifty High Seasons look at spaces that are the result of national urban planning projects that reflect the politics and ideology of that era. I am interested in how the ideas behind these projects have fared over time and how the spaces look today.

I have lived in France on and off for seven years in total so although I am an outsider, I have a certain amount of an understanding of the nuances of French society. Most recently, I lived in Paris from 2006 to 2012, and it was during that time that I began to make project work. Around the same period I was frequently taking the train to Perpignan in the south where my parents have a small holiday apartment. My first two projects were made close to these two locations. It may seem obvious, but making work in a place where you have easy regular access helps a a lot when you are starting as you are guaranteed to be there for a certain amount of time every year. Although this won’t ensure that you’ll make strong work it will make it easier and more likely.

I would like to think that my outsider status allows me to see things that locals might not while the references that I’ve built up while living there mean that I’m not coming to it completely new.

E: Tourism appears to be an ongoing theme within your work, why is this a particular area of interest for you?

SL: Fifty High Seasons is the first project where I look at tourism and although it’s a consideration, it’s by no means the primary concern. What ties Fifty High Seasons and Contours together is a concern with state decisions regarding infrastructure, how those decisions have shaped the way the space is organised and whether those decisions have proven to be good ones. I’m more interested in the project behind the creation of the resorts. Tourism happens to be an easier subject to photograph and helps to bring attention to the subject.

E: There is a common thread throughout your work; the way that people interact with their surroundings. Was there a conscious decision that you made or was it something that was more organic?

SL: More organic - I started out by shooting a lot of empty architecture or urban spaces and gradually began to introduce people into the shots over time. A lot of the time I’ll wait for someone to enter the shot but I’ll end up using the empty shot instead. It’s tough to fit the person without upsetting the dynamic of what makes the image interesting. I try to use the person as just another element of the composition, like a wall or a tree and try not to think too much about who I’m shooting. This will only become important at the editing stage.

E: When beginning a new body of work is there usually something that will trigger an overall idea?

SL: Not really. I shoot in and around an area until something sticks. That idea of looking for the stuff that sticks or the trigger is an interesting part of the process. It’s something that I’ve been making work about lately. I’m trying to shoot more freely and ignore the pressure of finding something explicit to make work about, instead going from idea to idea and collecting photos as I go along. What I’ve found is that from the nothingness, something can emerge through the editing process. I’m interested in this idea of creating something out of nothing. The resulting work is much more ambiguous and harder to pin down but this aspect adds value.

E: How important is it for you to look to other avenues for inspiration besides photography? If so what or who inspires you?

SL: I am interested in the artistic choices musicians make over a thirty to forty year career and how they keep their sound fresh. The most ambiguous, risk taking musical career progression generally ensures the best results and the more chance of longevity. I remember playing Bowie’s new songs the weekend before he died and not knowing what to make of it. Still making work that is interesting enough to keep the attention of the listener/viewer and fresh enough that you feel somehow challenged seems to be the most meaningful approach and something that can be inspiring when making long term choices about how you would like your career to progress.

E: You say your work “seeks to create a fictional narrative inspired by history or current affairs, to question or inform reality” How do you find yourself crafting this narrative? Do you know where you want to go with it from the start or does it tend to develop over time?

SL: This made more sense a few years ago when I was making my first project, Contours. It refers particularly to how I tried to play with how the space is considered by the media. With my work today, I think there’s a still an overall concern with the built environment and the decisions that shape it, but the fictional element is less essential. Even with my newer project Inner Field, buildings play an important role. Buildings are an interesting expression of ourselves. They seem to encapsulate so much of the human condition and our concerns, hopes and beliefs. In my recent work it’s less about the building in a literal sense but as a backdrop referencing the layers of history.

E: Do you have any advice for anyone studying photography?

SL: Don’t necessarily give up your day job. It’s hard to make meaningful work while trying to perform in a work environment, but it is possible.

- Shoot as much as possible for the first few years. Every day, if you can. Research and reading are important but if you’re not out there improving your craft, you might have the greatest idea ever but you won’t be able to execute it in an interesting way.

- Look at new work as much as possible when you’re starting out.

- Live a little without your camera when you finish college before making work. Starting out in your early twenties is difficult in an unsure industry. I think it’s better to start making work when you are a little older and you have maybe lowered your life expectations :). The uncertainty of an art photography career is not for the faint-hearted, I can’t imagine facing into in my early 20’s as an art photographer.

