Last month I was paid a visit, in my Dalston studio, by the very talented, and keen-eyed photographer, Oliver Goodrich. One of his current projects involves the documenting of artists, designers and general creative types etc. in their working environments. And when he asked if I would like to take part I had to say yes. I mean, what self-respecting, self-obsessed ego maniac would say no to the chance of free photos of themselves, shot by an accomplished photographer?
When Oliver sent me his selection of photos from the day's shoot I was impressed with the results. It was hard to whittle them down to just the three that you see here (and I probably left out the best ones, but isn't that always the way? Whenever I look at people's image selections I always think why did they choose those images – these other ones are much better), but posting more would appear a little too self indulgent. And I'm trying to keep up appearances.
As weird as it can feel, having someone point a camera at you for hours on end, the shoot was pretty relaxed. During the whole proceedings we chatted, joked, I worked (and occasionally pretended to be working), and I went through some of the hoards of materials that I use in my sculptures. In this second photo you see me showing Oliver an elastic band ball that I made in my childhood. I don't consider it a piece of artwork or anything like that, but I do love the way that the outer layers have perished over time. And it also highlights how reluctant I am to throw anything away. Who knows – maybe it will make an appearance in one of my sculptures, one day. Sometimes, I wonder if I became an artist just so that I'd have an excuse to hoard crap.
