Photographer
Gordon Scammell is a resident local artist at Interior Angle, Art Design Gallery, Chelmsford and has exhibited photographic work with Interior Angle since 2008. He started by selling limited edition photography and now contributes work to the exciting new range of Gallery Limited Edition Photography. He is also a prolific contributor to various stock photographic image libraries.
In Gordon’s early photographs he concentrated on mainly monochromatic images but his current portfolio now includes some amazing colour images. His subjects are always carefully chosen and often have a slight ominous feel, but with a pinch of vibrancy that together create a unique atmosphere. This, together with his love for urban & street portraiture, means there is something for everyone to relate to in his strong, artistic images.
The vast majority of Gordon’s images are shot with Nikon digital cameras. Usually, the only manipulation he carries out is limited to the digital equivalent of what used to be carried out in the traditional darkroom – dodging, burning and contrast. Although Gordon loves the freedom of digital he is about to start using medium format traditional film equipment again.
‘Using traditional film is such a fantastic discipline.
It slows you down – it forces you to think very differently.
It’s like going back to the camera I used when I was 10
years of age. I find that exciting – and quite scary’
Gordon was born in Wales in 1952 and now lives in Essex but his love of photography has taken him all over the world. He started photography at the age of 10 when he was given an old Kodak Vest Pocket folding camera that used 120 roll film. He was only able to afford 1 film per week on his pocket money, allowing him a total of just 12 images in a seven day period - unbelievable now in this digital age.
Gordon attended the Cardiff College of Art for a period then trained as a drama teacher. He also worked in local theatre and at the Barbican Theatre, London, with the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and has also managed to find some time to pursue his interest in antiques. His work enabled him to spend time in Japan, India, Australia and New York – a place about which he often enthuses.
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All through his varied career, however, his burning passion has always been photography and since retiring in 2009 from his post of Director of Theatre Studies at a local grammar school this passion is now finally being fulfilled.
Gordon’s work has been used by many schools throughout the UK for educational purposes. His images of science equipment and scientific experiments are held in a permanent exhibition at King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford and are in constant use via scientific lectures
When Gordon was teaching he became very interested in how young people perceived their teachers. He photographed his teaching colleagues doing something that they were passionate about – other than teaching. The end result was a major exhibition of 50 large monochrome images entitled ‘Colleagues’. This exhibition ran for two weeks in Essex.
All the images from this exhibition were compiled into a large format book that is available direct from Gordon. During 2008 The Times Educational Supplement used a number of the image in their series – ‘Picture Perfect’.
Gordon’s other great interest in photographing animals and birds has resulted in some of his work being used by various zoos throughout the UK for advertising and educational work.
In 2007 Gordon was selected from a field of 33,000 entries as a finalist in the Curry’s/Daily Telegraph Digital Photographer of the Year competition. He was also a finalist in 2008 and was further delighted to twice being a commended finalist for the prestigious British Landscape Photographer of the Year Competition. His 2009 image ‘RUN’ is currently part of an exhibition touring the UK and both of his finalist entries have been published in the ‘Taking a View’ books.
His future plans include revisiting and rethinking his work on swans – especially black swans and he also wants to concentrate more on street photography – a style of work that is becoming more and more challenging to carry out. One of his recent projects was experimenting with large scale vibrant abstracts of artificial light and a personal, long-term project is to document the fishing community of Newlyn, in Cornwall ,before it ceases as a fishing community.
Art Exhibitions
Colleagues – a ‘Leading Edge’ Project, July 2007
Installation – Loft Living at Selfridges, London, 2007 to present
Grand Designs Live 2008
London Design Festival 2008
AAF London October 2008
Interior Angle Gallery September 2008 - Present
AAF London October 2009
Glasgow Art Fair March 2010
AAF New York May 2010
Achievements/Awards
Finalist - ‘Landscape Photographer of the Year’ - The National Theatre October 2009
2009 Finalist - 'Take a View' Landscape Photographer of the Year
2008 Finalist - 'Take a View' Landscape Photographer of the Year.
2008 Finalist – Currys’ Digital Photographer of the Year
2007 Finalist - Daily Telegraph Digital Photographer of the Year
Sorry, there are currently no pictures from this artist.
