Photographer, Tristan Hollingsworth, creates ethereal and deeply absorbing analog imagery that evokes feelings of wanderlust, nostalgia, and subtle melancholy.
His interest in photography began at an early age. He used a 110 film camera and a tape recorder to document his everyday surroundings, with which he says he had a ‘strange fascination’. However, his passion failed to blossom into anything of note until five years ago, when, galvanized by his travels, he picked up a camera once again.
Travel has long enthused photographers: the change of surroundings; unfamiliar sights; sounds, and smells, converging to provide a powerful stimulant for their creativity. Hollingsworth likewise has found inspiration through his sojourns, specifically in landscapes and, as he describes them, ‘small, old villages with soul’. However more recently, he has also discovered impulsion closer to home.
“Lately, since travel has become less accessible, I have found love exploring my home in Los Angeles. It has been an interesting process unraveling the nature here along with mundane scenes.” – Tristan Hollingsworth
He cites the work of Daido Moriyama and the late Luigi Ghirri as fundamental in shaping his practice.
“There is something about the simplicity, yet the questions they ask which moves me.”
On the surface perhaps, both practitioners are strikingly different: Italian photographer Girri was a pioneer of color whose painting-like, medium-format images are characterized by a subtle surreality, patience, and perceptivity, whilst Moriyama is best known for his visceral monochrome depictions of his native Japan. However, both transcribed the quotidian into deeply arresting images; the seemingly mundane into something truly powerful.
Captured on an old Leica rangefinder, and (more recently) a Nikon F3, which he says ‘sings to his eyes’, Hollingsworth’s images captivate and intrigue with immediacy.
Shrouded in an ethereal haze and characterized by understated prismatic hues; creative use of light; and frequently, the application of double exposures or layering, his unique brand of visual poetry is psychedelic, mysterious, and illusory. He seems to describe a reality different from our own, fragments of dreams or memories, or perhaps, visual ideations of his imagination.
His approach differs depending on the style of image. His street photographs are predominately captured spontaneously during long walks:
“…I blast music in my headphones and glide from location to location in a sort of psychedelic trance…”
In contrast, a more considered approach is used for others:
“…I will research the people involved, pick a location, and visualize the most creative way to express the idea…”
However, in his experience, it is those elusive moments when the two synthesize, that engender the truly extraordinary.
“The best photos present themselves when the combination of planning and flow collide. Then you truly let go and create from a deeper space.”
All images © Tristan Hollingsworth