Photographer steps out from behind the camera to pick up the paint brush

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Charlotte Harding meets up with a photographer who is picking up the paint brush once more.

As a painter and photographer Derek Martin is used to capturing the likeness of people and those sometimes fleeting moments.

“There’s something very satisfying about capturing and sharing with paint or a camera things I have seen or imagined,” reveals Derek Martin.

“I’m sure it was the same for the earliest cave painters.”

Based in Thakeham, Derek has taken up painting again after a 40-year break which saw him work for local newspapers as a photographer.

“I had always wanted to return to painting but as the years went by, I rather lost confidence in my ability and family life left me with little spare time,” he explains.

“Redundancy from my position as a local press photographer gave me the motivation I needed.”

A week at West Dean College near Chichester gave Derek a push in the right direction and along with encouragement from his wife Meriel he found he was enjoying painting again alongside his work as a freelance photographer.

“Meriel has also proved to be a very useful critic,” he adds.

“She is always ready to tell me what I don’t want to hear, which is so important.”

Derek invites commissions for portraits of people and their animals and says that he is ‘fascinated by faces’.

“Each commission is different and begins with a discussion with the client to find out what they are looking for and how best to achieve it,” he adds.

“Only occasionally can I work from photos taken by someone else without at least seeing the subject for myself.”

He adds that: “Pictures are nothing without an audience. I like to know my commissioned paintings have a very particular audience and I like to be able to show clients something familiar but in a new way.”

As for his inspiration, nature plays a big part.

“It is a big part of my life and photography, painting and drawing have added to my enjoyment of it,” Derek says.

As you can imagine, there are many similarities in Derek’s approach to painting and photography including light, mood, composition, contrast and use of colour very common to both.