Name: Thomas Fielden
Age: Nineteen
From: Preston, England
"My passion for photography began with my love of skateboarding. I preferred to focus my attention on documenting the tricks my friends were doing whilst trying to capture the mood of the day through my lens. Soon the love for photography itself took over and I began to experiment in a variety of ways in which I could use the camera to explore the relationship of people to their own worlds.
Portraiture stemmed from this and over time my style and taste developed more to trying to capture the subject’s personality in the frame, rather than simply the activity. I am intrigued by the way eyes seem to reveal so much about a person’s ‘hidden self'.
I am also curious about the ordinary and everyday world around us, and how we interact with each other and our daily routines. I have always believed that everyone is the centre of his or her own world, each seeing and interpreting the universe in his or her own way. The camera helps capture a sense of that perception. A documentary project on homelessness and poverty demonstrates the way the camera captures the sense of the indomitable spirit of humanity even in adverse conditions.
From exploring digital photography and the ability to manipulate images which it offers, I became much more interested in film and printing in the darkrooms. The tonality and texture film allows gives a depth and quality which digital cannot match. The chance to work with John Blakemore has been of huge importance to me and his techniques continue to inspire my thinking and approach.
I feel I’ve learned a lot but have a lot more to discover. I'm still exploring and excited by the possibilities photography gives me for expressing my ideas. Through further experimenting I am keen to find out much more before I find my own style."
