X Zine

XX#01 9/12

XXFeature & Interview | Andy Ford

Feature & Interview | Leo Rosas Morin

Feature & Interview | Tom Goldsmith

CONTENTS

ANDY FORD

South West | England Music & Surfing photography

Interview | Andy Ford | Questions from Kieran Wayne

KW: Hi Andy, could you please give us a brief description of yourself and your practice?

AF: My name is Andy Ford, I’m a photographer based in the South West, commercially most of

my work is magazine editorial & wedding driven, but my personal work is pretty much dedicated to

documenting the punk & hardcore scene down here and the art of riding the wild waves. In everything

I do I like to work in quite a natural reportage style watching for the key moments as things happen

around me. In terms of my surfing work, increasingly I like to pull back slightly, and try and incorporate

some of the surrounding landscape to give a little bit of context, it helps invoke the mood of surfing

in the UK. The majority of my work is digital, but I like to indulge myself with some medium & large

format film work whenever I get the chance.

KW: What are your main inspirations, and what influences your style?

AF: Within surfing photography I’d say Mickey Smith is a massive inspiration, what he’s achieved over

the last few years shows what determination and forging your own path can do. Other than that I like

guys who approach things in their own style, Andrew Kidman, Patrick Trefz, Morgan Massen, James

Bowden they produce work that really stands out as something a little different. I like photography that

has a little narrative, that really gives you a sense of what it was like to be there on that trip, it doesn’t

always have to be the wave of the day to do that. There’s a French magazine called Desillusion that

I adore, everything about it from the paper quality to the layout & photography is fresh and has a

unique approach. I’m constantly looking outside my own areas of interest at all areas of photography, I

particularly love a lot of the classic New York photographers like William Klein, Diane Arbus, Bruce

Davidson. Whatever I’m looking at whether it’s some photo-journalism or a William Eggleston book

I’m always collecting ideas that I can bring back to my own work.

KW: Finally, why surfing?

AF: Being lucky enough to grow up close to the coast I’ve enjoyed messing around in the ocean since

I was a tiny kid, but it wasn’t until I was about 14 that I really became aware of surfing as a serious

pursuit. I’d always played a lot of sports growing up, but surfing was this entire culture & lifestyle that

you could completely immerse yourself in, I thought being a surfer was the coolest thing imaginable. It’s

such a diverse thing that it’s hard to get bored with and there’s always something to learn, somewhere

new to travel to, a weird board to ride. It’s definitely influenced a lot of decisions in my life and I’m the

fact that surfing is such a visual culture had a lot to with my initial interest in photography. While I’m

not as obsessive compulsive about surfing as I once was, it’s constantly there in the background and I

still find it hard to make plans without checking the swell forecast!

LEO ROSAS MORIN

Caracas | VenezvelaUrban & Skateboarding photography

Interview | Leo Rosas Morin| Questions from Kieran Wayne

KW: Hi Leo, could you please give us a brief description of yourself and your practice?

LRM: Hi Kieran! My name is Leo Rosas Morin. I’m a Freestyle photographer, I believe that everybody

should do what they like because motivation is key for development and progress. I am 27 years old,

and visual art has been my passion since I was kid. I started to get into photography when I was

approximately 20 years old when I got my first camera, a film one.

I tried to get into a photography course but the academy where I signed had some delay problems,

but I just couldn’t wait anymore, so I took my money back and just started shooting by myself. Until now

I have been learning by myself and from every single source around, photographers, friends, artists,

books, internet, magazines, movies and so on. I still have a lot to learn which keeps me motivated,

because every time you learn something it gives you a feeling of power or something similar hahaha.


LRM: All the time my main inspiration is the possibility of imagination and creation, along with movies

in general. What really connected me to photography was skateboarding, and it must be my main

influence regarding style.

KW: It’s clear you love your photography so finally Leo, why skateboarding?

LRM: Skateboarding, is just a lot of fun, freedom and energy, it’s all about physics and personal

training. I’m a skater, far from being a pro, but I just love it. It makes you think and it makes you push

yourself to the limit. In conclusion, I love visual arts, then I meet skateboarding and I love it as well, so

nothing better to improve one passion than to mix it with another one. My best practice was and still is

to shoot my skater friends.

TOM GOLDSMITH

Exeter | EnglandUrban & BMX photography

Interview | Tom Goldsmith | Questions from Kieran Wayne

KW: Hi Tom, could you please give us a brief description of yourself and your practice?

TG: I am currently 19 years old and in my 2nd year studying Economics at Cardiff University. I hold a

strong passion for the art of photography and its use for documenting all walks of life, particularly those

that interest me most such as BMX which is a frequent focus throughout the photos I produce. I would

struggle to describe my photography as any form of “practice”, I take photos for the pure enjoyment

of creating an image from start to finish. Fortunately some of the pictures I have created have gained

some interest within the BMX’ing community and consequently have been used for documenting and

advertising purposes, which is cool!


TG: My main inspirations and influences are a result of the media I consume. Most particularly those

images seen in the ground breaking BMX magazine The Albion where the work of photographers such

as Daniel Benson and Steve Bancroft are showcased. Other inspirations come from photographers such

as Joey L who produce astonishing images using off camera flash.

KW: Finally Tom, why BMX?

TG: BMX is something I have grown up around, I spent my whole childhood around skate parks. BMX

has opened so many doors for me, photography included. I have made some really great friends as a

result of BMX and it has given me the chance to go to so many places I would otherwise never been.

CREDITS

Features & All photography from:

Andy Ford | www.andyfordphotography.co.uk

Leo Rosas Morin | www.leorosas.com

Tom Goldsmith | www.flickr.com/people/gold-images

Pg 12–13 (Parkour) photography from:

Arts Connection – Thomas. G

Mary. W

Yasser Azmy Ph

Oscar Gorriz

James David Allen

Designed and edited by:

Kieran Wayne | www.kieranwayne.com

[email protected]

XX

Design | Kieran Wayne | kieranwayne.com

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