tim sherwood photography

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"Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still" - Dorothea Lange

This website is an online portfolio which showcases some of my photographic work. I am a Artist/Photographer based in Salisbury in Wiltshire and have been creating photographs for over three decades. If you are interested in my work or have any questions please contact me via social media links below.

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facade

“The principal front of a building, that faces on to a street or open space” - "a deceptive outward appearance" definition of facade

............what you see on the outside is not necessarily how things are, it is not always a true reflection of reality. This work is a continuation of an earlier theme, "perception and reflection" which looked back at childhood memories. As a child you view things with innocence and wonder, you have memories of perfect times, but revisiting as an adult it is only possible to capture fleeting glimpses of these moments.

I started to examine themes of abandonment, loneliness, fakery and illusion. I looked at ideas associated with the theatre, fashion, homelessness and old, derelict and historic buildings.

I chose historic buildings as the first avenue to investigate and one in particular, that had links back to my childhood - Hampton Court Palace, I was born within yards of it and visited it many times as a child.

Visitors see the glamour and the splendor of the public areas of the royal palace but this is only a quarter of what is actually there. My primary concern is that perception is not (necessarily) reality. I have tried to capture the decay of the mainly abandoned “Grace and Favour Apartments” where “real” people lived and juxtapose these images against some of the glamour and splendor of the royal apartments.

This illusion of splendor is the case for most if not all stately homes and palaces, necessary dictates that resources are focused on the public areas and unfortunately this is at the expense of the private areas.

paris - reflections on the work of Atget

One of the pioneers of documentary photography, Eugene Atget was born near Bordeaux in 1857. He didn’t take up photography until the late 1880's, but from then until his death in 1927 he produced an incredible archive of “Old Paris” documenting the urban architecture dating from the 16th to the 19th century. Atget chose to use a large format wooden bellows camera and glass dry plate negatives throughout his career although even before the turn of the century this was old technology.

Atget's photography has a very tangible, tactile quality. Much of his early work has very even lighting, either photographed at mid-day or in very diffuse or overcast conditions. the only areas in shadow are those that are recessed. It is only later that early morning or late afternoon shadows are used giving more mood and feeling to the images.

Many of the images were taken using fairly wide angled lenses which is born out by the presence of vignetting and an element of distortion. Unlike other architectural photographs of the time many of his images are asymmetrically framed which enhances the three dimensionality of the subject.

Taken with very long exposure times (due to the use of glass plate negatives and the requirement for relatively large depth of field) people moving through the frame rarely register or appear as ghostly blurs, giving many of his picture a cold desolate feel.

The aim was to recreate (or try and recreate) some of this feeling in modern day Paris. It turned out to be far too busy but I hope I still manage to capture some of the essence of Aget’s work in this collection.

editorial - future living

"Of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask ‘how’, while others of a more curious nature will ask ‘why’. Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information." - Man Ray

Originally a college assignment, the brief was to produce an in-depth editorial series of three photographs based around the theme of ‘future living’.

I visited two powerful exhibits at The Photographers Gallery, London and was greatly influenced by War Primer 2 by Broomberg and Chanarinis.

Brecht's 1955 photo-essay War Primer comprised 85 images, photographic fragments or collected newspaper clippings, that were placed next to a four-line poem, called 'photo-epigrams'. Broomberg and Chanarin overlayed Google search results for the poems over Brecht's originals to produce War Primer 2.

I utilised their technique of overlaying related images, taken s ome years apart to tell the story and used it as a means of a means of portraying the interrelationship of past and present or present and future. Overlaying pictures from my "perception and reflection" work with old photos of my childhood holidays in Herne Bay allowing me to reconnect with childhood memories of family members who have since passed on.

perception and reflection - exhibited as part of the 2013 Salisbury Art Trail

While clearing out the loft of our old house I came across a number of photograph albums and loose photographs, and some of my old school exercise books. Most of the photographs were taken in the 1960s and were either of me or taken by me. Going through these photographs brought back many strong memories of my childhood.

Amongst these were many photographs taken in Herne Bay, Kent with my Grandparents who we used to go and stay with every year for the summer holidays.

As a adult you reminisce about how one views things as a child, with a sense of innocence and perfection. perception and reflection is a collection of photographs revisiting some of my childhood memories and reflecting on how those memories compare to the modern day reality.

On returning to Herne Bay in 2013 it was surprising to see how little the sea front at Herne Bay had changed. The boating lake had been filled in and the pier was a stump left in the sea. Many shops had changed hands but the overall look was the same. Much effort had gone into the regeneration of public areas of the sea front.

Although it was still summer season, there were only a handful of holiday makers and a few people strolling along the prom. The cafes and restaurants were mostly empty and I begin to notice the decay, pealing paint, rotting window frames and thederelict burned out pub.

