Ian Hughes
Brighton, The City of Brighton and Hove, UK
I studied photography at art college near Liverpool in the late 1980s, and was lucky enough to be taught by Tom Wood. I’ve been a street photographer ever since then, and watching Tom in action working on his 'Bus Odyssey' project taught me a lot about approaching the general public with a camera. From there, I spent 8 years as a cruise ship photographer, based mainly in Miami. This gave me a chance to take pictures for myself in locations all around the world that I would never have dreamed of visiting. I then worked in professional photo labs and portrait studios, and in freelance social photography, before working in the energy industry for the last 10 years.
I graduated with a degree in Editorial Photography at the University of Brighton in 2006, tutored by the Magnum photographer Mark Power. He encouraged me to focus on themes, as well as just looking for one-off shots as I had done before. This led to my most successful body of work to date – ‘Around The Floodlit Grounds,’ a series of night shots taken outside floodlit football grounds while games were going on inside. In 2014, they were featured in The Guardian's 'Big Picture' section and in the Austrian football magazine Ballesterer. I still consider myself a traditional street photographer, taking my camera everywhere I go. I was also a finalist in the International Street Photography Awards 2012 as part of that year’s London Photography Festival.
2015 - LENSCULTURE - Emerging Talent Awards 2015, Winner
