Glossy interior magazines now dominate the newsstands alongside the long coveted fashion titles. The rise of interest in interior style &

booming interior led businesses is in no smallpart to these magazines and the photographs that adorn their pages. Richard Gadsby is

the gentlemen behind many of the stunning images seen throughout the best interior magazinesacross the UK. His current client list

includes such titles as Country Living, House Beautiful, 25 Beautiful Homes and Country Homes & Interiors. We caught up with him to

find outthe secret behind a great photograph and what he has learnt about interior style after shooting some of the most beautiful

homes in the country…

 

What first inspired you to get behind the lens and what keeps you there?

 

With interior photography it’s a combination of things. A great room shot should allow the owner’s personality and style to shine through.

This takes some creative guidance with considered composition, a natural lighting approach and appropriate styling, but the client and

owner should always be delighted with the final result.

 

What has photographing interiors taught you about interior style?

 

That you don’t need a big budget to create a ‘wow’ factor. I’ve photographed many stunning homes on a grand and modest scale. While

some are interior designed with choice colour combinations and designer pieces resulting in a sophisticated elegance, others tell a more

personal story with a collection of period items and ideas inspired by art or travel. Either way successful home interiors should offer

sanctuary for visiting friends and family.

 

How would you describe your own home style?

 

I live in the Kent countryside with my wife Joanne and daughters Ruby and Georgia in a converted farmhouse originally dating back to

1632, period features such as the fireplace and oak beams once covered over have been revealed after many years and brought back to life

with a wood burning stove and new oak flooring. We have similar taste and are often drawn to the same things at antique fairs, such as our

huge 1940s straight legged table that originally came from a local convent which contrasts well with six white Charles Eames chairs. We

enjoy revealing period features and mixing it with urban style.

 

What is your favourite home that you have ever shot and why?

 

Quer Quay in Devon is the most unusual but inspiring house I’ve shot so far (title image), a coastal home in the most amazing riverside

location, built from for all manner of flotsam and jetsam from the sea. It’s home to a very artistic couple who have enhanced the interior

with sailcloth fabrics, used driftwood pieces to make handles and furniture and exposed wooden planks on internal walls, all on several

levels giving the impression of living on some timeless sea faring vessel…

 

If you could photograph the home of anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?

 

The godfather of American architecture Franklyn Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece ‘Fallingwater’ in Pennsylvania. Clean long lines, floor to

ceiling windows that let light flood into wideopen plan spaces. He didn’t actually live there, it was designed in 1935 for the wealthy

Kaufman family and opitimises Wright’s desire for nature and architecture to work inharmony. Nestled amongst the trees this dramatic

structure literally sits upon a waterfall.

 

What’s the best photo-shoot you have ever worked on and why?

 

A lifestyle location shoot for Coast magazine, a city couple who turned their world upside down by moving to the coast and buying the

‘picnic boat’ located on the river in Dartmouth.The day started at dawn and we had every kind of weather thrown at us while shooting

this day in the life feature. Battling driving wind and rain one minute then bright dazzling sunshine the next and a fast moving tide on the

river Dart including a scary moment standing on a 2 metre pontoon in the middle of the river to ‘get the shot’.

 

If you weren’t a photographer what would you be?

 

An architect, I’ve always wanted to design and build my own eco home, on the perfect hillside plot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is your favourite photograph that you have ever taken and what’s the story behind it?

 

I love taking close up detail shots, which often take longer to set up than anything else, so on busy shoot days you can’t get too carried

away. I spotted a shot as soon as I turned up to this Kent cottage interior shoot for Country Homes and Interiors, (see image above) the

small utility space needed only a few things taken out and rearranged before I took it usingonly natural light coming in from the window

which was out of shot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you could have taken any photograph ever shot which would it be and why?

 

As a photographer it’s impossible to name one image that’s my favourite, but I’d love to have the eye and laid back confidence that

allowed William Klein to shoot such engaging, often raw street photography, before the term even existed. (see above)

 

What advice would you give to any who wanted to get into photography, interior photography in particular?

 

I see images and potential images around me all the time, which can be quite distracting. If you think visually you’ll need to find a way

to express yourself and photography may well find you! I originally trained in Graphics at Birmingham Polytechnic and then Plymouth

College of Art and Design where I specialised in magazine design. Magazines and websites would not survive without great photography

and with the advent of digital – and while working for IPCMedia I was tasked with retraining and migrating our existing experienced

film-based photographers into digital ones. I worked closely with Canon UK and repro experts organising training Q&A sessions for our

team of freelance photographers to learn how this new technology worked. This was a time of major transition for the photographic

industry, and in the early years required a hefty investment on their part in new equipment. It was at this point I bought my first DSLR

camera and set to work as an enthusiastic amateur. I didn’t realise that 5 years later I’d turn tables and become a photographer myself.

Making a living however was much more challenging as in all areas of photography including interiors it’s a highly-competitive

marketplace, if you are presenting a body of work to a potential client make sure it’s relevant to their needs. It takes time to understand

and build relationships with clients so they are able to trust in you delivering the final product – the image that sells…

 

To contact Richard Gadsby directly, call: mobile 07759 977994, office 01580 766692 or email r_gadsby@yahoo.co.uk .