Documenting life through photography

Armed with his 5x4, large format camera Tom Hunter documents and captures the lives of those he calls his neighbours and friends in East London.

"I'm re-enacting scenes from every day life and I show what's going on around us in today's society," explained Tom.

From images of his neighbours in solitary moments to pictures of desolate high rise buildings, Tom chooses to tell the stories of those around him in a way he feels no other paper or photographer has.

"Many parts of my life were not documented and I wanted to explore it."

Tom started taking photographs in the early nineties after wishing he could have captured his teenage years on film.

"When I was in my teens I had friends that were punks, skin-heads, mods and rockers and a few of them died and I didn't record them before they did. They were all so unique and had amazing style, I really wish I could have captured that moment in time."

Tom was squatting in London when he was drawn into the rave culture that was prominent at that time and he noticed that other photographers were taking grainy, black and white images that were showing both lifestyles in a bad light.

"I couldn't afford to pay rent in London and there was a street of empty homes so I moved in and eventually it attracted people with similar outlooks and a lot of us just stayed on. Twenty-two years later I am still here and I still want to show the true picture," explained Tom.

His work tells stories, it campaigns and most of all, it makes people think.

"One picture doesn't tell the whole story. I like to build up my work and tell as much of a story as I can. The stories can come from anywhere, I get ideas from people down at the pub or from organised commissions."

One series titled the Ghetto series led him and other contributors to saving his community. The series of photographs are portraits of his friends and neighbours who lived with him in the squatter community and the title was taken from an article in the Hackney Gazette which said the neighbourhood was a "crime-ridden, derelict ghetto". The photographs became part of the campaign which was set-up to save the community from the council and thanks to his photographs, the council started to talk to the people who lived there and as a result, the community was saved.

"I don't take a picture for the sake of taking a picture," said Tom.

His work is either placed into a series or group, one of which was part of the first photographic exhibition shown at the National Gallery, London. The series, Living in Hell and Other Stories demonstrates the sensationalism of the media, particularly in Tom's local newspaper, The Hackney Gazette. He paralleled the pages of the paper with the themes that can be found in the National Gallery, taking influence from artists such as Piero di Cosimo to tell his stories.

"My work is a reflection of what's going on in society. Modern day people are on their own even though they live in huge cities."

Many of his portraits show people on their own at a time when they're not involved in busy communal activities, an almost meditative time when they can stop and think. The portraits are very personal. We see people frozen in time, caught in a private moment and the viewer is given an insight into a world they don't usually see. Something which Tom hopes will give the viewer time to stop, think and understand.

This demonstration of long contemplation means not many of his subjects are smiling: "If someone smiles people tend to glance at the photograph.  Without the smile they actually take time to look. It's very interesting getting a picture that is ethically pleasing to draw the viewer in so they really think about what's happening."

His work is given extra meaning by the essays others or Tom have written to accompany his photographs.

"It explains and adds perspective which I hope means they can think about the piece more."

Tom describes his work as easy on the eye, almost seductive. A picture that makes his subject at ease and at home.

"I think about what the areas mean to people. I only choose places that people have a relationship with. Many of my subjects are my friends but if they're not I try to spend time with them to create a relationship - that's the main job of a photographer."

Tom takes his time, there's lots of planning and waiting involved, and this isn't just for the subject to feel relaxed either, he also waits for the right light. He used to only use natural light, preferring the early light of a morning for his work but now he's starting to use more artificial lighting to give his work a surreal feel.

"Good light, long exposures and colour transparency film show a hyper reality and I like that."

This hyper reality is all captured in camera, no work is done post-production as when Tom did make changes to his work he found his work lacked technique. This way he works harder and gets far more satisfaction out of what he's doing.

"I live there, they're my friends. I have everything around me I don't need to travel around the world I have plenty to explore here. I'm a photographer, film maker and I draw- I'm an artist."

Go to Tom Hunter's website to see more of his work.