Photography News Issue 51

Photography News | Issue 51 | photographynews.co.uk

Interview

Thaxted’s People Andy Griffin didn’t expect his personal photography project to last for over four and a half years, but nor did he expect to photograph more than 150 people and produce a book. Here’s his story of Thaxted’s People

Words by Jemma Dodd Pictures by Andy Griffin

What sparked the idea for this project? As a professional photographer I think it is important to push yourself creatively, and a personal project enables you to do this. It is all too easy to get stuck in a rut with your style of photography, adhering to client briefs or just playing safe and photographing your subjects in a way that you know works. I’ve wanted to take on a personal project for some years, and although I’ve undertaken shoots in the past using models and other subjects who aren’t paying clients, a full-on project helps to focus the mind and requires a plan of action. When I moved to Thaxted over 12 years ago, I was taken by the number of fascinating characters who inhabit this rural medieval market town. I set out a plan to photograph between ten and 20 people for a personal project in order to develop my portrait and lighting skills. I contacted a well-connected gentleman in the town, told

him of my plans, and with his advice about who I should photograph in the first instance, the project was born. You spent four and a half years photographing the subjects; did you ever feel like giving up or that your project wouldn’t be finished? TheprojectbeganinJanuary2013andIthought it would be finished by the end of that year. Every subject I photographed fully embraced my vision and most of them recommended more people who they thought should be included. This took the initial list of 20 or so characters to over 150. I did feel a little like Iwas ‘painting the Forth Bridge’, as I would get to the end of each year and my list of people to be photographed was getting longer, not shorter. It became rather overwhelming and there were times when I thought it would never come to

fruition. I realised I had to be more strict with the planning and execution of the shoots. I carried out interviews with each subject to discuss their background and ascertain what sort of shots I was going to create with them. Then I would get dates in the diary and get on with planning the shoots. Did you know when the project was finally finished? Once the project had gained momentum and I realised the numbers were rapidly increasing, I changed my target to 100 subjects, and started to think about the possibility of a book and exhibition. With this in mind, I then had to think about the aesthetics of the book and exhibition from a photographic point of view, rather than just capturing specific characters. More planning took place to ensure I was representing a cross-section of the

It is all too easy to get stuck in a rut with your style of photography, adhering to client briefs or just playing safe and photographing your subjects in a way that you know works

Top David (Beany) Beanland is the manager of a local private estate.