Joel Biddle is a photographic artist working in Kent in the United Kingdom, recently graduated in photography at the Arts University of Bournemouth. His work is an exploration of the contrast between the still and the fluid, the harsh texture of geological structures, and the glassy smooth of the surface of the sea. His work follows the research for a calming sense of tranquillity and a sense of quietness that reflects the locations in his works. These fractures of time transport the viewer to an unknown, with an absence of context being important. A sense of isolation is established, but it isn’t bleak isolation, it’s more of a break from the chaos, a choice rather than something forced.
Self-taught or art school?
I’m a 50/50 mix of art school and self-taught; I studied photography at school and university, but some of the equipment I use just isn’t taught at either of these anymore. Hand retouching a darkroom print, using my 1930’s folding camera, selenium toning… all of these are things I’ve taught myself. I think the most important thing art school gave to me was introducing me to artists that I just wouldn’t have found on my own, which gave me a new perspective on photography.
If you could own one work of art, what would it be?
‘Tree and Mountain, 2002’ by Michael Kenna has been a favourite of mine for a long time! Other than that, anything by Albarran and Cabrera.
How would you describe your style?
Ethereal, and more importantly, minimal – I try to keep things simple – my camera of choice is a testament to this, as I don’t even use its automatic shutter speeds the majority of the time, instead just using the simple mechanical bulb mode.
Can you tell us about your artistic process?
I spend a lot of time looking for locations to photograph, primarily focusing on the coast. I use google maps as an invaluable tool for visualising what I can do with a particular location and plan my shoot. Every location offers a different outcome; coastal locations are ideal for minimal, long exposure photography, whereas a location in the lake district may be very different. I try to capture something ethereal and timeless, while reducing the context, sometimes to the extent that even the scale becomes unclear. With this in mind, I find it important to find locations that are void of people and man-made landmarks.
A lot of the styling of the photograph happens in the darkroom, where I dodge and burn to control the viewer’s focus. This usually means removing distractions, which is a huge part of what my work is about – its meditative.
Is narrative important within your work?
Absolutely not, in fact, I would go as far as to say I avoid narrative. Each photograph stands on its own and does not carry a threaded narrative that moves the viewer from one photo to the next. In this aspect, the photographs can be viewed as metaphorical islands, and I don’t want to clutter the mind of the viewer by imposing a narrative. That being said, I think a viewer can find their own subconscious narrative somewhere in there.
Who are your favourite artists, and why?
Paul Cupido, Michael Kenna, Albarran and Cabrera to mention a few. I think I enjoy the work of artists who embrace the organic nature of analogue photography, who incorporate wabi-sabi into their practice and whose work isn’t the glossy perfect images that digital can often create.
Although the minimal nature of my photography can look very clean, I try to emphasise the grain of the film I use and tone my images to avoid pure white, something that is found with these artists as well.
What or who inspires your art?
I actually find that locations are the inspiration for my art. When I find somewhere that I feel has real potential, that’s when I get bursts of ideas to explore, forming a picture in my mind of what I could experiment with – where to place the horizon, lining up features of the landscape, getting to an elevated position to explore a different perspective… there’s a lot to play with. I usually try to avoid overlapping anything within the photograph, allowing everything space to breath, including the horizon.
Where’s your studio, and what’s it like?
My studio is in my home, and it’s quite basic, I have a darkroom set up as well as a place to retouch and heat mount photographs to mount board. It could be packed away into a couple of boxes very easily, as I don’t print my work to be particularly large, as I prefer a more intimate size that can be treated more like an object, that you can hold in your hands easily and look at in detail.
Do you have any studio rituals?
You have to have a cup of tea and a podcast in the background if you’re printing in the darkroom!
What are you working on currently?
As winter approaches, I’m focusing on printing in the darkroom – the long nights are perfect for this and are definitely not ideal for shooting. I’ll be researching for future locations and building my portfolio of seascapes over the winter as well.
Where can we buy your art?
You can currently purchase giclée inkjet prints on my website, www.JoelBiddle.com and soon, I hope to offer hand-printed, limited edition silver gelatin prints from my darkroom on my website as well.
