Sam Rose
Sam’s background…
“I have taken photos for more than 30 years but have never really considered myself a photographer, despite having shown in exhibitions, photos published and sold prints. Perhaps to remedy this, last October I started a part time Masters in Photography at the Arts University, Bournemouth. This has been a superb opportunity to look across genres and techniques within photography and move beyond the landscapes and sports photography I have mainly done to date.
So in terms of photography in lockdown, I have looked to find something interesting and different in what we take for granted every day, and be a little playful at the sametime - it doesn't all have to be deadly serious.”
“Lockdown has meant lots of walks from home down to West Bay, and some experimenting with old camera tech. This 'timeless' photo of the station at West Bay was taken in an empty car park on a Box Brownie - datable mainly by the Station Kitchen sign and the climbing frame in the background.”
“Family has been paramount, with my boys and I at home all of the time and my wife going out to work only two days a week, we have looked at different ways of keeping off the monotony. One of these has been a home 'bake-off' competition and this photo is a gentle and playful look at the very serious way we treated our technical challenge - chocolate chip cookies.”
“The final shot is a photo of a verge side flower. The wildlife growing on the verges over lockdown has been magnificent, and this was taken only a couple of days before the council started to cut the verges again.”
Sam’s inspiration…
“I am sucker for a big grand black and white landscape, particularly by Ansel Adams and his work from the National Parks in America. Also on a similar grand scale, I am a big fan of Sabastao Salgado whose documentary work about oppressed people was groundbreaking, revealing and breathtaking. More contemporary, I find the Julia Fullerton-Batton's highly staged cinematic photographs intriguing and beautifully shot.”
Sam’s tips for your photography…
“Decide what you want to photograph, and in particular why, and then experiment with images until you find one that works. Alternatively, if it is a 'thing' then maybe sketch it first to really get a good look at it.”