Alex Walton describes his experiences as a newspaper photographer.
My interest in the media world stems from an unforgettable education at the King’s School Sixth Form in Ottery St. Mary. Mr Chacksfield, my then Media Studies A’level teacher, has to be the most influential and captivating character I have ever come across and I owe much thanks to his brilliant teaching and infectious enthusiasm.
I have never forgotten those trips that our class took to the cinema to study the various giants of the movie directing world. What captured my attention was the technical aspects in the filming, i.e. how did they get that angle? What lighting did they use there? Why did they use that composition instead of this? But most of all the hidden meanings the directors inject in to their films before our very eyes without our awareness. I could go on and on about this fascinating subject but I think I should talk about photography as that is where my interest has naturally progressed.
For me photography did not begin until after sixth form in the autumn of 2001. Ironically my passion for such an exciting career has its routes in the most distressing time of my life when my father passed away due to cancer. Dad left me his Pentax SLR camera, along with a plethora of strange looking objects used for imagery which I am now much more familiar with! I had never held a monster of a camera such as this before let alone knew how to work it. But I was determined to have a go so I read up on the subject, starting with the manual, always a good place to begin!
Six years later, after many courses and practical experience, I am now here, working for Archant Publishing as a photographer. I know I would have done my father proud, even though he really wanted me to go to university, I can’t help thinking that he left me that Pentax with a grander scheme in mind. However, I still haven’t got a decent photo from that camera since the shutter never worked properly!