Tim Booth’s instantly recognisable shooting style echoes across both his portraiture and landscape work. Deceptively simple and shunning unnecessary elaboration, his photographs are often both profound and affecting.
Winner of many international awards including being voted the No.1 Black & White photographer working in the UK today by OneEyeLand, his work has appeared in countless magazines and fine art publications and is collected worldwide.
He began taking photographs with his father’s camera at the age of eight. By the time he was a teenager he’d bought his first SLR, thrown on a backpack and headed off around Europe.
Infected by both travel and photography he spent several years shooting freelance features for most of the UK’s weekend magazines and newspapers in Africa, Pakistan and South East Asia.
Once settled back in the UK he shot commercial, corporate and design work from his London studio whilst also pursuing personal projects. His commercial work for advertising and design agencies spans three decades.
Ever bitten by the travel bug, his first exhibition ‘Into the Light’ was shot whilst on assignments in Africa. However, it is his seminal ‘A Show of Hands’ project and award-winning book which brought him international recognition. Spanning over twenty years, the collection features the hand portraits of hundreds of people whose hands are intrinsic to their contribution to the world. Some of the portraits are of well-known celebrities, musicians and performers, others are from everyday backgrounds, but all with hands that embody an evocative insight into their lives and professions.
His most recent work in progress entitled C I R C U S is a collection of photographs of circus performers, focusing on the bodies and the incredible physical talents of his subjects, the collection is still growing and he is collecting new disciplines and ideas all the time.
“Life is inherently cluttered, and it's only becoming more so as time moves forward,” says Booth.
“We’re drowning in ‘stuff’. Whether it’s possessions, opinions, conspiracies, social media, or even pronouns, this tidal wave of information bombards our every waking moment, making the tapestry of our lives far more complicated, combative, and conflicted than seems either healthy or necessary.
"With the daily barrage of imagery we consume like candy, I’ve found myself increasingly drawn to simplicity—quite simply, to less.
"Most of my time is spent figuring out how to remove excess from my pictures. It’s not about creating minimalist or purist imagery, but about reducing clutter, finding the essential core of what caught my attention, and doing everything I can to isolate that—no matter the subject.
"Sometimes, by giving your viewer less, they actually receive more.”
You can see more of Tim's work on his website.
France. Image: Tim Booth
France. Image: Tim Booth
UK. Image Tim Booth