John Myers

• British photographer 
• He did a fine art degree
• It wasn't until he left uni that he got into photography
• Main influence 'portraiture'

August Sander

He was interested in how much space there is in a picture and how space is used in images. Where are things/the subject positioned

Arbus

He was looking at how the people in her pictures are formed centrally within her images. All the figures are contained within the picture - we see the whole of the person.

• Relies on natural lighting 
• Most are taken at the same height and distance
• Backgrounds vary, shot in different locations
• At times he will move the figure to the left or right of the frame 
• No-one is smiling in the pictures - serious faces but not unhappy
• Photographed babies and young children
• Needed his subject to sit still otherwise pictures would be blurry 

New work

Went on to photograph in different peoples homes. He talked about how we spend most of our day looking at screens - tv, ipod, mobile phone, computer and so on.

Photographing here is very different to abroad due to the lighting being very opposite. Here, it is in fact dull where as in America it is bright and bounces around. All his photographs were taken within a walking distance from his house.

Influence - T. H. O'Sullivan

The images look like undiscovered places, they look untouched. Often there was flat lighting in these images - never on a sunny or extreme day - this was deliberate. John also liked images that you see in estate agent windows. 

Influence - Waller Evans

He tried to learn good photography from the masters; he was evaluating techniques and skills. Again he photographed his subjects straight on - not form an angle.

Influence - E. Atget


Photographed buildings/architecture before they got knocked down. He took great care with how he photographed his subjects.

 A John Myers image