Street Reverb Magazine

Justin Sainsbury is based in Worthing, United Kingdom and a member of the UK Street Collective. He’ll be conducting a street photography workshop 23-24 July in Edinburgh, UK. You can find further details on Radiant Vision.

After experimenting with project ideas and running with themes, I find myself coming back to the realisation that I function better looking at a variety of subject matter. In short, I like to mix it up.

It takes some time, but I love the idea and process of putting together disparate pictures- often taken in different environments that contain a similar message, even if that’s just a gesture or matching colour. Having just put together a self-published book along this line, this is how I now want to progress.

Over the last 5 years I have visited loads of weekend events (animal shows, living history events, modeller conventions). The street stuff has almost been like filler – something to do during weekdays. As well as the challenge it’s the fascination of having no idea what image I’ll be left with that keeps me going.

As a carer for my Son (who has a rare metabolic condition called Hurlers) I have fairly limited day-to-day travel opportunity. Taking pictures has, especially recently, become, a therapeutic occupation. I’m lucky as I have a couple of hours each morning, whilst the kids are in school or nursery. It’s perhaps not the greatest time of day, in terms of numbers of people out and about, but I think that makes me look harder. I live by the sea (south coast of England) so during summer months there’s at least some action. My home situation has also given me the opportunity to get to some garden centres and shoot there. I enjoy watching the hen-pecked husbands carting around topsoil and the bored teenagers- perhaps this sums up my where my interest lies- in the psychology of situations.

On the rare occasion I get to central London it’s almost overwhelming. Then again, it can feel like ‘shooting fish in a barrel’- a luxury. I’m interested in pictures that subvert what’s happening- one’s with degrees of ambiguity or ones that look just plain odd. More than often, I’ll just end up with a ‘gag’ shot. The real challenge is getting beyond this. – Justin Sainsbury