Quick five questions with Tim Barker – photographer
23rd March 2025
How long have you been involved in the Photographic fine Art market?
I started work on my Seascapes about five years ago. They represent a way for me to reclaim all the old Photographic skills as I knew them. I’ve been working as a London based commercial Photographer since the early 1990’s and seen the industry change beyond recognition from 10×8 inch plate cameras and hours spent developing and printing in the ‘dark room’ to the modern digital world with instant imagery and last-minute deadlines. So, a return to time spent planning, composition in the field and post-production are now the order of my day and in return it’s a joy to create something which will hopefully stand the test of time.
Why Seascapes?
For me the sea and coastline are endlessly variable. The combination of the conditions found there change continually. The state of the water, the sunlight, beach, clouds, tide, prevailing winds and time of day create an ever-changing subject. I don’t like places where landmarks can identify the exact locations of my images, not to be mysterious, but because I believe the finished mix of ingredients mentioned are more intriguing and speak for themselves.
To be honest its Portraiture really, just like the lines and imperfections on a person’s face tell an individual human story even without ever having known or met them.
Do you have a Photographic style and where do you GET YOUR INSPIRATION?
All portraiture tells a story, and that story is not just influenced by the subject but by technique as well. My use of a long camera exposure means the passage of time is captured and condensed as a single moment. It leaves a stylized almost watercolour like view of the sky, sea and shoreline. This technique combined with a shallow focus, or ‘depth of field’ distort the image further. In a sense the finished images become visually inverted.
Sky, sea and shoreline as subjects become the abstract and light, weather and time become the subject.
Someone once kindly described my images as ‘Rothko-esque’ which is perhaps a little generous but I’m more than happy with that!
Where can we see them?
I’ve been lucky enough to be asked to exhibit my recent Mediterranean images in a gallery in Pollença, Majorca. These are beautifully framed large scale archival Giclée prints, and their scale really shows them at their best.
The show is opening on the 12th of April and runs for a month at Galeria Dionís Debennàssar.
www.ateliereditions.com/exhibition
And your plans for the future?
There is always another coastline to visit but apart from that I would dearly like to put together another exhibition as not only does that provide feedback on your work, but I truly believe a large-scale print is the best possible way of viewing and doing justice to these shoreline stories.
