Tom Brown

Just watched the BBC4 programme 'What do artists do during the day' which gave a fascinating insight into how Tom Brown works. He was not a photographer I knew much about and this may well be due to the fact that he has only recently been 'recognised' by the photographic world despite more than 30 years in the business. He himself seemed puzzled by the interest.

The programme followed him around and what we saw was a man almost totally obsessed by his activity. He would seem to spend virtually all of his time following his instincts -  the instincts being based on many years experience and a deep knowledge, through familiarity, of what he shoots. There is an honesty about the presentation and there is a diffidence about his approach to those he is photographing that is both charming and at the same time revealing of an underlying uncertainty about his acceptability. The results were images that were powerful and yet of ordinary people (not celebrities) and daily life. He talks of capturing the 'spirit' of what he sees and in all that we see he is very successful in achieving his aims.

Although being described as  landscape photographer he recognises in the programme that this may not be the case. Based on what we saw I would describe him as a 'street photographer' in the sense that he is out and about and shoots people and their surroundings. Many of his shown landscapes included people.

He talks of the struggle to survive as a photographer and it is here that we see the obsessive side of his nature. There is a commitment to his task that goes beyond reason for any ordinary man who tries to balance the demands of the various elements of his life. He talks of the financial problems he faced telling us that some years he made a loss. Clearly he is driven by his need to be a photographer. Although throughout the programme he was using digital cameras he talked of his days as a film photographer telling us that on a normal day he would shoot 3 or 4 rolls of film but on some days as many as 10 films. Film was expensive and there were also the development costs. It would appear that he did not develop or process his films.

A fascinating programme that gave us a glimpse into the live of a man for whom recognition has come late. One can only admire his tenacity and belief.