August 1, 2015 US/Pacific
Graham Gilmore
Photographer Extraordinaire!
West Hollywood, CA -
Graham Gilmore deftly captures the beauty, majesty and marvelous wonder he sees through the lens with his camera. We learned that he is set
to have an exhibit at The Collective in West Hollywood on August 1st; so, we caught up with the man himself to ask him a few
questions.
Enjoy the conversation, check out his work and above all, if you can make it out to see his photography first hand on Saturday, August 1,
by all means...please do!
Tell us, how did you get started in photography?
My father was an accomplished local Jazz pianist and a budding photographer, I stole his SLR camera
and a roll of film for a day when I was about 15 years old. As it was all film back then, I had to wait a week or two for
the photo's to be developed and returned in the mail, most of them were out of focus. He then bought a camera for Christmas.
It all went from there!
How did you come about having an exhibit at THE COLLECTIVE, REALTY?
Karen, who is one of the owners of the business, approached me to show my work after the current
artists were recently finished. The Collective is a hip, modern real estate office who removes all their furniture
in the evenings in order to transform the space into a gallery. It's a cool concept. When she asked if I would exhibit,
I couldn't refuse.
What does it mean to you, having this opportunity at THE COLLECTIVE?
I try to embrace all cutting edge, digital manipulation and editing techiniques and incorporate them
into my work; so, showing my work at a gallery that has a similar philosophy is exciting. I'm looking forward to the opening.
What are your immediate plans for your photography after the showing?
I have some really big plans for early next year in South America, I'm still in the planning phase
so don't want to jinx anything by talking about what it is, but I figure, if you want to make a name for yourself in
photography, and especially landscape and fine art photography, you need to get out into the world and capture it for
yourself. It's very exciting and I'm trying my best not to give anything away just yet.
I love Los Angeles, which most of my exhibition this time is based around; but, there is so much to see beyond these borders.
I know some of your photography had Chernobyl as your subject. What was your impetus for that subject
matter? And, are you considering doing the same with Fukushima?
Chernobyl, as weird as it sounds, holds a special place for me in my heart. It was something I heard
a lot about growing up back in England. I had done so much research before I went there that it almost felt as if I knew the
place the moment I stepped into the exclusion zone. To think of all the poor people who lost their lives because of this
terrible accident, I felt that their memory should be preserved. People should not forget about what happened there in 1986.
It has polluted a very beautiful place with some very terrible contaminants, for many centuries to come.
My grandad also used to help out with the "Friends of Chernobyl's Children" charity back in the UK with his church;
so, so its more than just my interests in the area.
As for Fukishima, I feel this is still an ongoing problem. It's not contained completely yet, and most of the
surrounding areas appear to be wiped out by the tsunami; so, it doesn't appear to be a viable option for me at this time. But,
never say never.
I would; however, love to go back to Chernobyl one more time in the future.
What advice would you give to an aspiring photographer?
Get out there, keep shooting and practising your craft. Don't be afraid to edit and do something
different with your work. Develop your own style. In this digital age with iphone photographers and social networking,
facebook, instagram, it's more important than ever to have an edge and stand out from the crowd.
What are some of the ways people can find you (online or otherwise) and your photography?
My wesbite is www.grahamgilmore.com. I have a facebook page at
firesuitephotography in which you can find my instagram, twitter et. al.
It would also be great to see some new faces at my showing this Saturday August 1st in West Hollywood.
Gus Summers is the Host and Broadcast Producer for The "IN Show, an entertaining broadcast that covers all things exciting and enlightening.
When Gus isn't busy covering current events and interesting people, you'll see him out and about enjoying all that the City of Angels has to offer.
For any questions, comments, or program ideas, he can be reached at gus@theinshow.com.
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