Ed Thompson’s work walks the line between documentary and fine art photography. His work is a product of a lifetime obsession with photography and the documenting of his surroundings. Described by Germaine Greer as “the most single minded photographer” who “probably thinks about photography all the time, like a train spotter”, Thompson is one of Britain’s top up and coming documentary photographers. Greer went on to say “he’d take a photograph whilst he fell out of a moving vehicle”, illustrating the photographer’s dedication to his work.
This dedication is apparent in Thompson’s recent Texas Hill Country series, where he…
Ed Thompson’s work walks the line between documentary and fine art photography. His work is a product of a lifetime obsession with photography and the documenting of his surroundings. Described by Germaine Greer as “the most single minded photographer” who “probably thinks about photography all the time, like a train spotter”, Thompson is one of Britain’s top up and coming documentary photographers. Greer went on to say “he’d take a photograph whilst he fell out of a moving vehicle”, illustrating the photographer’s dedication to his work.
This dedication is apparent in Thompson’s recent Texas Hill Country series, where he spent the best part of the past two years documenting an insight into the world of the Texan. By spending long periods of time with the locals and getting to know them, in these works he opens our eyes to regular events such as the Gun Show and ‘Bible & Bulls’ night at the Cowboy Church, and presents us with powerful portraits of characters such as Bob Scaggs posing with a rifle he last used in Vietnam, and the compelling image of a Texan ranch hand relaxing with a beer after slitting a wild pigs throat.
Sometimes surreal but always informative - the city limits of Utopia, Texas, a very small town with a population of 241 are marked by distinctive sign posts - other images give us a glimpse of everyday life in that part of the world. Porkie’s Guest Bedroom (that Porkie’s wife doesn’t like him showing to visitors), and the portrait of Dawn, the 55-year-old woman standing outside her home holding a her US flag that has been mauled by cows, shows an intense and often warped patriotism. Some may find these images shocking; some may find they confirm preconceptions they may have had on a society that is very different to our own.
Thompson’s distinctive style developed from an early apprenticeship with Russian photographer Sergei Tchilikov, where he learnt the value of shooting everyday life, and “how innocuous images can allow you to touch at something great”. Other great influences that have crossed his path over the years have come in the form of Martin Parr, Richard Billingham and Simon Norfolk amongst other great photographers.
The Texas Hill Country, a series was completed during his Masters degree in Photojournalism and Documentary photography at London College of Communication. In January 2008 Thompson featured in Channel Four’s “Picture This”, where the aim was to discover the best new digital photographer in the UK. One of six finalists, Thompson held the torch for documentary photography with his images from Texas Hill Country.
Thompson has exhibited extensively in London since his degree show in 2003 and was the runner up in Portraiture in The Observer “Seeds of Change” Photography Competition 2005.
