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Nicholas White

Nicholas White is a photographer based on the edge of Dartmoor National Park in the South West of England. He graduated from Plymouth College of Art in 2013, was commended in Landscape Photographer of the Year 2015 and is an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society. He currently divides his time between a studio with no windows, and the landscapes of the British Isles. Nick's other website is http://www.blackdotsproject.co.uk/, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

nicholasjrwhite.co.uk

I’ve always been motivated by storytelling. My fascination with photography originated from snapping away on family holidays on Dartmoor so I could relive those experiences when I returned home. As my photographic career developed, I noticed a transition away from the single image and instead, an increasing interest in the ‘series’; bodies of work with a singular theme.

Black Dots was my first major body of work since leaving the relative safety of photographic education. I found myself no longer confined to the restrictions of assessment criteria and crucially, I found myself without a deadline. I could pace myself, make photos when I wanted to make photos and when it felt right to do so. Oddly enough, I discovered that I could be more critical of my image making.

I can come home emptyhanded and not have to face the Spanish Inquisition to a room of my peers, and so I was able to apply stricter rules on myself. If the light wasn’t right, I wouldn’t shoot. If the location didn’t quite work, I’d turn around and go back again. Ultimately, I wouldn’t shoot for the sake of shooting. Not to say of course that these characteristics of being enrolled on a photography course are unnecessary. On the contrary, they’re imperative when it comes to developing your skill set and preparing oneself for the industry and working commercially.

Responding to a brief, meeting deadlines, taking criticism are all crucial attributes to the working photographer. However, when it comes to building a personal body of work, this cannot be forced. It has to, in my opinion, present itself naturally and develop organically. I attribute the successes of Black Dots to the freedoms I enjoyed whilst producing it. So in 2017, when I discovered that I’d been awarded the Royal Photographic Society Environmental Bursary to create a new series – a series that I’d been wanting to create for some time - I was concerned that pressure and expectation would impede on the quality of my work. This series of articles for On Landscape will talk through my journey as I embark on this new project in the Southern Carpathian Mountains of Romania. It will feature behind the scenes images and act as a journal of sorts; a scrapbook of ideas chronicling the ebb and flow of the creative process.