The Man Behind The Camera

Fraser Stannage is a student, photographer, and very good friend of mine. Living in Norwich and currently studying photography, psychology, chemistry, and ICT  at sixth form, Fraser would love to become a fashion/commercial photographer for 'Vogue' or 'Harper's Bazaar' one day. "That'd be incredible!", he says whilst scrolling through files and files of his work. It's clear photography is his biggest passion; while we're chatting, he shows me other photographers that inspire him, such as Charlotte Rutherford and Eleanor Hardwick. As a child, Fraser says he remembers his mum always carrying a film camera, and giving him one to play with on  a Butlins holiday! However, his interest really started to grow through GCSE Art, when he realised photography was his preferred medium. From there he began a Flickr. page for his work, and recently set up a facebook page too, and says that technology helped develop his passion. 'Looking at other people's work inspires me to pursue my own ideas', he explains, whilst also allowing him to share his own work. He tells me he prefers taking portraits and pictures with cultural influences; for example, at Playfest this year he came armed with 4 films to capture the atmosphere of the weekend (of both the bands and the crowd!). Fraser's biggest influences are people around him, and says his best pictures are spontaneous rather than planned shoots, but that he'd love to shoot with Billie Turnbull. "I get a bit shy though", he adds, when it comes to asking strangers if they can pose for him. At only 16, it's not surprising! Having done a bit of modelling before, he says it's something he'd definitely look at doing again, but clearly behind the camera is where he loves to be. Studying at sixth form has allowed him to learn new techniques such as using a dark room, and he now develops his black & white images himself. In the future, he's looking to study at University (hopefully in London) and from there, who knows! Hopefully we'll see him & his work in many a magazine to come! :-)

Here are just a few of his shots, but there's many many more on his Flickr. page!