about

I first discovered photography through a love of boxing, which was a huge part of my young life into adulthood. An aunt bought me a book called “A Pictorial History of Boxing” which I still have to this day. The imagery within this book, combined with the photos and fight card posters on the walls of the gyms I trained in really resonated with me.

My mum had given me a little compact Yashica camera and when I grew tired of being punched in the face and stopped competing in boxing I kept training and tried making pictures with the Yashica, it has to be said, without much success.

At the time I was working as a carpenter and had a chance encounter with some old school friends who were out celebrating finishing exams at University. We met up a few times and I realised I had missed out on the experience of going to University. I started doing exams at night school to try and remedy this. I ended up with a degree in Building Surveying, became chartered and worked as a construction project manager for a few years. My University experience gave me time off to work and travel in the summer months – and a few gap years at the end to really lose and I suppose discover myself.

On my travels I ran a bar in Australia for a year buying my first slr in a thrift shop in Sydney and when I asked the guy if he knew how to load film in it he threw in a wee book on photography and my love and obsession with making photographs was born.

It’s such a beautiful thing when you discover something, or indeed someone, that truly reaches inside you and connects in the way that photography did with me.

I suppose I fell in love with the process at first. The hunt for an image where light and composition dance in alignment or a face I didn’t want to forget. The excitement of processing the film to see what had worked. What would be remembered, and the craft of making a beautiful archival print in the darkroom.

As I immersed myself in the process and photographed the world around me I started to believe it might be possible for photography to be a career. After a little bit of success getting work published and securing some regular editorial commissions I gave up a very well paid job as a construction project manager and gave it a go! I can still remember the feeling of pure joy handing back a beautiful company car to pick up a beat up Renault 5 and heading off to Edinburgh with my cameras in the boot on an assignment.

Photography has given me so much joy in life. It has opened doors to experiences and people all over the world that I don’t believe I would have found otherwise. And it’s not over yet.

David Gillanders | PHOTOGRAPHER