Tim Booth
Tim’s background…
Tim Booth began taking photographs with his father’s camera at the age of eight. By he time he was a teenager he’d bought his first SLR, thrown on a backpack and headed off around Europe.
Infected by both travel and photography he spent several years shooting freelance features for most of the UK’s weekend magazines and newspapers in Africa, Pakistan and South East Asia.
Once settled back in the UK he shot commercial, corporate and design work from his London studio whilst also pursuing personal projects. His commercial work for advertising and design agencies spans three decades.
Ever bitten by the travel bug, his first exhibition ‘Into the Light’ was shot whilst on assignments in Africa. However it is his seminal ‘A Show of Hands’ project and award winning book which brought him international recognition. Spanning over twenty years, the collection features the hand portraits of hundreds of people whose hands are intrinsic to their contribution to the world. Some of the portraits are of well-known celebrities, musicians and performers, others are from everyday backgrounds but all with hands that embody an evocative insight into their lives and professions.
Tim Booth’s instantly recognisable shooting style echoes across both his portraiture and more recent landscape work, deceptively simple and shunning unnecessary elaboration, his photographs are often both profound and affecting.
He now lives near Bridport.
Tim’s inspiration…
“My time favourite photographers:
Peter Lindbergh:
I have loved Peter Lindbergh's work ever since working as an assistant photographer inn London back in the late '80's. He has what appears to be a fabulously casual style to his portraits and yet there's a very definable structure. He knows exactly where to pull the viewer's eye and how to shoot so that you can almost feel the subjects breath. Always arresting imagery.
Herb Ritts:
Herb Ritts’ work is so sharply clean, chiseled and sculptural with elements of great symmetry. His portraiture has been a great influence on on my circus work and, rather oddly, on my minimalist landscapes.
Sebastião Salgado: (especially his book Genesis)
Salgado is a fabulous photographer who's work bridges the gap between documentary and art in a fascinating way. All his images tell stories and draw the viewer in. I can look at his images again and again and never get bored.”
Tim’s tips for your photography…
“To properly document life and emotion you need to be empathetic. You will always draw more emotion and 'reality' from your subjects if you can empathise with them and in turn earn their trust.
Sometimes a camera can become a barrier between you and and the life you are photographing, it's worth remind yourself that your camera is not a shield, but a paintbrush..”