- Everyone is a photographer but not everyone has dedicated three or four years of study and whatever amount of years you’ve been practising. This sets you apart. Value yourself and what you have invested into the work.

E: Any final words?

SL: The work is all that matters over the long term. The rest – the awards, features, editorial work, even the books – is just secondary.

Thank you, Shane! 

‘Fifty High Seasons’ is available to pre-order via kickstarter - here

Take a look at more of Shane’s work -

Website

Twitter

Instagram

You can also find this interview over on Medium

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[epilogue-blog]

Interview - Freya Najade

We recently spoke with photographer Freya Najade, originally from Germany and now based in London, she works on long-term personal projects and commissions. The most recently completed of her projects, Jazorina, is being released as a book, launching at The Photographer’s Gallery on May 5th. The subjects that she has photographed is broad, from Ukranian pleasure seekers in the center of Kiev to the production of strawberries in winter time. We discuss the themes of her work and the processes that take her projects from ideas to fruition.

HL: How would you describe your way of working within photography?

FN: Besides doing commercial photography work, I continue to work on long-term personal projects which fit somewhere within the field of documentary photography. The project themes vary and are typically quite different from each other. I am quite open with regard to the topics. The way a new project generally emerges is that I come across something I find fascinating and would like to learn more about and believe that others could also be curious about. My approach and visual language evolve when working on a project, it all depends very much on the topic, how I perceive it and what I would like to put across.

HL: A strong theme throughout your work appears to be tourism and the ways in which people use their leisure time, has this always been a strong interest of yours?  

FN: The way people spend their free time says quite a lot about a culture and a place, which is why capturing leisure activities can be very interesting and it became part of my last two projects. However, I wasn’t interested in investigating leisure as such and it has been a coincidence that Hidropark and Jazorina were both related to this topic in a wider sense.

I had different motivations when I started working on both projects. When I came across Hidropark, which is in the middle of Kiev, I was captivated by the place and the people and felt strongly that I wanted to photograph it to show a slice of life in the middle of Kiev – especially because not many people were talking about Ukraine at the time and had very stereotypical images in their minds. In the series Jazorina I was fascinated by man’s attempt to change the face of a whole region in such drastic way, capturing the emerging tourism was one important element of the project.

HL: Within the subject of tourism there is an undercurrent of artifice, of the manufactured, the development of the land and the way that people interact with these spaces. Why are you looking at these locations specifically? Is this relationship between tourism and man made destinations continually within your thought process?

FN: In the project Jazorina I was definitely drawn to the artificiality of the manufactured landscapes and how people interact with them. It’s not just the relationship between tourism and man-made destinations specifically which I an drawn to, rather that these are landscapes which show undeniable traces of human activity, this is what most interests me. I am curious about our relationship to nature – humans versus man-made – and the drive of humans overpowering nature, this was also a very important element in the project Strawberries in Winter. I was captivated by the artificial landscapes and sites, which produce our food.

HL: When beginning a new project how do you take it from idea to getting out and photographing? Do you do much research into the subject that you are photographing or do you like to discover things as you progress?

FN: Research is important for me for when starting most photographic projects. I research texts, photographs, films about the topic I would like to work on in order to learn more about the subject and to see what else was already said about it.

Once I start working on a project, I definitely like to discover things as I progress. My projects depend a lot on the people I meet, and places I find, it’s much more difficult and lengthy to research that in advance. Just going somewhere, meeting people and looking for places is, from my experience, easier. People are often more willing to participate in a project if they meet you in person, they can introduce you to others or recommend places to go to or where else to find information.

I think sometimes one gets a preconceived opinion about a topic when doing a lot of research beforehand, I think it’s much better to have an open mind.  

HL: Change and transition are also ideas that are present in your work, whether it be the transition of a landscape such as in your latest project Jazorina or the transformation of a certain individual as in your If You Are Lucky You Get Old series. Do you approach these subjects with a view of documenting them at a certain stage in that transition?

FN: The theme of transition is in both projects a very important element of the work. In Jazorina I was interested in showing the transition of a mining region into a holiday destination. In If You Are Lucky You Get Old it was for me very important to show that people above seventy can still change, live through transitional periods and inner growth continues. In both projects it was not so important to show the transition at a specific stage but rather to capture different elements of that transitional phase.

