“Photography brings me enormous pleasure and has become the way I make sense of the world.”
I’m Bob Holman from Devizes and Marlborough in Wiltshire. After selling my family coffee shop after 21 years of trading, I finally had the time to look more closely at the things around me. But it was earlier than this when photography quietly took hold.
My interest sharpened in 2016 with the arrival of the iPhone 7. Its camera shifted my photographs from snaps to something considered. I began shooting endlessly, noticing light and shape, trying different angles and learning through many thousands of dreadful and horrid early photos. Bit by bit my eye improved and people began asking how I achieved certain looks or why I framed a scene the way I did. It was at this point that I started to get commissions and also asked to share my skills in workshops. Modern phone cameras echo compact and traditional cameras now and I treat them as serious tools in my photographic arsenal.
I have a deep affection for my two Leicas. One has interchangeable zoom lenses and the other, my absolute favourite is the Monochrom which only produces Black and White photos. Both offer me a slower, more thoughtful way of seeing. They are beautifully built, tactile and free of distracting long menus. They encourage patience, clarity and intent when shooting, and the Monochrom reveals tone and detail in a way that continues to surprise me. Whether I am using a ‘real camera’ or an iPhone, the tool matters less than the attention it helps me bring to the moment.
As a child I watched my father travel with the British Army and photograph wildlife with remarkable patience. That quiet way of observing made a lasting impression. Now, in my seventies, I feel a strong desire to create a visual legacy that reflects how I see the world. I try not to be tagged as a shooter of one genre (however shooting people gives me great joy) but I let myself be guided by light, curiosity and feeling. Many photographers move from simply recording life to expressing it – and that is the stage I find myself now. It is less about what is in front of the lens and more about how it feels to witness it.
I hope you enjoy exploring my images as much as I enjoyed creating them.