Sam Hiscox, 32
Tell us a bit about yourself and where you grew up?
I grew up in the confines of a tiny village in Somerset with friends I was too scared to live without so I left when they did, we were in our early 20s. Our formative years were spent in and out of tender young love, tragedies, and police on my parents’ doorstep.
How did you get into photography?
My parents tell me I was fascinated with taking pictures and shooting videos from a very young age. I still have pictures I took when I was six years old and I remember the day my parents bought a video camera to record our family holidays. They never saw it again.
What is it about the medium that appeals most?
I’m instinctively drawn to documenting people, and the places I find myself in. Photography is the most tangible and relatable way to satisfy this impulse on a personal level. My photography is a diary and I take pictures to remember the beauty in every day life with those I am lucky enough to share it with. I find life itself a surreal experience to varying degrees and the more prevalent the sensation, the more drawn I am to take a picture.
How and where did you learn your craft?
I took my first opportunity to study photography when I was 16. All I wanted was to learn how a camera worked and approval to take pictures of anything I pleased, so my education on the actual practice wasn’t very extensive. Since then it’s been a very organic process in reaching the approach to photography I now have.
Is a degree necessary to pursue a career in photography?
Not at all. If you are already motivated, know yourself, and understand your goals, I’d say you’re pretty set to give it a shot in the real world.
Who or what inspires you?
I’m inspired by people around me, the ups, the downs, love, relationships and my experience of life itself.
How would you describe your overall aesthetic?
Honest.
What’s been your career highlight so far?
Being able to take pictures of my friends and family and meeting a bunch of weirdos along the way.
Where in the world would you most like to photograph?
My hometown.
Where do you go to feel creatively inspired?
I’ve had all of my best ideas whilst taking a shower.
Who would you most like to shoot?
I’ve wanted to make pictures with Macaulay Culkin ever since he started that pizza band.
What do you stand for?
Equality, diversity, inclusion, rights, and respect.
What are you working on right now?
Books! I have a few bodies of work that I’m translating into printed pieces. I’ve also written the bones of a feature film that is in development.
What are you most excited about for 2017?
I’m intrigued to see which way the world is going to turn given the ironic correlation that, in this age, humanity is the most connected it has ever been, yet, simultaneously as a world community we are more divided than ever. Good things always follow from bad so I feel like we are due some positive changes.
How did you welcome in the new year?
January 1st is historically spent horizontal.
What are your new year’s resolutions?
More karaoke.
Finish this sentence: New year, new…
Anxiety.
What are your hopes and dreams for the future?
I hope that in my lifetime, as a race of beings, we find ourselves in an age where everyone can look at each other as one, regardless of our differences.
Credits
Photography Sam Hiscox