I listened to a podcast interview between Donna Loveday from the Design Museum and fashion photographer Tim Walker.
The description alone for the podcast interview with Tim Walker was enough to make me look up his work. How could it not with an intro like this:
“London based photographer Tim Walker has established himself at the cutting edge of fashion photography. His images capture a sublime moment in time, evoking a sense of epic drama and beauty. Stunning sets and lavish locations juxtapose the everyday with the absurd and the fabulous, to create captivating, original photographs. Tim’s evocative images are full of textured nuance and intriguing detail. His innovative photography is amongst the most imaginative and exuberant being produced today.”
After viewing his images I must say I was not disappointed; they are absolutely stunning. The podcast is an interview with Tim about how he comes to the ideas for his photographs, where he takes his inspiration and of course the question we ask of all photographers, why photography?
His sets are fantastic and some of them remind me of Annie Leibovitz’s work. There are so many beautiful images that it was hard for me to choose which ones to post for you to get a preview of his work, but if you take a look I think they speak for themselves.
I find it strange that I enjoy the work of a fashion photograph so much; I can honestly say I never saw that one coming. I would love to be able to create an elaborate set like these one day and be able to take a photo that seems to be infused with fantasy and mystery. Tim has a mastery of light that I think only a photographer can truly understand the beauty of.
He draws his inspiration from everywhere; newspapers, books, words, the English countrysid. He tears things out and puts them in sketchbooks, constantly adding to them as reference material. Tim calls these source images “ingredients”.
Interestingly, it was not the camera that drew him to photography in the first place, but pictures in a broader sense. He was attracted to all kinds of film and especailly picture books as a child.
I would like to develop my process more along the lines of his; to keep constant images in a sketchbook, in my mind, to be able to draw on them for ideas and inspiration. This seems like a daunting task to me but I feel like this online sketchbook is a good start and I hope to continue with it past the end of this class.
All images by Tim Walker.
Here is an photo I found on Flickr of one of Tim’s sketchbooks where he collects his resource images. This sketchbook was at the exhibition that Tim is talking about in the interview. You can download and listen to the podcast here.
The Sandy Box 