Gavin o’neill 221
Nationality new Zealand
Main working locations Paris and
Sydney
Photographic method Film and digital
Gavin began taking photographs in the
early 1990s as a hobby, his full-time job
being a drummer in a rock band. after
the band split up, photography became
his new creative outlet. He worked part
time in bars while practicing his skills,
then went full time toward the end of
the ’90s. He currently lives in Paris and
works for a wide mix of clients, mainly
in the field of beauty and body images.
http://www.gavinoneill.com
My approach to photography in general is quite simple: i consider my main
role as a photographer is simply to observe what is in front of me rather
than to construct it. For this reason i tend to keep lighting, exposure, and
equipment very basic so that i can work intuitively when i shoot, allowing
myself space and time to be influenced and inspired by what i am seeing,
and what i am feeling, without being caught up in technicalities. My work
with the nude is very much done this way. i don’t usually plan anything
more than the choice of model and location, so that everything else that
happens on the shoot is purely creative and
unscripted. The only thing i preconceive is the
quality of the picture i want.
i have had no formal photographic training
at all, and started quite by accident after i picked
up a camera one day and discovered that i could
naturally sense the power of shape and structure once i placed a frame
around my eye. i was drawn to the nude purely from an aesthetic point
of view as i love the human form, and i simply looked for a way to capture
it by mixing graphic and fluid composition with interesting photographic
concepts in clear and simple images.
i shoot mainly outdoors, because i love working in wide open
spaces and finding unique natural textures to use. variation is a big factor
for me too, so i like the fact that two completely different locations might
be only meters apart, and also that the natural lighting and weather
conditions can change from one day to the next, which also might inspire
me in different ways. i always work in remote locations, and with very few
people on set—often only myself and the model—as i like to keep the area
i am shooting in uninhabited by anything or anyone. i usually stop shooting
if someone is nearby as i find it breaks my concentration, and i don’t want
to attract attention to what we are doing.
My nude work is shot primarily on digital now, although i sometimes
still use black and white film—usually TMax 100 or XP2 400 for their
minimal grain and smooth tones.
gavin o’neill