HL: Do you think it is important for photographers to have a core set of interests within their work that tie everything together?

FN: I don’t think you need a core set of interests in fact I don’t have one. I find myself exploring very different themes. There was a time I questioned that a lot and wondered if I should just focus on one topic and if I would need something that ‘ties everything together’. It seemed to make one more valid as a photographer if one would say ‘I am interested in conflict or environmental issues or women’s rights’. But in my case this would just not be authentic I am interested in very different things, I am not just drawn to one topic, I am curious about the transformation of a mining region into a holiday destination, or in the lives of older people or where our food comes from. By now I think that is totally fine. Most importantly, one has to be true to oneself in order to create good work.

HL: What inspires you?

FN: When going places, I feel very often I would like to do a project about this and that. I see things that touch me or that I find fascinating. At the moment London inspires me a lot, I have so many project ideas here that I would like to work on next. Movies inspire me too, especially documentaries. Radio shows like This American Life are very inspiring. Other photographers inspire me of course, but not as much as they used to. When I got into photography I was obsessed with looking at other photographers such as Alec Soth or Taryn Simon.  

HL: What advice would you give photographers with regard to using social media?

FN: I think using social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is very important as a photographer. It allows you to connect with people very easily, to show your work and to see what’s happening. For some people being active on social media comes more naturally than for others, I find that I have to push myself a little bit, but I see it now as part of my practice and try to dedicate some time to it every day.

HL: Thank you, Freya.

Freya’s latest book Jazorina launches on 5.05.2016 6-8pm at The Photographer’s Gallery, London. Copies of the book are available to pre-order here.

Check out more of the work and connect with Freya on her website, twitter , instagram and facebook.

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We recently spoke to Bristol based photographer Tommy Sussex 

We recently spoke to Bristol based photographer Tommy Sussex

HL:What is the overall theme of your work?

TS: My imagery could be seen as form of personal reportage in certain cases. Some of my project work has orbited certain specific social aspects that have got into my head within my own personal life. Other than that, I’m a white English male who was born in the eighties and I can get confused and angry at certain things that are very obviously not right in modern life. Whether this is displayed through my photos is up to the viewer. Maybe that’s just how I feel this morning as I type this.

HL: What led you to begin photographing in Eastern Europe, in particular Ukraine, what is your connection to these countries?

TS: Throughout my photo studies I co-edited/curated a photography and visual arts blog (very similar to Epilogue and what you are doing now from what I gather) alongside several group exhibitions and various printed publications with another fellow photographer in Bristol.

One of these photo shows was posted online as an international open call for print submissions (requesting contributors’ prints to be mailed to us here in my city). A few young photographers based in Kyiv responded with printed work and were part of the show. I’d also previously posted some projects shot by a few other emerging Ukrainian photographers online. In time I had built up communication with these guys via social media platforms and I eventually arranged to visit them on their own turf intending to find a subject or project a little further out of my comfort zone (potentially this group of individuals). This exchange involved a very brief initial trip to Western Ukraine at a time when things where shifting within the country. This trip was back in late 2013 at a time before the pro EU protests that that sparked the movement which in time became centred in Kyiv’s Independence square known as Euro Maidan and lead to much bigger changes in Ukraine.

This initial trip had a bit impact on me and I began think further about my life in the U.K and what my new friends of a similar age where facing in theirs. During this period the situation escalated in Ukraine and I continued talking online to my friends out there, reading articles and watching the live video feeds from Euro Maidan. I felt the need to return and document the situation with my analogue cameras leading me to spend five weeks travelling around the country in a cheap rental car and shooting every day, constantly looking for people and places of significance in the hope of producing an alternative and personal narrative. Hopefully it could be something more telling than what I had seen in the news. The resulting work I shot during this time was titled ‘Our Sincere Toils’. This text is a phrase lifted from the Ukrainian national anthem.

In short though, no family ties just the ones I made through photography; however I was born during the month of the Chernobyl disaster.

HL: Much of your work is project based, do you ever find it difficult to sustain these ideas if you are shooting them over a long period of time?

TS: Not really, the longer you have to produce a piece the more likely you are to cross the threshold of being an outsider/voyeur and get the inside perspective.

HL: You live in Bristol and make a lot of work in that area, do you think it’s important for photographers to make work about their surroundings?

