Photography News | Issue 59 | photographynews.co.uk
Interview 26
JerryWebb Profile Adrenaline, a low boredom threshold and getting in close with a wide-angle lens are the core tools in this photographer’s armoury – and his dramatic images show what a potent mix they are
PN: Can you tell Photography News readers a bit about yourself please? What’s your background and what do you do for a living? JW: A bit of a mix really. I do earn from photography but could never earn enough to live on. My primary work is as an event designer – creating graphics and environments for corporate events, something I have done for over 20 years. Prior to that I worked in publishing, initially as a graphic designer, then magazine designer and for six years as an art editor. My work has always been image based and, since my teenage years, art has always inspired and consumed me. PN: How long have you been taking pictures seriously? JW: Truthfully, a short time. Treating my photographs seriously has happened relatively recently. Considering what I am doing, why I am doing it and what and how my work communicates is a reasonably new experience. I have given it little thought for most of my photographic life. It has had the net effect of making my photography more difficult and more challenging. Getting bored with what I produce is probably one of the best facets of my personal photographic process, although at times this can be very demoralising. PN: Do you belong to a camera club? JW: I have belonged to Brighton and Hove Camera Club since 2007 and have looked after the programme, in some shape or form, for the last six years. PN: You have a very distinctive style. How did that come about, or did it just evolve over time? JW: It has certainly evolved. In 2008 I was photographing landscapes in colour. I grew to love both photographing people and black & white photography, interests that came quite early on. Getting closer to my subject and realizing how closeness changed the nature of the image was a lesson that was learnt over a longer period. Shooting from within rather than from afar is always more desirable and more effective. I don’t often use For me proximity is everything. It may be a photographic cliché, but the closer the better, always and without exception
Images Jerry's current favourite image is this shot of boys at a local lido; it captures the exuberance and vitality of youth.
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