This work highlight the decline of the English tourist resort compared to idyllic childhood memories.

off-roading photo-shoot

This Photo-shoot was with R and E Land Rover and Jamie Parry's modified 1989 Range Rover which was about to take part in the Help for Heroes European Rally. These picture were taken at Boxgrove Pit, West Sussex on the wettest Sunday in the history of off roading, probably!

My first challenge was to get to the actual shoot which was half way around a 4x4 circuit. Much to the amazement of the marshals I managed to get my 4x4 (fitted with road tyres) around the course and only got stuck once. (there are some photos on my blog). The rain was so heavy I couldn't risk changing lenses, I taped up and wrapped up the lens, camera and flashgun as much as I could but still had to continually dry my equipment with towels.

Once I had finished and was out of the rain I stripped my equipment down, removed batteries and dried off all I could.... and drained water out of my flashgun! ……….amazingly everything still works. If I’m doing any outdoor photography I always pack a role of insulating tape, some plastic bags and some towels.

experimenting with lomography

according to Lomography.com there are 10 rules that define lomography:

take your camera everywhere you go
use it any time, day and night
lomography is not an interference in your life, but a part of it
try to shoot from the hip
approach the objects of your lomographic desire as close as possible
don't think
be fast
you don't have to know beforehand what you captured on film
you don't have to know afterwards either
don't worry about any rules!

these picture were taken with a holga 120 Red - a plastic, low cost, medium format film camera with a plastic lens - so be ready for vignetting, blur, light leaks, and other distortions!

under the pier

The aim of this project is to capture images of many of the remaining piers in the UK particularly the undersides and superstructures.

The iconic saucy seaside postcard is not complete without one but what is the fascination with piers. As a child they were places of excitement, amusement arcades, ice cream and Punch and Judy. As an occasional treat we would go through the turnstiles and onto the pier, but I was never allowed to play near or under the pier, it was “too Dangerous!”

Piers are also places of mystery, for as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by them and particularly the underside of piers.

The pier is a contradiction. The underside is a secret place, hidden below the facade of the now faded grandure of the promenarde and the pavilion. And hidden by the sea as well, only fully revealed at low tide. The dirty, grungy architectural sculpture that is the supporting structure of the pier. It has both beauty and functionality in the complexity of its skeletal Victorian iron work or in the simplicity of its modern concrete pillars.

This project continues the theme of "perception and reflection" looking at childhood memories and facade"facade" looking at what you see is not always the whole story.

landscapes

My primary concerns are the shape, form, texture and pattern of the scenery, it can be country side, urban sprawl or highrise. Rather than trying to just replicate an image I want to evoke the feeling of a place, to display the sense of atmosphere and to capture a moment in time to immerse the viewer in a sense of space and timelessness. The beauty of landscape photography is that you never cease to learn, and I will continue to refine my technique.

abstract pattern and texture

"Get rid of everything that is not essential to making a point." - Christoph Niemann

Shape, form pattern and texture are everywhere, they are found in nature and in man made structures and give unity and structure to an image. Repeated shapes, patterns, colours and detail, whether random or ordered surround use and much of the time are overlooked. The structural elements shape, form, pattern and texture make up a very important part of my composition process. Ones ability to identify and see the potential in these structural elements can be the making of an image. By using different elevations and angles, by changing the light and shadow, or by choice of shutter speed the subjects structure can change dramatically and produce very different images.

shape and form

Coming from a science and engineering background I have always considered shape and form to be synonymous when describing the structure or outward appearance of an object. But in the visual arts,

Shape is a flat, two-dimensional enclosed area of an artwork created through line, texture, colour or an area enclosed by other shapes.

Form is a three-dimensional object within a three-dimensional composition, it gives depth with perspective and light and shade.

pattern

Pattern constantly surrounds us without us really noticing or thinking about it. I look for repeated shapes, forms or textures of any kind, the subject can be literally anything.

texture

Texture can be thought of as a pattern that has been scaled down or as something you can run your fingers over and feel. light and shadow are very important in the visualisation of texture and the shape and form cease to be important.

singapore

A couple of days spent in Singapore. At first glance Singapore is a very modern city, but on closer inspection the architecture displays an amazing range of influences and styles, an eclectic mix from the colonial period to the more contemporary architecture of the 21st century.

I want to go back, there is so much to see and so much to photograph, particularly the form and pattern in some of the concrete, steel and glass structures, Singapore is like a model village gone mad, there is just so much crammed into such a small island.

The city is so very clean, almost antiseptic, looking skywards, the mass of concrete, glass and steel dwarfs the spectator giving a feeling of desolation and loneliness. But this is juxtaposed by the bustling tree lined streets and the friendliness of the people.

tim sherwood
photography

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"...ever time you pick up a camera you hope you're going to make some magic..." - David Bailey

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"You don't take a photograph, you make it" - Ansel Adams

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"There is nothing worse than a brilliant image of a fuzzy concept." - Ansel Adams

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