TS: I’ve spent a vast amount of time in one city over the last five years; it would’ve been hard for me not to process this without interacting with the place photographically. It all depends or your process though, what you choose to shoot. I try to have a camera on me when I’m moving around the city. Maybe these images are more archival and could be used to create a story in the future but for the time being they are a body that is building organically.

HL: Your portraits are often of people that you are meeting for the first time, in the street, how can these interactions influence a project? Do you have a set way of approaching people or does it vary?

TS: Whilst shooting a commissioned extended project in and around Bristol’s Knowle West Estate I travelled to the area and spent days walking around with my camera bag attempting to familiarise myself with the area’s landscape and to catch a vibe from the place. Every now and then I would cross paths with someone I was drawn to and wanted to capture this record of experience. Photographing some of these people did lead to something more interesting through conversation or insight and in other cases I never saw them again. It can be hard to find a subject who will invite you into their home or mainframe and allow you to photograph them in their personal space; sometimes you just have to get what you can from a stranger passing.

HL: You’ve self-published a number of zines and photo books in the past, do you think that physical outcomes help to summarise a project and bring it to a natural conclusion?

TS: Piecing your imagery together using the photo book format can aid your phrasing of the images and text but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s always its conclusion. Handling and viewing printed publications in their developmental/machete stages is beneficial too.

I self-published the work form my second trip to Ukraine in two small print run books that split the wider work into to two chapters of the same story. The print run was small and the editions made it into the hands of a small number of people that supported this work. Months after these publications had purchased and circulated I was approached by a Melbourne-based publishing house. I collaborated with them to re-edit these images and re-publish and new re-worked edition. Sometimes you can become snow blind with over exposure to your pictures and it can become more problematic to make sense of them. I found having a fresh critical pair of eyes on an over familiar body of images valuable. This alternate perspective can change the way you see the works meaning.

HL: What is your opinion on the current rise in self-published material?

TS: Photography needs to continue existing like it did before the digital screens.

I like to support photographers who are choosing to self-publish, you can show them that you like their work and own a hard copy to leaf through. It lets them know you value their output and you can’t beat the smell of a new photo book.

HL: Tell us about your process, how do you normally find yourself making pictures? Do you have a routine that you follow when producing work for a project?

TS: Something has to really get into your head or already be there before you can obsess about it and get stuck into thinking within it.  I like to use notepads and sketch books, also hammering photos and found source material into the walls around my desk space, book mark folders with all sorts of off topic source material is good when developing and shooting new work.

I’ve two commissioned pieces I’m currently working on in Bristol. One has a longer time span and the other a very quick turnaround. Having a longer deadlines means I can think more about how to tackle what I want to create and shoot preliminarily. With a quick turn around you can research but you may have to dive straight in and see what happens. I would prefer 2 years over 2 weeks but the drive of a quick turnaround can force you to focus and get what you need as soon as you can.

HL: Do you have any projects that you’re currently working on or in the pipeline? Can you tell us about those?

TS: I will be extending a commission I shot in Bristol last year.  These photos will be a part of a larger group show later this year and I have recently been given an editorial brief to shoot in the next two weeks here in Bristol. This work will be featured in The Bristol Cable which is an amazing publication up here in Bristol. The print run is 20,000 copies so I really want to put something good out there for it.

There are stories I’m developing, but they will be shared in time. I’ve also shot some commercial video recently so I’m keen to progress with that in the future.

HL: Do you have any advice for photographers who aren’t feeling happy about their own work and have you ever experienced this yourself?

TS: Self-deprecation is a good character trait. I’m holding back on putting out some photo works out at the moment because my life has changed over the last few years and the way I view and interact with the medium has expanded and deviated. I do go around in circles with my opinion of my photographs, but I’m in it for the long haul, ask me when I’m sixty, maybe I’ll be happy then. Hopefully I’ll still be alive then.

HL: Any final words?

That video where David Lynch rages about people watching movies smart phone’s and being cheated from the full experience, you could say something similar is happening with photography in telephones at this current time.

If anyone wants to collaborate and host an exhibition in Bristol with big prints on walls, I now the routine. Get in touch.

I’m available for commissioned work at [email protected] and I’m also keen to collaborate with other photographers this year. Photo-book trades are welcomed.

I share some photography on tumblr:http://tommysussex.com/, Instagram:@tommy_sussex and a few project here: http://tommy-sussex.format.com/ . If you use these platforms you share your work I’d like to see it.

