Streets of modern England through the eyes of a 16-year-old
At 16 years you can go to Сcollege, fall in love for the first time, get your first job, leave home or get on the page of the magazine World Professional Photography Organization. The latter was achieved by a young English photographer Callum Cole with his fantastic images of the streets of Foggy Albion.
About myself
My full name is Callum Cole, a lot of people call me Cal. I am a 16 year old photographer from Manchester in Northern England, and in my free time I like to play basketball and draw, as well as taking and editing photographs. I still go to high school, but I am moving on to college later this year.
When was my start in photography and why do I do that?
I started taking photos when I was 13 years old after seeing photos of London and Manchester on Instagram by some ‘instagram famous’ photographers. At this point I went into the city centre a lot already, and after being inspired by these people I chose to take some photos on my phone. I posted a few of them on Instagram, and people seemed to like them which motivated me so a couple months later, on my 14th birthday, I got my first camera - a Nikon D3200 - which I still use now.
I like taking photos because it gives me something meaningful to do with my time - if I have got a couple of hours to spare, I can go out with my camera. Furthermore, it allows me to connect with other people with similar interests and talk, and as well as this I can sometimes make money from doing a thing i enjoy - which is crazy to me. I really love the idea that every photo I take is unique, and that no one can ever truly replicate it. And, in my opinion, taking a photo that you are instantly proud of is one of the best feelings there is.
Inspiration
I would say I am mainly inspired by other instagram accounts who I follow, one of my main sources of inspiration being photographer Lucan Coutts, @lucancoutts on instagram, and some of them even happen follow me back which is really humbling. As well as this, I am a big fan of cyberpunk and neon colours- as well as this i was also very much inspired by the muted teal and orange tones in the new Joker film- and this heavily influences my editing process. Recently, I have been more inspired by street photographers and cinematographers, for example Shane Taylor -@heroesforsale on Instagram, because there is a rawness and uniqueness to their work due to the fact that no one will ever be able to capture the same image. I also feel these street moments are something people may look back on in future generations as an archetype of what life was like in this time period and therefore I think there is also an element of importance to their art.
About my works
Sometimes i struggle with what kind of photos i want to create, as i don’t really have a specific preference for things to photograph; varying from shooting architecture and landscapes to portraits and street photography. I use a consistent blue, purple and orange set of tones in my work and mainly shoot in evenings or at night, influencing my colour choice. I hope that my photos are perceived as quite moody and cinematic yet also dreamy and futuristic.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/graphic.cal/
