Currently studying architecture in Manchester, Peter Chinnock uses this as inspiration in his street art photography.
Having only begun taking photos three years ago with a compact camera, he has since upgraded his kit, and used his location and experience to inspire his work. “I have a mixture of styles, I particularly enjoy street photography though. I love capturing moments that you wouldn’t normally see in a photo.”
Using the city as his canvas, he admits his favourite shots are taken with the least construction. “I carry it down by my side and shoot without aiming. I love capturing moments that you wouldn’t normally see in a photo. If you point a camera at somebody and they become aware of it, they will react.”
He also seeks inspiration from the internet to from the Flickr community to try out new ideas and “bounce off others’ work”, but ensuring to make it his own. “I spend a fair bit of time on Flickr, I’d say that their wonderful work is the main source of my inspiration. I also it to scout locations, then try and take my own stance to make it individual”.
A lot of his work featured on his Flickr account is captured striking black and white. Placed on a concrete background, it gives the subjects total focus in the shot. “It’s a game of trial and error, the camera wobbles much more when its down by your side so I aim for a fast shutter speed, and high ISO, which often gives grainier photos. I probably end up with 1 out of 10-15 photos I can keep. I go for black and white as I love the way that it doesn’t detract from your subject, and helps to emphasise and frame it instead.”
Currently working through a ’365′ project, which involves taking a picture every day for a year, he is also working through a street portrait called ’100 strangers’. “I’m finding it quite difficult to sum up the courage to get the strangers project going properly, but once I get over the initial hurdle I’ll really enjoy it as portraits are an area I’d like to try.”
As far as this year is concerned, Peter hopes to expand to other areas of photography, and use the city to its full creative advantage.
“I’d like to look into architectural photography, there’s a lot of inspiring stuff around which really makes me want to give it a proper go.”
Keep an eye on Peter’s projects through his Flickr feed here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterchinnock/
