Londoners Magazine

Seamus Ryan, 44, is a portrait photographer from Dublin. He’s been inviting the public to model for him on Sundays at his East End gallery - Sunday Shoots - since August 2006. He talks projects and ideas with Sarah Riches.

Background in photography:

“I came to London 18 years ago with a rucksack, £30 and no qualifications. I’d done a course in Dublin where they taught us the basics of photography and that became the only thing I was interested in.

“I came over here, and did an apprenticeship with Alastair Ogilvie. Over four years I learnt the craft of photography. I became a portrait photographer by accident.

“About seven years ago I moved to my current studio and realised I had this incredible resource. Every Sunday I had this huge space and all these people outside.

“I felt I should open the studio to the public. People were so relaxed and didn’t think it was odd to join in with whatever I wanted them to.

“Portrait photography has vibrancy and vitality. I like the magic that may or may not happen in a shoot. Virtually every time I take a portrait something unpredictable happens.

Silhouettes project:

“One of my favourite projects was the simplest, Silhouettes. I asked the public to surprise me and was blown away by their originality.

“Because I had so many photos I ended up creating one big image of a London park scene from lots and lots of silhouettes.

The Scream and Shout project:

“It was an attempt to put people in a situation where they couldn’t pose. We attached a sound trigger to a camera so people really, really had to shout to make it take the shot.

“People had four, five, six attempts and nothing would happen. Step by step people were losing all their baggage. They had to completely let go so they weren’t posing anymore.

“I was trying to reveal different aspects of people’s personality that you wouldn’t normally get in a portrait.

The Jump project:

“With this project gravity takes over. When you jump, there’s a point when you have to consider you’re landing, any second, on a reasonably hard surface.

“So your attention is taken away from looking fabulous and people reveal a bit more of themselves.

The String Thing project:

“It came about in local newsagents. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a ball of string. I was struggling for ideas so I just picked it up and thought I could create a whole world of string.

“I bought all the string in all the shops, I had over a mile of it. I laid it out in three rows and gave the public a space to go inside. I was trying to emulate television interference.

“The portraits were almost like an old print that’s been folded and creased. You get lots of lines on it. It has a strange quality.”

Seamus Ryan
Sunday Shoots
Columbia Road flower market
7 Ezra Street
E2
020 7613 5576
www.sundayshoots.com
Photos cost £35, £45, £55 (all signed by Seamus)
Framing is extra

All photographs: (c) 2007 SEAMUS RYAN PHOTOGRAPHY all rights reserved.