India Hobson is one of the most creative and passionate photographers I know. India is constantly working on, thinking about and producing new and invigorating work. Perhaps best described as a mix of fashion and fine art her images are beautiful, enchanting and manage to bypass prevailing notions of glamor. Her work is exciting, her blog insightful and her productivity relentless.
Your work is highly creative and always seems fresh, where do you gain inspiration and how do you begin to plan a shoot?
I'm constantly looking and collecting - a secret archivist of images from everywhere... I take a lot of inspiration from online blogs (http://community.livejournal.com/foto_decadent) (http://jmcolberg.com/weblog) and fashion magazines - just like anyone really except I don't seem to 'switch off' so I'm constantly awake to ideas and I find beauty in most places, the trick is to a) not tell everyone so as not to appear as high as a kite and b) make a note of it. I work in sketchbook form; with lists and sketches and words which start to formalize only through practice. I don't work well when I plan too much - doing works better than considering in my experience and I find that if i visualize something before I try it then I'm often disappointed.
You’re one of the most productive photographers I have ever met, do you have a consistent way of working that runs through all your work?
Productive is the key word and basically defines my entire approach to my practice; I guess the manner in which I begin work is consistently the same - I never aim for perfection or clean-cut, sleek images, I mould my work around what materials/models/location etc is available to me and always start with ambient light, flash is my last resort.
Do you prefer a particular formats / cameras / materials, or do you tend to invite chance by using different equipment / materials on a shoot.
I suppose the answer to that is that I use what is available to me - I have always remained 'on the fence' as it were when it comes to the digital/traditional debate; in my opinion you use what is available and what is appropriate. For example, I've shot many catalogue and fashion work using digital as the job requires an immediate turn-around and often the end result is used for digital purposes (i.e. website) and so does not need a particularly high resolution image. On the other hand, my recent work is exploring the colour temperature of the daylight in my window; thus medium format instant film is perfectly fitting as it doesn't have the ability to transform or to alter the results.
I think I leave the element of chance to the light that is available to me; I much prefer natural light to using flash even if it means i get motion in my images. My favourite light is the first of the day, closely followed by an intensely strong noon that is shaped by anything blocking it - I’m currently fascinated by squares of light and chase them around the studio.
You seem to have a deep fascination with the very essence of photography, light itself, do you see yourself as someone who captures what is there, or manipulates light to achieve a desired result?
I like the idea of honesty within my work - so I’d be tempted to say the former, but realistically I’d say the latter as if you consider everything that the light has done before it has reached its place in front of you then I don't believe its ever as pure as I’d like to think it is. I have this idea that light is an entity rather than a simple element... And just as the earth's atmosphere softens it, colours it and bends it I like to do so in order to create. So really, in answer to your question; both, depending on the situation... and what the light is doing on that day!
Despite knowing you for while know I have never seen a physical print of your work, is this not important to you?
Essentially I work in two separate worlds; one best-described as 'fashion' and the other would fall under the 'fine art' category. The way that people conduct their businesses is very much in an almost imaginary world; and most of that world for my generation (and thus the generation that I tend to provide images for) is contained within the realm of the internet, thus the majority of output for my people-based work is via a 72dpi file. Print only really comes into play in my personal work; and as an after-thought as I consider my working method to be idea-focused and again, almost imaginary in a sense; similar to what happens when you read a gorgeous metaphor in a poem - a leap of imagination rather than a pretty picture.
If financial constraints didn’t exist is there anything you would change in your work? (I’m getting more at materials rather than technology)
I think the essential aspect of my work is light and so the only way that I could work more freely would be with a giant room with windows down one side of it; I’ve always dreamt of a white room filled with sun; like Hammershoi's paintings.
They're breathtaking.
Apart from that, I see money as something that forces me to think in a different way - I often use desk lamps and makeshift backgrounds to form the basis of my images... I like the line between professional and amateur; I’m drawn to bulldog clips that tighten a dress and the masking tape that secures a backdrop to the floor and thus the lack of huge budget is reflected in the work I make and hopefully becomes part of it. I wouldn't say no to a few boxes of large format polaroid though.
Do you think you are trying to understand something about yourself by taking photographs?
I think that’s all I’m doing. Playing, playing and playing... My current work involves windows and thus you can't escape the connotations of inside/outside and this stretches to me as a person, not just the interior/exterior of a building. I approach my practice with an air of eastern philosophy and rely on a quote from Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet to help me:
"the breath of life is in the sunlight and the hand of life is in the wind"
I find that my experiences of the world are explored through my photographic work and I consider every sensory experience to be research for something further. Beyond that, when I’m working the world falls around me and I forget everything that could challenge me.
Given a clear month, free from daily chores and distraction what would you like to concentrate on?
I'm currently working on making a book that brings all of my practical work together and realistically I think I have about a month to finish it so I’ll give that as my true answer! Despite what I said earlier about seeing my work in print, I am quite particular about the paper I’m choosing to print it on as the question of 'white' comes into play quite a lot and it poses a difficulty when a printer won't print it!
www.indiahobsonphotography.co.uk
www.indiahobson.blogspot.com
