KAT GOLLOCK
Kat Gollock is an Edinburgh-based photographer who graduated from Stevenson College and now covers music, fashion and weddings First photograph you took? I can remember the fi rst photo I took that someone commented on. It was of my dad standing in front of some usual holiday vista in France. Both Mum and Dad commented on how good a photo it was, but it was the fi rst time they really meant it. Who inspires you? Rock photographer Anton Corbijn. Also Pennie Smith – her image of Paul Simonon from The Clash on the sleeve of London Calling made me want to be a music photographer. How did you get into photography? I applied to Stevenson College, Edinburgh, and was accepted to do fi lm and TV. The course included a black and white printing module and I was hooked after that. What camera do you use? A Nikon D700. Any techniques that you use? Intuition and trust! And I do like a vignette on my images. Any advice for taking wedding photos? Learn to shout politely and be fi rm when herding the guests for a group shot. Favourite photography websites? I like strobist. blogspot.com for fl ash and lighting advice. DPreview. com is a good camera comparison website. Favourite commission? Shooting Reg D Hunter. He was lovely and I very quickly fell in love with him and his voice. Why is it important to take photographs? To remember and record I think. Photos invoke such vivid memories, not just of when you took it but the time, the place, the day, what was going on in your life at the time. ■ katgollock.com
THE ART ISSUE ART ISSUE L O M O - A - G O - G O
Some helpful pointers to get you started in the art of lo-fi photography
FOLLOW THE RULES Lomography is photography using the analogue equipment of Lomographische AG, Austria (including Holga and Diana cameras) but has come to refer to any kind of hip, lo- fi camerawork. The 10 Golden Rules set down at lomography.com provide a good starting point. They include: ‘take your camera everywhere you go’; ‘Lomography is not an interference with your life, but part of it’; ‘try the shot from the hip’; ‘don’t think’; ‘be fast’; and ‘don’t worry about any rules’.
BUY THE GEAR Red Door Gallery (edinburghart.com) in Edinburgh and Fat Buddha (fatbuddhastore. com) in Glasgow both sell hipsteriffi c Lomo gear including chunky Diana
cameras, fl ashes and accessories. For photo development students at the ECA favour Trump (trumpslab.co.uk), while in Glasgow, Express Imaging (expressimaging.co.uk) is your best bet.
JOIN THE CLUB In Glasgow, the Queen’s Park Camera Club (qpcc. org.uk) operates out of the Southside and meets on the second Monday of the month at their place next to Queen’s Park.
The Edinburgh Photographic Society (edinburghphotographicsociety. co.uk) have their own premises in Stockbridge, while the Edinburgh LoFi Photography Group (edinburghlofi .com) meet at Spoon Café every fi rst Monday of the month.
BE INSPIRED In Glasgow, Street Level Photoworks (streetlevelphotoworks.org) host regular exhibitions of international photographers’ work (at the moment, it’s Chinese artists Chi Peng
and Wang Fu Chun), as well as classes to encourage budding snappers. Stills (stills.org) does much the same on the east coast, home as it is to Scotland’s Centre for Photography. Its most recent exhibitions were based around US photographers Allan Sekula and Richard Williams.
SHOW THE WORLD Sign up for an account at Blipfoto (blipfoto.com) and share your newfound artistic talents with the world. If you’re an offi cial photography degree student or graduate, you’re
also eligible to enter for the Jill Todd Photographic Award competition (jilltoddphotoaward.com), which launches this year with a theme of ‘kin’.
29 Mar–26 Apr 2012 THE LIST 23