For most of us, taking a photograph is easy. Whip out your mobile phone and fire off dozens of shots. The only snag is that the vast majority, if not all of them, will look like a holiday snap.
Which is the big difference between taking a photograph yourself and hiring someone who knows what they’re doing…knows what sort of image to get…what sort of kit will work best…will help you tell a story.
And that’s where approaching 40 years of experience makes leading North East based photographer Simon Williams at Crest Photography stand out from the crowd. We thought we’d catch up with him and find out what it’s been like to have a life behind the lens.
You’ve been a photographer for 39 years…how did you get started?
In 1983 after my O’ levels, I was offered a job after doing work experience in a studio in Gosforth. I took it rather than the college route I was due to take. Straightaway I was dealing with the Newcastle advertising/design agency scene which was exciting for a young lad.
What has been the biggest change in the photography business in 39 years?
The shift from film to digital was a big one. Moving away from those fantastic Hasselblad square format cameras to digital 35mm format meant I had to compose shots differently as well as wrestle with the tech side. I still use dark room techniques to this day when editing images so it’s amazing how similar it all is. The speed of digital is fantastic as it enables me to shoot a job and the result will be on the other side of the world within a couple of minutes.
Is there a particular field of photography you especially enjoy?
The variation of shoots is huge, from doctors/lawyers/funders/ accountants to the royals and rock stars…and not forgetting the planes, trains and excavators! I set up Crest Photography up in 1995 and was very much in the corporate PR world and have pretty much remained in that discipline for over 27 years.
What’s your favourite location?
They say there’s no place like home so I love highlighting any of our North East locations from Berwick’s Border Bridge to the Tees Transporter Bridge and obviously the Newcastle Quayside area which I’ve watched develop over the last 40 years through my camera.
Is the majority of your work in the North East or do you travel around the UK?
I cover locations from the top of the Inner Hebrides to the South Coast. It’s an amazing way to see our country, the businesses, the towns and the people. The majority of my work is North East based but do “UK Tours” most months.
We’d guess that as you approach your 40th year in business there have been some ups and downs.
Starting in the early 80s means I’ve seen a couple of recessions and a couple of boom times but having a good annual spread of over 100 clients means I’ve survived the hard times better than most. The last one was the lockdown but I worked with the NHS/Army all the way through and didn’t get a week free, for which I was so grateful…and I’ve not stopped since.
Are you still learning?
Every day there’s something tricky as no location or person is the same, and with well over 20,000 shoots since I set up Crest Photography 27 years ago you can imagine the challenges.
And you must have met and photographed some interesting folk along the way? Some of the experiences have been surreal from being the Queen’s host camera…being in Richard Branson’s rooftop garden and his office by myself…sitting on a stage with Sting in Bamburgh Castle as he was doing a sound check…having private sittings with Prince Charles…plus photographing several Prime Ministers, including our future ones most recently. I’ve loved those experiences as well as memorable occasions like working in The Houses of Parliament, or sitting on the touchline at St James Park, or after-show parties with the great and the good. I’ve been moved to tears by some of the shoots and have been lucky to have a camera to hide behind.
How do you see the run up to year 40?
Last week I travelled from Newcastle to Edinburgh to Hull to Wigan to London with eight other shoot locations in-between so that’s a pretty good start to year 40. I’m often asked if I’ll ever retire but I always reply that maybe semi-retirement one day because I love what I do and every week is an adventure, I know I’m having the time of my life and at 55 there’s another 10,000 shoots left in me to do.