Headstuff-Featured Artist article

A few months ago I was asked by Ruth Connolly, art writer from the web-site Headstuff to do an interview on my photographic series, 'Colour Me Happy.'

Here is what I wrote, plus a few photos from the series; For the full body of work please click here, to see the full article on Headstuff please click here.

'I always carry a 35mm automatic camera with me whenever I leave the house, either going into town or on various trips. It is loaded with 35mm colour film. I usually use black and white film when I am working on projects but wanted to carry a colour camera (I also sometimes carry a small camera with black and white film as well, so I have a colour camera and a black and white camera!), with me as a form of sketchbook.

I prefer film over digital as it prevents me from over clicking, I have to step back and think about what I am doing and what I take as I only have a few shots to work with at a time. Film is a good way to focus and observe your subjects, it leaves a lot to chance and there is a real excitement as well as disappointment when the film is finally developed. 

I use the colour photos as an exploration of my everyday, to acknowledge whatever catches my eye, making me more in-tuned with my surroundings and myself as an artist.

The photos are of my world and life of the past 7 years or so, it is a small world mostly taken at home, by the sea, wandering in graveyards or fields and occasionally visiting family in America; little liminal experiences.

It is usually colour or shapes that catch my eye; Some of the photos are blurred, usually from me being to close to an object, the camera has an automatic focus so I am unaware of the problem till the film is developed, but this is ok, it is about being in the moment, a small memory captured through light on a piece of film, memory isn't always clear, sometimes blurred.

It wasn't until I started to put the photos together, creating a photo essay that I realised that they formed a sort of autobiography of my life these past few years and weren't just random shots. Showing my anxieties, fears and worries, the battles I have with religion, love, life, family and home.

I will continue with this observations taking my little camera with me wherever I go and hopefully keep adding to the series, capturing the beauty of my everyday.'