I was born in Toxteth on the 5th of October 1964
and travelled around most of my young life with my family following the ups and
downs of my father’s career in advertising. Part of that process led him to
photography, something he became quite good at, even winning the odd award and made it part of his business. He ran a corporate advertising agency developing advertising material, and strategies for blue chip corporations.
At the age of 17 I bought my first camera [having broken the one my he left me – I was 13 years old when he died]. It was a Zenith that made a noise like a tank when the shutter sprung, and it served me well for as long as I owned it. It was stolen [along with a number of other old cameras I’d collected] from the shabby flat I was living in at the time.
At the age of 17 I bought my first camera [having broken the one my he left me – I was 13 years old when he died]. It was a Zenith that made a noise like a tank when the shutter sprung, and it served me well for as long as I owned it. It was stolen [along with a number of other old cameras I’d collected] from the shabby flat I was living in at the time.
Suffice it to say that I have had a camera by my side for
most of my life [apart from was a short gap during an odious
relationship]. I moved from film to digital, point and click to bridge cameras, bridge cameras to a DSLRs. This set was shot with a Canon 550D and a Sigma 70-300mm f3.5-5.6 DG, a lens I still own and occasionally use. In those days I was more focused on getting as much value from second hand, often quite old lenses I sought out on the internet.
My early years I pretty much drifted around until I
was encouraged to do an IT degree at Kingston University by someone doing a placement at a training center I was attending. Having left school with no
qualifications I graduated Kingston University In 1995 at the age of 31 with a
2:1 B.Sc. in Computer Information Systems Analysis and Design.
It's an odd thing to suddenly have a meteoric career, and it culminated with me running my own business as a very successful consultant bringing in around £135,000 a year. Unfortunately it wasn't something that was destined to last. Throughout my life I've suffered both manic highs, and lows in, often with serious bouts of depression. After dealing with a lot of stress in both my personal and profesional life I found myself going from master of the universe to homeless and begging for food for several years. Somehow even then I managed to acquire a camera [of sorts] and eventually recovered shares I still owned that allowed me and my future wife [who stood by me after the collapse of my business - not through ill practice, but through an inability to cope anymore with the work load] to get off the streets. We had a son and moved to Birmingham in 2005 to be closer to our family. The city I now work and live in. That was nearly 15 years ago now, and I'm happy to say that thing are going much better today. As a photographer I don't have the same massive pressures that I did as consultant, and also I don't take on more work than I can handle.
It's an odd thing to suddenly have a meteoric career, and it culminated with me running my own business as a very successful consultant bringing in around £135,000 a year. Unfortunately it wasn't something that was destined to last. Throughout my life I've suffered both manic highs, and lows in, often with serious bouts of depression. After dealing with a lot of stress in both my personal and profesional life I found myself going from master of the universe to homeless and begging for food for several years. Somehow even then I managed to acquire a camera [of sorts] and eventually recovered shares I still owned that allowed me and my future wife [who stood by me after the collapse of my business - not through ill practice, but through an inability to cope anymore with the work load] to get off the streets. We had a son and moved to Birmingham in 2005 to be closer to our family. The city I now work and live in. That was nearly 15 years ago now, and I'm happy to say that thing are going much better today. As a photographer I don't have the same massive pressures that I did as consultant, and also I don't take on more work than I can handle.
I've had a number of shows prior to this one. My first
official show was actually while I was still of homeless in 2002 for the National
Trust [sculpture rather than photography] followed shortly by a second show where I
sold my first piece of work. I have since shown at the Custard Factory
[photography] various other venues. I am passionate about what I do, and pursue it with
as much vigor as I did when I was 17. I have managed through hard work to build up the equipment I need to truly explore the art of photography, though as the old saying goes "The best camera is the one you have with you..."
I hope that you enjoy my work and please leave feedback
either on this website. You can see my more recent work @ http://newstreet.photography and http://bwr.photo and follow me on G+ at +New Street Photography, Twitter @NewStreetPhoto and Facebook at Facebook.com/NewStreetPhotography
Thank you
Barry Robinson
Barry Robinson
1ML Studios
