This week we all had an opportunity to meet quite extraordinary person - photographer Gavin Watson. Born in London in 1965 and grew up on a council estate in High Wycombe,
Buckinghamshire he developed interest in photography whilst capturing skinhead friends in High Wycombe, who was very much part of his life, as he was one of them.
He told us how he suddenly made this transformation from shy boy to unbeatable skin influenced by band called "Madness".
As a young teen from High Wycombe Watson was able to capture the true life of the skinhead scene in England - his photography grew
into something far greater after his photos - began being recognized as a
rare look inside this particular culture. All he was doing just capturing his friends never even thinking anything about it. He manage to do that really no one else were thinking doing at the time and as a result he have now archive of photographs showing quite significant history of England in 1980`s.
“The photography itself wasn’t really a big deal. (Watson said) a lot of people now
think that it was a big deal to be taking photos back then. But it was just a
massive working-class hobby. Fucking huge! You could get hold of a camera in a snap. My photographs are rare because no one else really decided to photograph the mundane life of what they were seeing around them. I photographed it because I was a coward — I’ve never asked a stranger if I could take their photograph. I was safe with my friends. That’s why I was a skinhead — because I felt safe, and safe to photograph them...
He told us that to succeed we really need to look around us and find something, what no one else haven't discovered. "There is a lot of photographers out there, and competition is very big"..
It was really interesting and inspiring talk and proves once again my favourite saying ~ `That luck and talent its not all you need ~ being in the right place in the right time is a key to success.`
His work now mainly is concentrated around fashion industry, who he discovered in 2008. As a future project is to make a book about skin tones, as there never been any. So once again he encouraged us to look for something what's not yet been observed.
http://www.gavinwatsonarchive.com/
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