Aug 24, 2010

Duncan Holmes

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail?
I've been taking photographs fairly consistently for a while now. The images I've put together for the Art Trail were taken separately without any theme in mind, or at least not this theme. There are things I've looked for over a period of time - silhouettes, the character of buildings, cyclists and those men in yellow hi-viz you see everywhere - and putting them into a collection under the heading 'London' puts things in a new perspective. I'd say it works, it if it does, partly because I didn't go out to take photographs of the city. I've tried that since I decided the theme, and the results are far less interesting - the reject rate is high anyway. So this is much more random than a photo-essay.

2. How many times have you taken part in the Trail?
I realised last year that it would be an interesting thing to do, so this year I've got to the stage that I'm in the printed guide and have to do something to justify the space.

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
I'm inspired to create things but too busy (or too lazy) for anything time-consuming. Photographs are relatively instant so that's what I do most of. Ideally they would just be a starting point for hand-made images of some kind.

4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
I've got plenty of material, the challenge is how to display it without ruining my walls. What I want is large blocks of photos so there is plenty to look at, not just a few framed pictures. I'm still deciding the best way, but hoping A3 prints will stay up with blu-tac. I need to plan out how the display will be arranged, print out the right number of images, and write up some explanation which I think is fairly essential. It is quite common to display photographs without anything other than a title, but I think these will be more interesting as image plus text. Time is running out for all this...

5. Who are your favourite artists?
Whoever I admired last.

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
The marshes, and the view of the sunset from outside Blackhorse Road tube station.

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
No need for those spy cars.


The pedestrian crossing half way down the High Street in Walthamstow. I chose this shot for the Abbey Road connotations. The all-black B.A.D. Warehouse had to get into this collection somehow.

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