Artist of the Week - RICHARD HEEPS

Richard Heeps - Richard Heeps Photography

Colour photography that depicts the values and remnants of our fading past.

Money spent on film and cameras is never wasted
Each new camera allows you another way of looking at the world and film makes each image permanent.


When and where did you first want to do what you do?
I have always had an interest in my immediate surroundings being brought up in North Cambridgeshire. At the age of 20 it became obvious, that I wanted not just to explore this landscape but record it and a camera was the perfect tool.

How much do you bend your 'vision' to suit the marketplace?
No, I do not bend my vision and I am uncompromising in my approach.


Who would you say buys your work?
I would say all ages, and was pleasantly surprised that a very young person asked his mother to buy a photograph for him at my last Open Studio.

Where and what is your studio?
I am currently between studios, relocating to a more rural backdrop, where I hope to be able to print and at the same time have things on my doorstep to photograph. My wife works with me full time, on the editing and production of my work. I prefer to work in silence, but my wife insists on listening to 6 Music not that I mind.


What is your favourite website and why?
www.bleachbox.co.uk is my favourite website at the moment because of its photographers share the same ethos as me ie. film is better than any digital photography.

Do you have a good work/life balance?
No. I eat, sleep and talk photography and it is hard to switch off if you are a full time artist.

Would you rather be doing something else?
No, I have had a few careers, as a precision engineer, a care worker and a teacher. I know that what I am doing now is the right career for me.


Are their other fields that you'd like to apply some facet of your work into?
I would be interested in trying my hand at documentary film making, but at the moment I am still focused on still imagery.

Can anything be 'art'?
Anything can be art. But I prefer art, if it is well made and shows a high level of skill in the production.

If you could exhibit in any gallery which would it be?
The Museum of Modern Art in New York.