After school he chopped and changed before, almost by accident, found himself at college studying photography. He loved it. The course was a commercial one, but his real interest was American art photography, Walker Evans, Robert Frank. Then the Europeans Bill Brandt, Henri Cartier Bresson. Other inspiration came from The Stills Gallery in Edinburgh and Thomas Joshua Cooper at Glasgow School of Art. After a couple of projects sponsored by The Scottish Arts Council he settled into commercial photography.
He changed again when he joined local government as a press photographer, covering stories as diverse as social work outreach in Barlinnie Jail to projects on the remote west coast islands of Scotland.
Again, change offered new opportunities and back in the freelance world he was asked to do food photography for Caterer and Hotelkeeper magazine.
The network grew, the food books came along, the On a Plate series for B&W. The Gamba book, The Three Chimneys book, Cookbook by Martin Wishart. Latterly the Sue Lawrence books for Hachette.
Change is the reoccurring theme not only in jobs and clients but also in technique, from fine art printing with proper paper and selenium toning, through to Macs and photoshop. Hasselblad has always been his camera of choice, though now, stunning digital rather than film. All things change, but his approach to photography remains constant. Simplicity. Light, frame, direct, edit. Whether you are shooting Tri- x or tethered to a Mac some things don't change.
Alan lives just outside Glasgow with his partner and son. He works from home where he has a studio.
Baxters Food Group: |
baxters.com |
Bootlace Creative: |
bootlace-creative.com |
Caterer & Hotelkeeper: |
caterersearch.com |
Crief Hydro: |
crieffhydro.com |
Farmison: |
farmison.com |
Great British Chefs: |
greatbritishchefs.com |
Garners: |
pickledonionlovers.com |
Hachette: |
hachette.co.uk |
Hilton: |
hilton.co.uk |
Inverawe Smokehouse: |
smokedsalmon.co.uk |
Macdonald Hotels: |
macdonaldhotels.co.uk |
Macmillan Hotels: |
macmillanhotels.co.uk |
Martin Wishart: |
martin-wishart.co.uk |
Nick Nairn Enterprises: |
nicknairncookschool.co.uk |
Partners Restaurants: |
thepartnersrestaurants.co.uk |
Stripe Communications: |
stripecom.co.uk |
The Herald: |
heraldscotland.com |
The Sunday Herald: |
heraldscotland.com |
The Three Chimneys: |
threechimneys.co.uk |
3x1 |
3x1.com |