rory-garforth

I’m a Photographer, Musician and Tutor from South Yorkshire. Although this website concentrates on my Photography, I’ve provided links to my Music and teaching work.

I’ve always had a passion for landscape photography and the great outdoors. My images are influenced by both my background and interests in travel and the environment.

Over time I’ve devloped a preference for black & white over colour and natural light and locations over a studio. My work is produced mainly on film.

Born and raised in South Yorkshire and now living in Sowerby, West Yorkshire,  my work showcases the best of this county, as well as covering much of the UK and Europe. With the Pennines and North Yorkshire right on my doorstep, I hope to draw inspiration from this gorgeous part of the country and from the people I meet. I have explored many styles over the past eight years, Macro, Portrait and Street but my heart always goes back to Landscape photography.

I have exhibited in local and national galleries and have featured in Digital Photographer and Digital SLR User magazines. My work has also been used at various musical events both as projections and for publicity materials, Album covers and posters. More recently I have produced works for local companies and private individuals.

Gear

I am certainly a firm believer that it is the photographer not the camera that makes a great shot. People often ask so I though I’d give a quick run down on what I currently use.

My digital kit comprises of a Fuji Xpro 2, various Fuji  X lenses along with the Seven5 Lee Filter system.  On the film front I own a Leica M6 with a 28mm Elmarit, 50mm Summicron and toy cameras including a Holga, a Diana black jack + and a pinhole cameras.

Background

My love for photography started to develop in childhood and later on became, along with Music, my biggest passion. I think I have always seen the world as pictures and frames. I love landscapes; nature and long walks along with photography give me a lot of satisfaction and happiness – often feeling like I’m creating my own, small world. Sometimes it may feel surreal or messed up, pieces of my imagination mixed with landscape and the miracle of nature.

At school I used to spend hours drawing with pencils, back then this was a passion. The drawings were always landscapes, often mixed with fantasy and that has influenced me all my life. My first camera was a Russian Zenit 11. I used to watch my friends who had cameras and learn from them. I was around 13 at this time. As my teens progressed my interest in creating music began to quickly take over, studying Music and writing/recording with various bands. I’ve been a musician, performer and songwriter ever since. I also qualified as a teacher in 2004 so photography took a back seat until I got my first SLR Digital in 2008. Now I do all three. Why not?

I naturally started out with dark, broody landscapes, as this was the closest thing to what is in my head. The Yorkshire Coast has definitely inspired me, wild seas, rocks and the large brooding skies. I have an obsession for photographing clouds and bad weather. I’m lucky enough to live near both the Pennines and the North Yorkshire Coastline, two places I photograph often. I also love long walks and discovering new places and that all influences my photography.

Even as a 13 year old I was drawn to looking at the world in black & white. Although I’ve used color sometimes, in the past, I just prefer black and white. I once read the concept, “no color, no lie,”, I like this and believe it. I’ve always found colour really distracting in my photography. I’m colourblind too. I find the creative process with black and white images more artistic, raw, stripped back. My Black and White images tend to be strong, high contrast and sometimes powerful – I’m working on soft, gentle and subtle!

Currently I have a lot of plans for the future. I am going to broaden my horizons, working more with film photography again and showing different sides to the landscapes, focusing more on people, life and the environments in which they live. I would also like to work with artists and look at different ways of presenting photography. Also, combining the photography with music I make is another route I’m finally exploring more.