The Man

Studied Visual Communication at Medway College of Art and Design from 1976-79, moving to London in 1980. After working as a Photographic Assistant to Commercial Photographer Gary Bryan for 3 years, he set up his own studio in Chelsea in 1983, that specialised in high-quality still life photography, in the areas of Advertising, Design and Editorial. Martin also shot stills on TV and Cinema commercials, primarily with directors Howard Guard and Ridley Scott (Alien/Blade Runner/Gladiator). Some of Martin’s clients included, British Airways, BMW, Volkswagen and Selfridges.

While working in the commercial world Martin’s style evolved, resulting in tightly cropped, close-up work, mostly utilising Tungsten lighting, to enhance texture and detail.

Two decades later Martin departed from commercial photography, concentrating on his own vision.

In his personal life Martin feels as though he’s had a moment of clarity while undertaking Schema Therapy.

Throughout his life and in particular his Mental Health / Therapeutic life he’s been on a journey to find answers to the fundamental questions of ‘Who is he?’ What is his True Self or Identity?

That journey has taken him via suicide attempts, psychiatric hospitals, detox, rehab, (he’s 19 years clean and sober), treatment centres, and countless therapy groups and one to one sessions in seeking the one true ‘Self’ but as he now knows there is no ‘Definitive Self’ he’s made up of many parts.

Which brings him to Buddhism and his studies. There have been recent discussions around the idea of ’Self’ and the fact from a Buddhist perspective there is ‘No Self!'

He says, he finally thinks he understands this now.

Of course, many may already know this, but he doesn’t think that at any time in his life, he has been so conscious of this fact. 

He feels this is an important breakthrough for him.

Matin thinks the poem, The Ideal by James Fenton, says something about his own life journey.

This is where I came from.
I passed this way.
This should not be shameful
Or hard to say.
A self is a self.
It is not a screen.
A person should respect
What he has been.
This is my past
Which I shall not discard.
This is the ideal.
This is hard.

The Art

“To see we must forget the names of the things we’re looking at”. Claude Monet.

Martin totally agrees with Monet’s quote and follows it avidly.

Today he says he’s rejected a lot of the values of his time as a commercial photographer, other than perhaps the importance of composition.

He shoots now only on his iPhone, saying he enjoys the freedom it brings. ‘I want my work to be spontaneous and free from all the technicalities and rigidity of traditional photography’, that he feels, sometimes gets in the way of being creative. ‘I don’t want it to become an overly technical exercise, rather than a creative one.’

Some of the comments often aimed at his work are, that his images are very simple and anybody could do them.

But as Martin says, in his experience ‘anybody’ don’t do them because they don’t see them in the first place. It’s almost as if being simple somehow devalues the work but as Leonardo da Vinci once said: ‘Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’ and I don’t think he was wrong.

ArtCity. Images from his environment that wouldn’t look out of place in an Art Gallery.

Street. Images that catch his eye in the environment he walks.

Others. He often uses shadows to represent the impact that others (people) or institutions (Roman Catholic Church) had on his childhood experiences.

Ego. He uses ‘Cars’ as an expression of status. Once a predominately male domain but increasingly now entering the Women’s domain.

Isolation and Neglect. He often uses Leaves and Texture to represent, Alienation, Disconnection, Emptiness and Trauma, all things he often feels in relation to his own life. He feels the many nuances of decay and dying in leaves and texture offers better opportunity to express the damage that trauma and abuse can have.

Clouds. If God does exist would they appear to us as clouds? Majestic, Mysterious and Magnificent all befitting of a Deity.

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 Martin's prints are for sale at Artmajeur and Saatchi Art

 

This website is dedicated to the staff and clinicians of the Waterview Centre 2006-9, Thank you.