Andy Houghton (born 1975) is a young fashion photographer living in his hometown Hull (U.K). His extensive body of work has been published in various international magazines. “I never intended to have a career as a photographer, but it has always been in my life. My inspiration to pick up a camera and start taking photographs came from my father, who was a passionate photographer while I was growing up in the 1980’s. I remember watching him develop his prints in his darkroom and being fascinated watching the images appear in the chemical trays. He taught me how to use a camera from being quite young. I have had no formal training in photography. Everything I have learned is either self taught or from my father. More than anything else, I like to photograph people. I have always had an interest in fashion so fusing that passion with photography seemed to be a natural process. I would say that my fashion images are not what you would normally associate with fashion photography. There is no fun in my images, no one is smiling or having a good time. They tend to lean towards the darker side of humanity. I’m not interested in making the people I photograph look happy, beautiful or perfect, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. I think an image is more interesting if there is a slight ugliness to it. My images tend to be story telling yet emotionally isolating. I am mainly influenced by films and art, although the smallest and most random encounters in life are the true influences of my work. I take photographs of what I see and what I want to see. A lot of my images have a cinematic feel to them. I tend to think cinematically and create stories and scenarios in my head. But my ideas are often changed by events beyond my control, leading to spontaneous and unexpected results. I am also influenced by art and random images I come across on the internet. The internet is a great tool for finding inspiration. I am also experimenting with moving images as an extension of my photographic work. I have worked with a few famous people but to me they are just subjects to photograph, their fame doesn’t really come into it. I am a great believer in spontaneity. I don’t like to plan photos too much, I think the essence of the image becomes somewhat rigid and forced. The perfect picture for me is the one that creates itself.”
