When I was around 15 years old I used to buy magazines like i-D just to look at the images, which is what got me into photography in the first place. I bought myself a camera when I was 18, in 2007, and pretty much taught myself photography before I started college in 2009 and eventually going on to study Photography in University.
I like to show my personality and interests through my work, which is why I don’t like sticking to a certain style and defining myself by it. Maybe it’s because I change all the time and I like using photography as means of self discovery, both creatively and personally.
Music, fashion and art are my biggest passions apart from photography, and the influences are very clear in my work. Currently I’m very much inspired by Fauvist & Surrealist artists such as Henri Matisse, Rene Magritte and Andre Derain, as well as 50’s and 60’s fashion, and movie posters from the 40’s and 50’s. I love colour and high contrast in fashion images, however, lately I’ve been taking inspiration from film noir and planning on showing that in more of my future work.
Occasionally I use myself in portraits; “Ego” is an ongoing series of self portraits which will probably never end! Rather than standing there and trying to disguise myself as ‘pretty’, I use self portraiture as a way of poking fun at myself, my own insecurities, people’s expectation’s and identity.
I also love taking photos of bands and artists performing live, and I have taken promo shots for a couple of bands. When taking promos for bands, I mainly try to connect their music and personalities with my photography, so I see it more as a collaboration (pretty much the same way I am inspired by the clothes when doing fashion), and it is something I always look forward to!
I am constantly experimenting using different studio, camera and editing techniques. A few months ago I took a series of 4 kitsch fashion portraits using a disposable film camera, and I was very pleased with the result! I’m a firm believer that a good photographer doesn’t need a good camera to take a great image, and that’s pretty much what I have tried to prove to myself (even though I do own an Digital SLR Camera, of course!).
Currently I am working on a very personal series of images connected to poetry I have written in the past and maybe some that I will write in the future. I use poetry as a means of self therapy and it is not something I think I excel at, so I am pretty excited to see how this plan will turn out!
I have exhibited at the Truman Brewery in East London in June 2010 and I am also planning on exhibiting a currently unpublished series of images in Brighton later this year. I have also done some editorial magazine work and I am expecting more of that in the near future!
Links
http://www.robertattard.co.uk
http://www.facebook.com/wobographist
http://wobwobwob.blogspot.com
Nice write up and interesting work. I like your style and the samples you posted here.