A Small Voice: Conversations With Photographers (members)
Attached

A Small Voice: Conversations With Photographers (members)

Ben Smith

  • 171 Episodes
  • English
  • Last updated Oct 02, 2024
Become a member
Tier 1 Membership
  • Exclusive access to an additional fortnightly Small Voice episode not available to non-members, featuring bonus follow-up questions, super-useful advice and tips from the previous week's guest, all the periodic special episodes, catch-ups with former guests
  • Exclusive access to the full archive of past episodes from the main feed not available to non-members.
  • Join me and my photographer guest for Photobook Focus, a monthly Zoom presentation of a recent or forthcoming book, with a chance to win a signed copy every month.

Unlock these podcasts:

Donate
One-time or periodic donation

Show your support for and appreciation of the show and help fund its ongoing production by making a larger one-off, occasional, annual or periodic donation.

« Back to episodes

240 - Robbie Lawrence

Sep 25, 2024 E240 01:19:33

Robbie Lawrence is a London based Scottish photographer and director represented by Webber Represents. Robbie is acutely attentive to the way images tell a story. Working with a painterly softness and sensitivity to his subjects, he deals in detail and nuance. From portraiture, travel and documentary to editorial work, he places the human experience front and centre to create thoughtful, abstract images, with an emphasis on narrative.

Recent books include Blackwater River and A Voice Above The Linn published by Stanley/Barker. Stills gallery in Edinburgh hosted the first UK institutional solo exhibition by Robbie in 2022, bringing together a snapshot of life post-Brexit across Scotland’s cities, rural locations and coastal towns.

Robbie’s new book, Long Walk Home, was just released (September 2024) by Stanley/Barker.

Clients Include: UN, Apple, Nike, Hermes, Gucci, The New Yorker, Du Monde, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, I-D and many others.

 

In episode 240, Robbie discusses, among other things:

  • His recent assignment at The Olympics
  • His internship in Paris and his time in New York
  • His relationship to painting and writing
  • Building a career to encompass commercial and personal work
  • How working commercially can be a ‘relief’.
  • His ‘macrojournalistic approach’
  • His first book project, Blackwater River
  • His second book, A Voice Above The Linn
  • Collaboration with poet John Burnside
  • His new book about the Highland Games, Long Walk Home.
  • Why he threw away three years worth of work and began again
  • Working digitally with ‘manual’ lenses
  • The difference between myth and history
  • A reading from John Burnside’s essay in the book

Referenced:

 

Website | Instagram

“I like the variety […] I like being on set. You become more like a director. As a photographer you’re almost the emotional heartbeat of a set. It’s interesting because at school and university I really found exams hellish from an expectation point of view. Like, I would put myself under a lot of pressure. And I would describe some of those more pressurised commercial jobs almost like a school exam where you expected to produce something of quality under a very tight time constraint. As a physical experience it can feel similar, and I suppose maybe it’s just experience that I can now recall moments where I’ve overcome those kind of stresses. So I like the shift.”

  • VOTE HERE FOR ALETHEIA CASEY TO HAVE A SOLO SHOW AT PARIS PHOTO!!
  • Become a full tier 1 member here to access exclusive additional subscriber-only content and the full archive of previous episodes for £5 per month.
  • For the tier 2 archive-only membership, to access the full library of past episodes for £3 per month, go here.
  • Subscribe to my weekly newsletter here for everything A Small Voice related and much more besides.
  • Follow me on Instagram here.
  • Build Yourself a Squarespace Website video course here.

 

Image
Title