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We recently talked to Sian Davey about her intimate documentation of family life

HL: You recently completed a successful kickstarter campaign to fund the publication of your project 'Looking For Alice' as a book. The project is rooted around your own daughter, Alice. Has the relationship between yourself and Alice evolved as a result of the project?

SD: Yes it has greatly, I have learnt so much from Alice, watching her closely through my lens and seeing so clearly how open she is to everyone. 

For most of us, being seen by another can be experienced as unbearable, as we can imagine them judging us. Alice only sees your goodness, she has no prejudice and watching how she interacts with others, disarming them effortlessly, has moved me over and over again. 

She has an extraordinary 'heart' intelligence, which is felt in the quality of her gaze and the contact she makes with those around her. She bears witness to our intrinsic health in the broadest sense, which makes her completely non-threatening, which  is seen quite literally in the image of Alice with her Grandmother, in which it appears she is reassuring her.

HL: Is it possible to take on the role of the photographer and of a mother at the same time? Have there been times when the camera has challenged your motherly instincts?  

SD: Well to some degree my photography is seamless to the rest of my life mother photographer etc. My camera is with me at all times and I photograph what I feel/observations as they arise, so I am not really aware of any particular challenges.

HL: Much of your work is based around your daily life, it's a constant documentation of your surroundings and the people you're with. Do you find yourself photographing everything that happens around you? Or do you, when the camera comes out, make a more conscious decision based around the project that you are shooting for?

SD: As I am gaining more understanding of light and narrative, I am becoming increasingly selective about what I choose to photograph, I know what works which is great in terms of the cost of film. 

I also feel it’s important for me to stay open and try out new things, it’s often the mistakes that show us what we can’t see in a situation. I am now experimenting with photographing at night, setting up live studios in kebabs shops after the clubs have chucked out and it feels both exhilarating and comical.

HL: You have a background in psychotherapy, has this influenced the way that you approach your photographic process?

SD: Absolutely on so many levels. Psychotherapy is essentially about building relationships with both ourselves and others, this is what I’m doing in my portraiture but working very quickly and intuitively.  I need the people I am working with to feel as much ease as is possible and to be who they are, not who they think I want them to be. Portrait photography is really about clearing the obstructions between oneself and another, it’s like a dance between the person I am photographing and myself.

HL: Do you ever find yourself holding back from photographing in a certain situation?

SD: Yes when I feel it’s invasive and permission is not fully given. The area of consent is sensitive  territory, I personally feel that you have to have integrity in your work, but I think we feel it anyway when we overstep the boundary. Photographing my family brings with a whole set of tensions my daughter Martha is very open to being photographed, whereas my 11 year old son is generally resistant, so leverage is required though bribes and a variety of rewards which he’s successfully mastered.

HL: You are currently studying an MA in Photography at Plymouth University, how has studying influenced the way that you think about photography?

SD: Despite having no formal training in photography I was accepted onto the MA as a mature student. At the time I was full of ideas for projects so being in a critical environment was perfect.  But what was pivotal was the staff at Plymouth, Jem Southam and David Chandler; their extraordinary knowledge harnessed my creativity and guiding me into my strengths. It was my tutor David Chandler who watched me painstakingly run all over the country on a project who said to me in my tutorial to photograph intuitively, you have everything you need around you, and that was it, my immediate world opened up in that moment.

HL: What are you working on or planning at the moment in terms of photographic work?

SD: I m very excited by my current piece of work which is now into its second year. The work focuses on my step-daughter Martha and it addresses both our relationship and her transition into adulthood as a 17 year old.  So I am photographing her in her social situations in clubs, parties, festivals etc. Over this winter I am going into the dark and exploring with her what happens on the other side of daylight, the quality of the dark and what happens within it.

HL: What advice would you give to someone who is beginning a long-term photography project?

SD: Always photograph something that means something to you, if it doesn’t mean anything to you it’s unlikely to mean anything to others, so stay close to heart as well as your mind. Try not to get overly caught up in the narrative stay open to the process and the stories will reveal themselves in the edit.

Follow Sian on her blog, twitter, facebook, instagram

Buy “Looking For Alice” here 

www.siandavey.com

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Harry Lawlor talks to Cape Town based photographer, Kent Andreasen about the style and evolution of his work.

