Our interview series launches this week with photographer, Thomas Thorstensson. Enjoy the Q & A along with a small selection of Thomas’s work.
Where are you located?
I’m located in London, where I’ve lived for over ten years now. I’m originally from Tanzania and Sweden.
What are you working on right now?
At the moment my ambition is to finish a modest photography book based on my documentation of the Alfama district in Lisbon. I’m planning to start a workshop in southern Europe that will run over a weekend every other month, and doing some work on that, but since my day job is still that of a Freelancing web developer, it is a slow process. I’m also doing some research for future projects during 2018.
What is your creative process?
I am mainly focused on feeling relaxed when I take photos. It is important to me that I am not too aware of the camera or lens or technique, but more aware of the people around me. I also try to stay focused on my own perception, and to raise it qualitatively, either by finding people that communicate some story, or by finding situations that do the same. These stories can be good, bad, sad, alienating, or whatever they may be — but there must be some content that speaks to me. And, absolutely, I must never hide from the people I photograph.
Other than that it is purely technical process and down to post processing, which I do in Lightroom and Silver Efex (or Color Efex), based on the settings I have.
How has your style and technique evolved over time?
When I started doing Photography five years ago, I became quite obsessed with composition; Bresson therefore became an obvious source of inspiration since in his work you can often find compositional ideas such as gestalt, rhythm, triangles, dynamic tension, leading lines, the golden measure, and so on. (But he was also a great documentary photographer.)
Since then I think I found a more natural language — in relation to myself — in the work of for example Robert Frank, Anders Petersen, and Vivian Maier, to mention a few: an approach to photography (and people) where people are less placed within a frame, if you so will. I love Robert Frank’s imperfect compositions, his insistence on being just about anywhere to tell the story he sees.
I would like to strike some medium between a compositional and a humanist / documentary focused kind of photography.
Why did you choose your medium and what do you wish you knew about it before you got started?
I can honestly say that Photography chose me, not the other way around. I still don’t know how that came about; I just started shooting one day, and then from there on it continued. I’ve been a searching humanist for most of my life. I have a postgraduate degree in philosophy, and I read a lot, especially novels. I also tried my hand at writing several years ago.
The important thing that happened when I took up photography is that I felt, unlike in any other creative discipline, that I had found my voice; the discipline of photography instantly resounded deep within me and I knew there was no going back.
As for the second part of the question: the question never occurred to my mind, sorry.
Are you experimenting with anything new at the moment?
Not at the moment. I tend to go in circles and come back to the same topics, and I don’t know that something is new until I see it. But let me say that ethos, history, and social conflict interest me a lot as a human being and I would like to reflect these aspects of human life more than I have in my work so far during 2018. I am sketching on a few ideas and locations…
What are you trying to communicate with your work?
In any creative discipline you have to insist on your own voice. As you get older I think this gets easier: because the wealth of past experiences will have formed your personality, for better or worse. As a result you will become more immutable in your beliefs, more stubborn — and hopefully also more respectful of other people. Respect is very important in my work.
How has the internet influenced the way you market yourself?
The Internet can be a great tool for marketing oneself. But my view of Facebook, Instagram, and Flickr and so on is quite cynical: I use these services, but I don’t let them consume me. With that I mean: I spend very little time online on social media. I use various tools to market myself on social media sites so that I can spend my time elsewhere.
I think the great part of the internet for photographers is not the big social media giants, but rather the creative communities and possibilities opening up around online photo blogs, online book publishers, online travel funding for photographic projects, online print sales, and so on. The other day I visited the web page of daylightbooks.org, a non-profit publisher of photography books. Very inspirational!
In the age of internet, do you think galleries are still relevant to artists?
Of course they are. I had an exhibition last year with a photography friend of mine in London. There is nothing like sitting in a gallery and meeting people who come to see your work. You end up having conversations about photography you could not foresee. One guy that came to visit my exhibition showed me his own photography from Mumbai, his home town. It was very inspirational.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given as it relates to your work?
“A photographer must always work with the greatest respect for his subject and in terms of his own point of view.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
Do you have any upcoming shows or workshops?
Not at the moment. I have kept a medium to slow pace during 2017, and enjoyed that. I try to not keep a London pace in London. But as outlined vaguely above, I will be launching some workshops in Southern Europe in 2018. Then we have the book about Alfama. And obviously the new ideas I have for 2018 … I look forward to the challenge!
To see more of Thomas’s work or follow his latest, visit his website or connect on social media:
Great work. I like how you reverse the “invisible” to visible. The passers by the anonymous ones.
Thanks Darren, your words capture how I experience many situations.