Will Olmsted

Where are you from/based now?

I'm from/based in Warren, Maine. 99.9% of my photos are taken within a few miles of my house.


What is your background in Photography? What keeps you interested?

I took a black and white photography class my sophomore year of high school. For a few years I took a lot of bad pictures, then I didn't touch a camera for two years. In December of 2012 I picked up a camera again.

The work of talented people is what really keeps me interested, but I like the way my own pictures interact and play off the world as I remembered it.


What equipment do you use?

I use a Mamiya 7 and an Olympus Om-2n. Sometimes I break out a Canon Rebel Xti.


Do you take one shot of a subject then move on or will you take several and decide on the best in editing?

Usually I just take one considered shot.


What do you look for when you are out shooting?

Something that catches my eye for a reason that is hidden from me at the time, something that can potentially fit in a body of work, something that I can't imagine as a photograph, something I want to record for seventy year old me.


How often do you go out shooting?

Usually I walk ten-ish miles once a week and the camera comes with me. It is common to not take a picture though. Sometimes I see something in the backyard, or the store parking lot. Shooting isn't really a regular thing for me, it is more like something that might happen.


Is there a particular photographer, site, set of images or a photo book that you keep coming back to for inspiration?

You would get a different answer depending on the day you asked.

Lars Tunbjork's Vinter was one of my first photo books and I keep coming back to it.

Gregory Halpern's A is terrific.

Stacy Kranitz scares me.

Jean Gaumy's Pleine mer.


Are you working on a project at the moment?

I think I just finished a project, but I'm not sure. Might move to Vegas and start a new one.

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Shane Lynam

Where are you from/based now?

I'm currently based in Dublin, Ireland.

What is your background in Photography? What keeps you interested?

I got involved in photography because of its potential to express ideas or
points of views. I studied photography to learn how to work these ideas
through and express them in an original way.

The idea of making better work and improving keeps me interested. The
thought that my best shot could be in the next roll of film keeps me going.
I have no idea how long the interest will last so I'm shooting as much as I
can while it does.

What equipment do you use?

I use a Fujifilm GA 645 for most of my artwork.

Do you take one shot of a subject then move on or will you take several and
decide on the best in editing?

I take one shot per subject unless I have a strong feeling about how good the shot is. Then I'll take a few, varying the angle or the distance.

How often do you go out shooting?

I try to shoot as much as possible. Along with looking at interesting work,
I believe that it's the only way to get better. I try to get out at least
two days a week.

If you could spend a day shooting with another photographer, who would it
be?

I'd probably shoot with someone whose work is very different to my own, in order to learn more about their process and approach. Stephen Gill would be a good example.
Is there a particular photographer, site, set of images or a photo book that
you keep coming back to for inspiration?

I recently came across Jan Rosseel's Belgian Autumn; a confabulated
history.It approaches a historic event (a dark episode in Belgian history -
the 1985 wave of supermarket robberies that claimed 28 lives) in an
interesting and original way. It also mixes in a biographical element as the
photographer's Father was one of the victims. Otherwise, I often coming back
to Pierre Wayser's Flickr stream. He's a great all round photographer. The
fact that photography is only an element of the various art forms he
practices and the lack of self promotion/website adds to the mystic.

Are you working on a project at the moment?

I'm working on a new body of work here in Dublin. I'm trying to deconstruct
some of the habits or styles that I have adopted for previous work. It will
be finished in the summer of 2014. I've also almost finished a project
called Fifty High Seasons, which I started around the same time as Contours,
while living in France. I regularly upload new work to my Tumblr.

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