Harry Lawlor: In April this year you published your first photobook entitled '1991'. Why did you choose to name the book after your year of birth and what significance do these photographs have for you personally?  

Kent Andreasen: In terms of my 1991 book, the general theme is a visual summary of my work over the past three years. Using my birth year as the title stems from its reflective nature on both my life before photography and my progression within making imagery. Its also serves as a conclusion of a style as I feel my newer work has moved away from 35mm snapshots and I aim to make my work more concise. 

HL: You are someone that seems to be shooting all the time, is it important for you to always have a camera with you? Or are there times when you need to put the camera down?    

KA: Photography in my mind is about constant refinement of an idea and practice. The best way for me to refine my imagery is to go out and shoot various subject matter and put myself in uncomfortable situations in the hope that I eventually find what works for me. It’s like muscle memory in sportsman; it’s a case of constant practice and experimentation. I do take short breaks from shooting but I never leave the house without having a camera because you never know. I love shooting series based work but a lot of the excitement and enjoyment I get from making images are those in-between images that blindside you when you least expect it in the most normal of situations.  

HL: Does the culture of South Africa / Africa have an impact on the photographs that you produce?  

KA: I think it would be ignorant to say that where I live hasn’t effected my work and how a perceive things. The trips I’ve done into Africa have opened my eyes to how simple form and use of interesting colour combinations can be so effective in creating striking imagery. Wherever I go now, I am drawn to colour in a way that’s almost subconscious. In the next few years I definitely want to push more content that specific to my environment. Africa is a large place and to represent it properly is often extremely difficult due to its complexities. If I could somehow find the means to travel the entire continent and photograph it how I wanted to I’d be content. One day I hope to do it on my own steam and make that goal a reality. 

HL: How does your personal work influence the way that you photograph on a commercial job? Do you feel your style traverses these two areas of your work?

KA: I’m in the process of trying to seamlessly integrate the two because it allows me to enjoy each job and when I work in a way that I feel is honest in terms of an aesthetic it most definitely yields better results. I think I may be trying to get the right balance the rest of my life. 

HL: Many of you subjects are everyday scenes with a surreal or element to them, do you find yourself constantly looking for this or is it something that has emerged as a pattern over time? 

KA: I would say my newer work has developed into a more intuitive process and allowing images to happen rather than forcing them. I used to go out and take too many frames and then realize the images I was coming back with were not what I was aiming for. Having travelled the last 4 months and being able to do it alone a lot of the time allows you to strip away any preconceived idea of a place and in turn I found my images resonate with me more. I try to be hyper conscious of the work I produce but also like to allow it to shape itself in a way so that it doesn’t become too rigid.  

HL: Your photographs seem to be detached from any specific place or time, is this something that you are consciously seeking out when working? 

KA: I’ve heard this from various people. I was very consumed by a certain way of photography for a while. To a certain extent, I think things are changing, I’m allowing my frames to breathe a little more and making sure my images work more as a body of work than singles. It’s vitally important for my images to compliment one another. I’m tired of single images standing alone, I’d prefer to see my images as a group and how they cohesion works or doesn’t. But to answer you question, I don’t think I was looking for that, it kind of happens through the “type” of imagery I created. 

HL: Do you have any advice for anyone who is trying to establish their own photographic voice/style?  

KA: It’s hard not to sound like a hallmark card when asked questions like this but having said that, I think it’s important to decide from the start what you want out of photography. We all change and adapt to our lives and what you want out of things shift. Stick to your guns, don’t sell out and if you do because you need some cash to fuel your personal project, make sure you do those jobs well and keep your name as far away from them if they don’t speak to your aesthetic (Ha-ha). Don’t be scared of investing in your craft and try being as critical about your own work as possible.  

HL: Any final words?  

KA: Thanks for the interview, Harry.  Hope you guys enjoy my images. Hit me up if you ever want to chat about photography.  

To see more of Kent’s work head over to his website and blog. Connect with him on twitter and instagram.

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In this, the first of a series of interviews on Epilogue, we talk to Brighton based photographer, Ben Gore about his work and influences.

Harry Lawlor: How would you describe your own work?

Ben Gore: I’d describe my work as autobiographical documentary photography, I suppose. It's an open diary about my change over time. It's generally related to youth, ageing or change over time, and deals with growing through youth. Some of my other work looks at the use of urban space. Dinosauria, We investigates dystopian elements present in the urban space and Concrete Canvas explores how skateboarders creatively use the urban space.

