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Doug Chinnery
I am an artist working with images full of colour and movement in an attempt to express what I see around me. Inspired by artists, in particular the impressionists and abstract impressionists as well as Chris Friel and Valda Bailey, I work in abstraction trying to capture mood and emotion. I live in obscurity with my wife, Beth, and my buddy, Eddie.
Michéla Griffith
In 2012 I paused by my local river and everything changed. I’ve moved away from what many expect photographs to be: my images deconstruct the literal and reimagine the subjective, reflecting the curiosity that water has inspired in my practice. Water has been my conduit: it has sharpened my vision, given me permission to experiment and continues to introduce me to new ways of seeing.
Tim interviewed Doug Chinnery way back in May 2011 (you can read the original interview here). At the time, Doug’s biography mentioned that he had a particular interest in the transformative opportunities of landscape photography and there is certainly a striking difference between the images that article featured and his attempts to balance head and heart – the demands and expectations of his commercial clients and his personal fascination with more experimental techniques including camera movement and multiple exposure. Now the personal has the upper hand and has proved to be commercial too, with the workshops that Doug offers, many with Valda Bailey, proving so popular that the two have set up baileychinnery to offer workshops, tutorials and a print service for photographers. So while there is potentially more to catch up with than we can fit into a short interview, here’s a taster.
Have your tastes in photography changed at all, or what you find inspiration in? (Either in terms of your own work, or what you enjoy looking at.)
This is an interesting question Michela. My tastes have changed hugely in the last few years and this is reflected in my work. I have always enjoyed and spent a lot of time looking at the work of others – enjoying discovering new photographers and finding inspiration. Like so many, in the past, this meant looking mainly at more classic landscape photography much of the time. However, I have found my interest in this genre has significantly waned in recent years. Why this is, I’m sure, is down to a couple of things.
Firstly, there is so much of it these days – and for me, it has become rather generic. I do feel everyone should make images in the way they want and of what they want. Photography should bring the photographer joy. But for me, both looking at and making this type of image was no longer doing that. Social media is awash with sameness. There seems to be so little striving for putting something of the photographer into the image. It is more about making images which are like everyone else’s.
Secondly, on a personal level, I have found I am seeing the world in a different way. I now spend far more time looking at art (and I use that term in this instance meaning images made without a camera – paintings, drawings, and ceramics). I am particularly drawn to the abstract impressionists, the impressionists, the cubists and so on. From this, I have found my own image making has been hugely influenced and all of my work is now abstract in form.