STUART MITCHELL, LONDON

Originally posted November, 2011. All photos courtesy of Stuart Mitchell.

PUNK INFLUENCES.
"The punk thing is really about stripping things down and keeping it as basic and raw as possible... through the punk years in the late 70"s everyone knew that a guitarist in a punk band only ever knew about three or four chords...yet they created these powerful songs and riffs that will stick in peoples minds for years and years to come. I find it the same with photography, I"m a big believer in that people can create big strong images from very little. I'm the kind of person that rather than spending £300 on studio & equipment hire for a day I would prefer to go to a indie club with a £6 disposable camera. It's the people that excite me, not fancy equipment, lighting techniques or photoshop."

WALNUTWAX.TUMBLR.COM | @WALNUTWAX

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ALYSHA NETT

What attracted you to photography in the first place? Was there a moment where it all (pardon the pun) clicked?



Photography is very much a vehicle for me to be creative... It used to be the case that all of my friends were in bands and photography seemed like something I could do to get involved by shooting band promo shots. It "clicked" when I went to see a Wolfgang Tillmans show... at that point I knew I wanted to take portraits. His portraits were beautiful, some shocking, yet always effortless. It gave me the confidence to start mailing girls and from there I slowly started to build up a portfolio.

Do you think there's too much of an emphasis put on equipment and software like photoshop these days?



I do... I don't like the thought of kids who want to become photographers sitting at home looking at fashion mags and blogs and feeling that they need all the latest gear in order to get results... I remember years ago I mailed a photographer on myspace asking him how to get into portrait photography and he said i needed at least £1500 to get started and build from there. I remember thinking fuck that, I'm gonna try and do it for £500, haha...

ELLIS COOPER

ELLIS COOPER

DOLL

HATTIE WATSON

RUBY TRUE

TABITHA CAT

VIVI STERLING

Time to plug a band, who should we all be listening to?



Well... Hannah, who I've shot three times now used to be in a band called <<Doll and The Kicks>> who were amazing. Sadly they split recently but you should still check out their album. I think Hannah is gonna be working on a new music project soon so watch out, she's amazing...

I'm kinda out of the new music loop nowadays. I don't get all these shouting tattooed bands. I always go back to The Smiths and The Beatles.

Are you optimistic about the future?



Sometimes... but there are times when I feel like it's all crap. I suppose it's a confidence thing...I'm my own worst critic and when I'm happy with my work I've got a real spring in my step ,but when things are not so good I feel like packing it all in and taking up food photography haha.

THANK YOU. NEVER QUIT.