MPB Meets: Fine Art Photographer Andy Feltham

It takes a keen eye to see beyond mundane environments and transform them into amazing imagery. Andy Feltham uses simple compositions to transform scenes through serendipity, beautiful lighting and technical skill. This is our interview with Andy Feltham.

MPB: Can you tell us how photography started for you?

AF: I became hooked on photography when my wife bought me a souped-up point-and-shoot Panasonic LX5 as a wedding present. She’s supported, nurtured and encouraged my practice ever since the beginning.

MPB: Did you experiment a lot in the early days with different genres?

AF: I shot flowers and sunsets for a couple of weeks, before being drawn to the endless possibilities of street photography. Capturing a banal moment that will never happen again, but placing your creative stamp on it to render it memorable, is a compelling concept. For some reason, which I still can’t fully put my finger on, I fairly quickly migrated the photographic rummage to documenting humanity in the streets, just without the humans. I’ve been deep in that rut ever since.

MPB: You have a recognisable style—creating otherworldly scenes, punctuated by beautiful soft light, from seemingly mundane subjects—what do you hope to convey with your images?

AF: When I’m photographing a mundane scene, what I’m really aiming to communicate are the highs and lows of the human condition. I love finding a plant or a wall with personality. Charisma. While there is always a personal narrative within each photograph, sequence or series, ambiguity is also a corner-piece of the puzzle. There are more questions than answers in life, so that is reflected in my output. In some regards, it’s down to the viewer to bring their own story to the table, and it’s my intention that the tale can evolve with time as they do. Whatever the interpretation, I’m hopeful that the feeling the work conveys remains a constant.

MPB: Are you quite specific in terms of how you shoot, in terms of the time of day or atmospheric conditions?

AF: If there’s some amazing light, I’ll often fly out the door. It would be a shame to waste it. That said, I can’t just wait for the perfect light. This is a need, a personal obligation to make work. I’m pretty obsessive about that. Twilight is my favourite time to shoot as the dynamic range is at its narrowest and the light is flat and pretty. Frankly, it's also the most convenient with the responsibilities of a young family. As for atmospheric conditions—who can resist a bit of fog, especially at night? If you think about it, it’s quite something that obvious metaphors for suffocation and claustrophobia can be portrayed with such beauty.

MPB: What camera gear is always with you?

AF: Flash is very important to my work. Day or night, 98% of the time I want to add a little something to the scene. The creative possibilities feel endless and I love the look that a little fill brings. Flash also means that you can have great light in any condition. The mundane deserves to be treated like a supermodel, don’t you think?

I maintain that the tripod is the best bang for your buck in photography, and for a long time, it was a constant companion. However, for the past couple of years, I’ve often ditched the tripod at night, using the flash to freeze the subject, but still doing long exposures. This technique is used in my Otherworlds series and can be seen in Babbacombe Downs 8 and Kings Gardens. What you lose in recording the subtlety of light, you gain in visceral impact, I think. I like the movement and energy the technique brings to a photograph.

The aim of Otherworlds is to discover a realm that can only be entered by the photographic medium. An important part of the project is that I don’t digitally manipulate the work. The camera accesses and records something that actually happened, but in a way that our eyes can’t visualise. The camera becomes our doorway to another reality.

MPB: How important is your capture equipment? Are you always looking at different cameras and tech, or do you get settled with your kit?

AF: I’m a one camera, one lens sort. Faithful to my kit. I am delighted to be using the Fujifilm GFX 50R and the 50mm f/3.5 R LM WR (40mm equivalent) and have done so for two-and-a-half years now. Honestly, I’m not interested in using anything else. Actually, that’s a slight lie. I’d love to have my Mamiya 7 and 65mm lens again, but don’t have the money for all that heavenly film.

I realise it’s very easy for me to form that opinion using one of the best cameras in the world, but also I think far too many people fixate over the gear. We should obsess over the process and the output. Gear is an integral cog, of course, and a certain piece of kit can occasionally get us the look we want, but process and output are paramount, with output taking pole position in my book.

MPB: Is there anything specific you’d like to achieve within photography? Any milestone you would like to reach?

AF: I’ve stubbornly chosen to work entirely within the fine-art sphere of photography, ignoring the negative voices that seem to think it’s not a viable choice. My first target, therefore, is to bring a little more income into the home from my photography. I also work a long day per week as a nurse at the local hospital. I wouldn’t want to drop my healthcare role, however—it’s very grounding, ’real’ and informs my photographic output.

Due to relocating in 2020, I took the leap into professional photographic practice probably a few years earlier than I’d have chosen. However, I’m convinced that (within reason) anything is possible if we plough enough belief and energy into it. After all, it’s on us to create our own narrative in a post-truth era. I suppose the trick is convincing enough people to listen to our story. 

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