Bill Jackson Photography : Outside index

'The land work that I do is a necessary part of my art practice. It runs both independently and as an integrated response to my studio work. Both are necessary. They feed each other. Outside I am not in control of situations. I have to plan those in order to get what I want. The three portfolios here are taken in three location at three different times of the day in three different lighting situations. The Suffolk Landmarks are taken during the day, a grey day, devoid of any dramatic lighting conditions or details in the sky. These 'objects' relate directly to the concerns I have in my studio, the difference being that instead of me constructing, I am working with the found object. The other difference is scale.

I am often asked how I approach my work. Through a series of thought processes of which pre visualization is one, I plan very carefully what I do. For example, on one wall of my studio are 16 OS maps of Norfolk and Suffolk, pieced together so that I get a real sense of the two counties. As I travel around on a reccy, I use my iPhone to log the map co ordinates of locations I want to return to, either at night or on days when the light is how I want it to be, and pin these on the map. I log future sites for exploration. I also use a notebook / sketch book for ideas. I am definitely not the sort of photographer who goes out with his camera in hope. I never did even when I was a documentary street photographer.

The Nighthawks, some of which are revisited such as the Silos, are objects taken at night with long exposures of upto 20 minutes. Here again is a similarity with my studio work. This time is to do with the exposure times. I love the concept of time passing over. Often people think that photography is about capturing the moment in an instant of a second. That to me is an 'ordinary' experience. It's what is expected. It doesn't mean that I think this type of photography is of any less value, it's just different Ð its what is expected of a photograph. I like to work with unexpected situations. Allowing time to pass over the image (in the studio I am working in seconds, outside it is in minutes) could create possibilities missed by fractions of seconds. The frozen moment is not a concern of mine. I leave that up to others to pursue. To me there is not just one moment in photography but many, and these often run into each other. They collide in space and cause a chain reaction. This is the unexpected and the extraordinary moments in photography.'