Ollo, tell us about your Chelsea photo series.
Well, the Chelsea project is still very much in its early days, I’ve only shot a handful of rolls and it’s something I want to explore much further but the basic idea is that I feel like there is a strangely remote feeling about Chelsea. I grew up just the other side of the river in Battersea and there’s a grandeur that strikes you as soon as you cross the bridge, some kind of sense of Old England, or at least that’s how I’d imagine the people there would like it to be known.
There’s a sense of grandeur that strikes you as soon as you cross the bridge, some kind of sense of Old England
There’s also just so much to it: the football club; the musical history; the pensioners; the flower show; World’s End; Kings Road; and of course all the millionaires that live there. I just think it’s an interesting place and I thought through this project I could try to make sense of something that’s always been a bit of a mystery to me. A portrait of an area if you like. I guess I’m still figuring it out though, it’s an ongoing project so hopefully I’ll pick up a better answer along the way.
How did you get into photography and who inspired you?
Weirdly, I’ve been surrounded by photography my whole life without really realising it until I was a teenager. My dad was an amazing photographer and long-time assistant of the great Terrence Donovan, so there were always plenty of photo books and pictures hanging everywhere at home, but I never really took much notice of it as a kid but it must’ve sunk in somehow.
My dad was an amazing photographer and long-time assistant of the great Terrance Donavan
I was pretty naughty during my school days though and kept on being moved to different schools until my last where Photography was an option as an A-Level. That was some sort of defining moment for me, I had a real gem of a teacher there who completely got through to me and introduced me to 35mm film and how to use a black and white darkroom (plus letting me use it out of hours), as well as some great photographers to look at, I haven’t really stopped shooting since.
What’s your artistic process?
I don’t have one as such I don’t think, nothing methodical or anything, I just shoot a lot really, and try to bring a camera wherever I go. It’s pretty manic but I see progression so you know, I guess it works for me. Also all the film stuff, developing and scanning, there’s definitely something there that slows me down and makes me think. I’m down to start printing my images in a darkroom again though, that’s a goal for the new year for sure.
What is your single favourite photograph?
Ah man that changes all the time. Right now I don’t know, anything shot by Robert Frank maybe, he died a couple weeks back and I’ve been looking through all his work. He’s definitely one of the best although there is this one Garry Winogrand shot that’s mad and has always stayed with me – White Sands National Monument – but I’m always reluctant to definitively call something my favourite as I’ll probably want to change it further on down the line.
What would you do if you weren’t a photographer?
Me and my mate once, dead seriously, tried to make a squash brand, who knows where that could’ve gone. Robinsons still has no competitor…
