An interview with London based interior and architectural photographer Billy Bolton.

“Obviously I take descriptive images otherwise designers wouldn’t employ me to record their work. But I make sure I shoot a certain amount of images in the style that I like where the depth has been flattened and shapes, shadows and light are abstracted.”

Billy Bolton is a London-based photographer who specialises in interiors and architecture.

After starting his career making music and fashion videos, he went on to train under some of London’s top photographers and now freelances throughout the UK and around the world. In his free time, he loves to travel and photographs from his adventures regularly appear in international magazines.

Selected Clients:

Michaelis Boyd Associates, Johnson Naylor, mwai, Make & Place, Oku Hotels, Jolie Design, Charlie Luxton Design, Wilson Holloway, T R Studio, Li Xiaodong Architects (China), Argent, Paper House Project, Off-White, Scenesmith

Featured in:

Out of the Woods (Gestalten), Architectural Review, Suitcase Magazine, The Guardian, enki Magazine, Grand Designs Magazine, Walnut Magazine, Get Lost Magazine, Food & Travel Magazine, OnOffice

Hi Billy, I hope all is safe and well with you and many thanks for taking the time to share with our community. 

Can I congratulate you on a superb portfolio, I've been an admirer for some time now. Can you tell us what has been keeping you occupied recently throughout 2020 and what your plans for 2021?

To be honest I slowed right down during the pandemic which was great. I didn’t work for four months and when I started again I was only shooting about once a month. That allowed me to do other things that didn’t involve cameras. This year has gone a little bit mad though and I can’t seem to fit it all in. Other than the pent up demand of the designers I work for there seems to be a general optimism and desire to get back to being busy and creating again.

I can completely agree, work has gone a bit crazy for myself recently. A lot of demand which is great to see. Out of the frying pan into the fire as they say… All good news though, I‘ve been so busy there has been little time to concentrate on M.mode, so a huge thanks again for your takeover and giving up your time, it is much appreciated.

Could you tell us a bit more about your past, your education, ethos and how you approach your work currently?

I grew up in Bristol and then studied fine art photography at London College of Communication, during which I made documentary films and barely took any photos. After that I carried on making short films and music videos.

I can’t say for sure whether any of that has carried over into my commercial work, though it’s definitely carried over into my personal work and my travel photography.  

I should really do more personal work and I would love to do more travel work, as you can imagine I haven’t been asked to do much travel photography in the last year and a half!

Ah, a fellow London Institute graduate, I was at Camberwell Art College back in the day! I too wanted to make music videos, that’s what took me to the big city.

I can also agree with doing the personal work, having M.mode as a ‘personal project’ is great fun.

It is only myself doing it and I never thought it would gather the momentum is has. It also so keeps me pretty busy and I love having something to focus on which is different from my day to day work.

How do you go about getting work and what do you find is the best solution you've found?

Most of my work seems to be from word of mouth. I approach architects and interior designers I like every now and again although I’ve given up emailing them. I tend to send them something in the post, it seems to sit on their desk longer that way. 

I like that approach.

I know that you live in London where there is an abundance of exciting buildings that pop up on the landscape, is this where do you do most of your work?

It’s booming as far as I can tell. But there are loads of great designers elsewhere and it’s important to remember that.

Most of my work is in London but I often travel around the country and abroad when it’s possible. I think the issue is that the money is in London and that draws the designers there and then by default the photographers and everyone else in that industry.  

I’ve actually just left London and live in Bristol again. It doesn’t make any difference to my workload, I just use the train more often. My work is spread out enough that I don’t need to actually be living in London.

We’re practically neighbours as I live in Bath and do a lot of work in Bristol and the South West. I love the city and miss it now and again, but I don’t miss the traffic!

As a photography community we love a bit of gear talk, could you tell us what equipment you have in your bag and enlighten those who aren't familiar a little bit more about your process.

I was using a Canon 6D for the last 8 years, it was fine and probably still is. I now have a Canon R5 and to be honest the only major difference is that my iMac is slower.  I use a 16-35, 50 and an 85mm lens. I have others like a 24mm tilt and shift but I seldom use them.  

I don’t have a laptop but I have an iPad Pro which I use to back up into Lightroom after a shoot, sometimes I use it to tether to if I’m working with a stylist. It means they can wirelessly look at what they’re styling.  I never use lights. 

I’ve been flirting with the idea of getting a I-Pad Pro to tether with the Cam Ranger but I seldom use it these days and I’m given free range from my clients when it comes to compositions etc.

Only hearing great things about the Canon R5. I have the Nikon D850 which is great and some decent glass however I keep my eye on the mirrorless market quite a bit and I’m sure it is only a matter of time…

Do you feel that you're happy with the work you produce?

Yes but I’m always trying to improve. 

Nice and confident, I love it.

Do you have any advice for aspiring photographers to keep motivated and pushing yourself forward?

All photographers do rubbish work they don’t show on their Instagram.

I hear that…

I think we should talk a bit about copyright.....How do you go about educating your clients about licensing and is there anything we can be doing better, especially in the UK to inform our clients better?

I tell them when I give them a quote that the images are for their use in their marketing in perpetuity.

Anyone else needs to contact me should they want to use the images. Unless they want to pay a considerable amount more the images will remain my copyright. It’s very important to make that clear first. 

Yep, but some still don’t get it. Baby steps..

Where do you draw your inspiration from and how do you go about creating your stylised look and doo you have a favourite thing you like to shoot and why?

I think I like the image to look good as an individual item rather than being descriptive of the place that I’m photographing.

Obviously I take descriptive images otherwise designers wouldn’t employ me to record their work. But I make sure I shoot a certain amount of images in the style that I like where the depth has been flattened and shapes, shadows and light are abstracted.

Sometimes they might be useless to the designer, sometimes they love them. 

You have a wonderful portfolio and have travelled a lot with your work. What would say the highlight of your career would be to this point?

I was recently asked to nominate my favourite interior designers for a book by Phaidon on the best designers in the world. They asked loads of really important people in the field of design. So I’ve no idea why they contacted me but it felt good. 

We know why….

Photographically though I loved shooting the Beijing School of Architecture.

Beautiful.

Do you have any favourite photographers that inspire you and anyone you think we should be keeping an eye out for?

My good mate Isaac Marley Morgan.

I’ll check him out…

Lastly, what have you learnt and taken away from the past years events?

Keep some money tucked away for a rainy day. 

A huge thanks to Billy for his giving up his time for his takeover and having a little chat. To see more of Billy’s portfolio click on the following links. Website - Instagram