Urbansand | Photography

Interview with Tommy Forbes

How, when and why did photography begin for you?

Photography has played a role in my family for years. My Grandfather was very nerdy when it came to photography. He had lots of different cameras (some of which I still have) and took them everywhere shooting everything. We recently found 15 rolls of cine film developed from a trip he made to the US in 1950 which were unbelievable. His nerdiness rubbed off on my mum who became a professional family photographer and my childhood was spent with her shouting at me and my sister to shut up, keep still and smile. Because of this I still loathe having my photo taken but I must have liked something about it because I remember taking photos throughout school and university. When I moved to London in 2003 I carried on shooting on a few digital cameras but I don’t think photography really ‘began’ for me until I randomly sat down with a guy called Sean, the cousin of a friend of mine, who introduced me to Flickr. I very much doubt I’d be so obsessed with photography now if I hadn’t have had that conversation.

Can you tell me about your background beyond photography?

I grew up an hour outside London in a town called Guildford. After school I went to Aberdeen University to study History of Art and English Literature. Once I got my degree I moved to London and worked at MTV for 2 years and have since moved into producing kids TV shows. As with any job it can be horrible but when it’s good it’s a great job that I love. (+ there is always something interesting to photograph)

Has there been moments or “ahas” along the way that you consider as key to your progress as a photographer?

Yes. About 2 years ago a photographer called Eamon Lane put a notice up on his stream calling for people to let him come over to their homes and have their portrait taken. I don’t invite strange men over to my place very often, but for some reason I agreed (and he came over). He took one roll of 120 (The photo can be seen here) and then we got chatting about photography and Flickr. Through this chat Eamon introduced me to loads of great photographers & groups I’d never heard of, loads of ideas that had never occurred to me and, most importantly, he made meeting other Flickr photographers seem like a good idea.

How do you decide upon which photographs you publish?

At the moment I’m travelling so, once I find a lab cheap enough to process my film, I put them on my computer and split them into two categories; ‘Not Shit’ and the rest. ’Not Shit’ acts as a pool and from which I pick out each shot if and when I think they’ll fit into my stream. There is no real science behind why I post specific shots, (at the moment it depends heavily on when I can get stuff developed) but, as much as I can, I try to choose each shot as individual and different from the rest.

How do you think about what tools you are going to use as you head out to photograph?

I have bought only one camera away with me (an M6, it rules) and I take it everywhere. I have one lens so I don’t have any real choices to make about equipment, but I think that’s a bonus. I’m sure if I did have to make those decisions I’d always be wondering about the kit I didn’t take, and how the photos would have looked if I did.

Current influences?

Typically I’m influenced by all the photographers that everyone else, quite rightly, loves; Soth, Eggleston, McGinley, Frank, Arbus, Chelbin etc . . . but Flickr is also a huge influence, Salva Lopez, Ben Roberts, Rafa Alcacer, Olya Ivanova, Harry Mitchell, are all great photographers (there are many many more) and I consider, Contract Killers, Your photo isn’t that great and Photographs on the brain to be some of the best groups on Flickr, always showing great new work, often from people you’ve never seen before, which is amazing. Also, since I’m an unemployed travelling bum at the moment, I try to see as much photography / culture as I can, wherever I am. I recently went to the Getty in LA to see the ‘Engaged Observers’ exhibition which was incredible.

What’s your approach to getting random people on the street to say yes to allowing you to take their portrait? I have a horrible batting average for getting to a yes.

I very rarely get a yes either when I ask people on the street for a portrait, maybe 1 in 6 are a yes. I do find that if you approach people in a crowded area they are far less likely to say yes simply because they don’t want all those people looking at them while they do something they think is weird. If and when they do agree my instruction is always, “I don’t care what you do as long as you don’t smile.” Then, whilst framing the shot etc, I wait for them to relax and think that I’m taking too long and take the shot. I think the best example of this is this portrait . . .

Would you mind picking a photo you think carries an interesting story and tell the story behind it?

I took this on my last visit to see my godfather. When I drink wine it tends to wake me up far earlier than normal and my godfather and I had drunk a lot the night before so I woke up at 4.30 am. Much as I would like to go back to sleep in these situations, my mind is always annoyingly awake, so I got my camera and went for a walk. My godfather lived in Suffolk, so for the next two hours I wandered around the misty fields taking photos of sheep, trees and anything else that looked good in the early morning light. It was only when I got back that I realized I’d over exposed everything by two stops and thought the whole film would be shit. I didn’t get it processed for ages thinking it would be a waste of money however, eventually when I did, this came out. It’s one of my favourite shots, but it’s 50% accident/incompetence, so I suppose I’m only 50% responsible for it, which feels odd.