‘It must be beautiful’ – Nicky Taylor’s photography

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Sue Ward talks to British photographer Nicky Taylor, fast becoming an international star

Sue Ward:  What made you become a landscape photographer as opposed to any other type?

Nicky Taylor: I started out as a photographer who would take a photo of anything, and everything – event work, studio work, virtual reality photography, underwater (which I still shoot). It was not until I started showing my work to the public, that my landscape work started to stand out as something that really moved people. I realized also how important it was for my personal belief system to capture the beauty of nature, and the impotence of Man’s mark. This was further underlined for me recently when my images were chosen by the United Nations ‘Harmony with Nature’ campaign.

SW:  Looking at your biographical notes, I see you lived in a lot of places in early life – how did that come about?

NT: I think I have my parents to thank for that. In my childhood we moved about a lot between England, Spain and Canada. With every move, though, came the good and the bad – having to leave friends behind and give away all my things that could not be easily transported between one place and another, which included my treasured tropical garden that I was growing in the greenhouse. The good thing, though, is my camera could come with me no matter where I went, which later in life also included underwater.

SW: Was your travelling an instrumental influence on your photography, i.e. seeing the world and beautiful places?

NT: Yes, hugely instrumental.  After I left home at 17, the travelling bug went into overdrive.  To date, my photography has taken me to over 30 different countries, and I still have many on my ‘to do’ list.  As I travelled, I always had my camera with me. I love to photograph the locations that are the hardest to get to, and the less well known. These offer me a special opportunity – in my mind I can represent them in their own way. This doesn’t mean I am afraid of photographing well-known sites, and re-interpreting them in my own way. Take my photographs at Machu Picchu, or, one of my favourite photographs, The Colosseum at Midnight. I love to challenge people to re-think the well known, and re-calibrate their memory of it.

SW: Have you had formal, art-school training in photography? How did you develop your approach?

NT:  I decided at an early stage in my life to leave Canada and travel back to England to enrol in a photography college. I have a lot to thank my tutors for from that course. They taught me a lot – not least what I wanted to learn more about, and what I found out I had no interest in. The training was great also, as it gave me the opportunity to use a whole array of equipment that I would not have had the opportunity to use otherwise,  from a simple 35mm film camera to a Mamiya 645 (both film and digital). I also used large format (4 x 5, and 8 x 10) plate cameras, with all the bellows and gadgets to boot. Thinking back, I wish I had used the 8 x 10 more. It was here that I decided I loved the technical aspect of photography, almost as much as the artistic.

SW: As your photography is based on landscape do you see any connection between you and the great landscape artists of the past who did not have the availability of photography?

NT: Not really. Some might see a connection between my work and the great landscape artists of the past, but I certainly do not start by looking at a painting of a natural scene. I believe that if an art work is studied too hard before a shoot, the mind will subconsciously try to recreate it. I prefer a much more organic approach. I prefer to seek my inspirations instead from Mother Nature herself.

SW: Whose photographic work do you most admire?

NT: I guess it goes without saying that I highly admire the work of Ansell Adams, not only for the beauty of his work, but also the fact he too loved the technical side of his art along with the visual.  I have always admired the work of Steve McCurry – showing the world the horrors of conflict zones – and the global impact his shocking work had. In my opinion, however, too many who have followed are ‘derivative’. I fear many contemporary artists seek only to shock. This may be the fashion, but perhaps it is about to change.  I now increasingly seek out art which is beautiful it its own right. I hope that my work can be hung in a gallery, but more importantly, that it can be hung in YOUR home.

SW: What are the elements that make a photograph great, as opposed to merely good?

NT: That’s a hard question. I think each viewer of a photograph’s opinion is valid. For me it is instinctive, but the crucial element is that it is technically close to perfect, and artistically has ‘something to say’. Above all – it must be ‘beautiful’.

SW: Were you influenced by anyone’s writing on photography - Susan Sontag’s OnPhotography, for instance?

NT: I have read Sontag, a great book. I have to say though, most influence on me comes from more technical works, such as Michael Langford’s Advanced Photography – something of a Bible to me.

SW: Some great photographs have been taken with very simple equipment – even pin-hole cameras. Is the actual equipment you use important to you in obtaining the images you want? Do you use film or digital cameras?

NT:  Any camera is valid when a photograph ‘presents’ itself. But I do personally prefer my work when it is printed large. For example, in my opinion, my photograph Contemplation – Ellis Beach prints best at 72 x 48 inches. To do this, and indeed some of the larger images I am creating now, you do need a higher-quality camera. The equipment is important (though, of course it cannot replace technique).  I trained on film, but have now graduated to medium-format digital.

SW:What is your next big project?

NT: I am working on my next book. For this, I have just completed a series of shoots in Central America. I was particularly captivated by the Mayan ruins lost in the jungle. This project will also take me to Europe. I am planning a series of Alpine shots from different geographic perspectives – France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Bavaria.  I’ve  got quite a summer to look forward to.

SW: Thank you for talking to Cassone