HL: Your zine, 'Second Adolescence' explores the transition into adulthood and finding yourself throughout this period in your life. The subject of growing up appears regularly throughout your work, is this something you find yourself naturally drawn to as a theme?

BG: I think growing up is definitely a theme I'm drawn to. I'm in my twenties which seems to be a significant transitional period as you leave education and start making steps towards making a meaningful life and career for yourself. It's a crossing of the threshold from youth into adulthood. The contrast between youth and adulthood became very evident when I moved from my family home to a shared house with friends. I don't think there's ever really an end point to growing up though.

Every stage of life brings it's own challenges so it's more like running on a treadmill than crossing a finishing line. Each stage of my life has felt drastically different to the last and over time I've become more aware of that process and those stages. Even now, after only half a year since I released the book, I couldn't make the same thing again.

I think the appeal of documenting youth is also a way of capturing that time so I can look back and how I was or what was going on at a certain time in my life. I like the idea that as I age I'll have a chronicle of my life to look back on.

I think the process of growing up is also very relatable as everybody goes through similar stages in that time; figuring out who you are, changing relationships, and changing living situations.

HL: When putting together a new project do you have a preconceived idea of what you want to produce or is the process more spontaneous with the idea or concept being applied later on, when you already have the content?

BG: Its usually fairly spontaneous. I'll be shooting photos and after a while I'll notice a similar theme or story running throughout. After I notice that, I'll start shooting with that idea in mind or knowing what kind of images will fit in the project, it'll simply influence what I'm looking for or what I notice when I'm shooting.

HL: How has skateboarding influenced your work?

BG: Skateboarding has influenced my work in a number of ways. Firstly, I got into photography through skateboarding. I started shooting my friends doing tricks, but over time that grew into shooting the journey to the spot, the aftermath of bails or everyone hanging out. Then I was just shooting everything around me.

There's also the idea of using what you find around you in a creative way and perceiving the mundane as a creative challenge, i.e. repurposed as something to do a trick down, not just walk up or down as they were intended to be used. That's reflected in the street photography I do, where I'm picking out aspects out of the urban landscape to use creatively, but with regards to photography, I'm using a camera to make an image which holds a story.

Plus it's influenced the way I think about learning or getting better at a certain skill. In skateboarding if you want to learn a trick you need to know how to pop the board, where to put your feet and how to distribute your weight when you land. To learn something new, you need to break something into pieces then figure out how you progress through each step and that process works for any skill. If you want to figure out how to take a good portrait, you need to figure out the lighting, crop, body position, angle etc. If you break things down into each step then it's much easier to know how you can do something that might seem difficult at first.

HL: You self-publish the majority of your photography through zines and exhibitions, does this physical end result influence the way that you photograph?

BG: I don't think the physical end result really affects the work I shoot but I do like to think in terms of whole projects and it affects how the finished project will be presented, as opposed to the act of photographing itself. I like each project to hold a story with a clear beginning and end. I think I like making zines because the format has an inherent narrative structure, a book has a clear start and finish point. In a zine, you can direct the viewer in how they experience the images and can create a story for the viewer as they read through the project.

HL: What advice would you give someone that is experiencing a creative block?

BG: I’d say just do something else for a bit. I'm currently having a drought creatively with my photography but I've started drawing and painting more so I'm still creatively engaged. I also write a lot of lists. Whether it be little to-dos about projects I want to start or big ideas like dream projects or even new skills you want to learn. I think it's important to set goals and then even if you're having a block you can slowly move towards them. It's also good to take in inspiration, so watch films and read books or comics. I like listening to interviews with artists I admire too, which can inspire you creatively.

HL: Any final words?

Good luck to anyone hoping to become a photographer or artist. It's hard but great.

Besides the Second Adolescence project, I've shot a couple of other photo projects this year, one called Daydream Mixtape, which is a selection of b-sides from the Second Adolescence project, and Yesterdays Faces, which is a portrait project. I've also recently released an art project called the Hip Hop Tarot which re-imagines the Tarot with rappers cast as each card and that's available to purchase, as well as all my other work, from Blue Monday Press.

If you want to see any of my work you can go to my photography website or my illustration website. I've also got a blog and instagram.