PHOTOGRAPHER
FOCUS
Simon Watson
Personal Background ? I grew up on the west coast of Ireland to Scottish and South African parents in the 90 ’ s . Small towns , windswept beaches , loughs ( lakes ), rivers , pubs and four Irish television channels were all home to me . My parents ’ professions in Architecture and Landscape design definitely influenced the way I see built spaces and my appreciation for that kind of work . I was fortunately given a lot of freedom growing up to try different creative avenues , which led me to study Visual Communications at Leeds College of Art in the UK . This is where I became interested in lighting as an art form and its ability to profoundly influence a space or an image .
How did you get into photography ? While studying I started working for a successful commercial photographer as a lighting assistant , which had a huge influence on my understanding of photography as a career and the practical necessities that are needed to fulfil a client ’ s requests . My first
opportunity to shoot for a client was a book cover for a novel being published by a literacy trust called Cover2Cover - the subject matter was quite sensitive and required us to shoot around the writer ’ s home in Masiphumelele . The images were very well received and were also bought by European publishers , giving me the confidence and support I needed at the time to pursue this exciting collaborative art form as a career .
Do you specialise in any particular type of photography ? I have always needed variety in my work to stay engaged , so to only work within one area of photography would not be fulfilling for me . For the past decade my most consistent niche has been travel photography which is the culmination of architecture , lifestyle , wildlife and documentary photography .
How do you work and what do you feel makes a great image ? I am a big believer in using technical processes to set my images apart . For some shoots I have used tilt-shift lenses to create panoramic compositions of interiors to pull more elements together for important landing page layouts , or use huge 10m tall camera stands to capture exteriors clear of any obscuring or cluttering
12 Simon Watson