With the increasing frequency of "Personal Projects" tabs found on photographers websites, it seems more and more shooters are keen to distinguish between work and hobby – between paid work and non-paid work. Mark Bramley, a commercial photographer in the U.K., adeptly hops between the two. His barren landscapes are a counterpoint to the shiny, car-porn images he creates at his day job.
Bramley specializes in video and stills for car companies, but over the past eight years, he's taken himself to remote spots in search of the nowhere spaces found in his captivating off-the-books photos.
"I think saying less gives more feeling to an image," says Bramley who has sought out remote landscapes in Iceland, the American Southwest and the Swiss Alps. "I always travel alone when I'm out shooting landscapes like this, which I guess lends itself to a certain solitude within the images."
Bramley's paid work jives well aesthetically with this side project (we've dropped in a few of his commercial images to the gallery to force home the point), but his time on both can come into conflict. When he encounters breathtaking landscapes on commissioned shoots, it can be bittersweet. He hasn't the opportunity to capture his own shots.
"I won't have time to wait for good light. Most clients need the photos ASAP, so I have to get back to the mothership computer to retouch and deliver the shoot," he says.
Even when he made the jump from large format to digital camera, Bramley maintained a "slow and meticulous" approach. It is not unusual that he returns from a two-week trip with only one image he's satisfied with. Landscapes are tricky.
"You can't do anything to alter the light," says Bramley who appreciates above all else the diffuse light of a cloudy sky. "Shooting people or still life, you can bring in whatever light you want."
Ultimately, Bramley's approach is simple and it explains his distant travel to find sparse, ethereal spaces; put yourself in a unique setting and the equipment you have is of secondary importance.
"Sometimes photographers get carried away with what is happening behind the camera," says Bramley. "The most important thing is what's happening in front of the camera. Get that right and you're 95 percent there."
All images: Mark Bramley
