Tom Medwell started taking pictures about five or six years ago. As a writer he hated photography but one day acquired an old camera: “I was given this old 35mm Minolta by someone clearing out their flat and from the first roll I was hooked.”
He spent a long time assisting fashion photographer Takashi Kamei but fashion didn’t hold his attention for long. The love of performance and landscape lead him towards his current subjects.
“I’ve ended up shooting more performance because I get asked a lot, but I’ve never tried to be any particular sort of photographer, going by the idea that if I said yes to everything sooner or later something good would come up. I spent a lot of time taking pictures in Shoreditch, especially during Dice Club’s reign on Old Street. I got a lot of pictures of some excellent bands in their infancy, and it pulled me a bit towards music photography, but I’ve always had other things I’ve been working on, and music photography doesn’t pay the bills”.
Tom’s now in-house photographer at Le Cool London, something he’s been involved in since it started. It was whilst working on a guidebook to London a couple of years ago that he got to shoot a British Mexican Wrestling troupe called Lucha Britannia. He ended up getting heavily involved, accompanying them to festivals, shooting their show and the associated sideshow acts. This opened doors to working with other dancers and choreographers on shoots.
“I think a big skill in photography is to be able to spot a dramatic moment, whether it’s in performance or setting or event taking place, and I think that’s probably the main thing that shows through my pictures – I always want to give the impression that something is taking place at that very moment. “
Recently he’s worked with a lot of performers and performance artists covering events for the ICA and more recently Tate Modern. He says this exposure changed his direction a bit again, sparking aspirations towards becoming “an artist” though he claims to cringing every time it’s said out loud. A passion for shooting landscapes that look unreal in some way, particularly those that look out of time, has recently become integral to his work with performers; ” I think the picture of the horse in the woods is probably my favourite of my own, although I change my mind about that a lot”.
Still not sure what area he wants to end up working in, Tom would like to continue to work with performers and artist collaborations using controlled lighting, and sets and locations away from the obvious. His recent work includes shoots for Tate Modern, Hofesh Shechter dance company, the ICA, the Wire magazine, Le Cool, Slutty Fringe and Supmag.com.
Tom Medwell