Submission by Fraser West
I grew up in Leicestershire in the UK. I think I started having an interest in photography when shooting my brothers band, touring around the country. Before that, I studied design and art but photography seemed to stick with me.
It's always hard to know if you have a style. There’s a lot of things I like and hopefully they come out in my images. I think my favourite thing to shot is people in everyday environments, it could be in nature or urban places. I get told my images have a cinematic feel to them which I like the idea of; I do more and more filmmaking these days and it seems to have moved into my photography. I think if you can make a picture feel like a story or a scene from a film then that creates a great vibe.
When I go into a shoot I don’t really have a firm idea of what I want, when collaborating with someone, it feels right to come in with loose ideas and then let them lead you into a feeling or moment - something you can react to. I think that’s the most important thing in a photo or film - it has to make you feel something… Like capturing a fleeting moment.
I really love shooting film, I’ve been lucky enough to try most formats but I always seem to come back to my 35mm camera. There’s something really beautiful about film stock, I shoot a lot of 400 or 800 speed film. You can put it in any situation and you’ll always get something out of it. The process of shooting film is really fun and rewarding. I like the idea of shooting a moment and then not seeing it until you process the image later. You feel way more in the moment when you're taking the pictures, and have that excitement of seeing it later down the line. I see photography as a long term thing for me, a journal of my life.
I always get inspired to shoot when I see other people's work; whether it's in a book, in a cool Flickr group or Instagram page or just going to an exhibitions. Flickr has let me discover some of my favourite artists, including many from the Atoms group.