Interview: Richard Palmer

27 Apr

We spoke with Documentary photographer, Richard James Palmer about his practice , influences and what has inspired him to keep making work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tell Us About How You Became A Photographer?

I had just left school, it was the summer holidays and I was wondering what I should do at college. My mother suggested photography, as I enjoyed being creative in school and she had an old Pentax film camera, so I started a night class in photography at my local college.

I skateboarded as well so I took portraits of my friends and photos of them skateboarding. The image below is one of my friends who I skateboarded with, the photo isn’t best photo but at the time it inspired me to continue to take photos and take photos.

Where Do You Take Your Influences From?

I would say photo books, Exhibitions and Instagram; I really enjoy finding a new photographer whose work I love and having a chat about photography.

You Shoot A Lot On Film – Do You Prefer Analogue Over Digital?

I am not going to sit here and say one is better than another but for me it is a couple of things, firstly film has a different feel when I take a photo or look at one, secondly I think that shooting film is much more difficult to get good photos which I like that challenge and thirdly I feel like when I take a photo film is a physical thing where digital is 1’s and 0’s.

24 A Man Sitting in the Sun - Sunderland.JPG

What Subjects Are You Drawn To?

I class myself as a documentary and portrait photographer but I tend to lean in areas of the working class; such as with Home Sweet Home (a book I self-published in 2017). It’s about people and places on the fringes, the forgotten and abandonment. My recent project was about my nan, who is very working class.

How Are You Staying Creative? Do You Have Advice For Others?

I’ve been taking photos of my girlfriend in our house and the house itself whilst in lockdown. I’ve also been editing photos for my project in an allotment and looking for photo books I don’t have. Taking photos to me is a form of therapy, I always feel better when I’ve been creative, so my advice would be to try to find something to shoot. You may stumble across something that turns into a very good body of work.