A photographer attracted by alternative cultures, Cameron Rennie, a young Scotsman of 28, gradually slipped into the world of tattooing, with which he fell in love. Having photographed several of those involved, his keen desire to meet new people led him to take more portraits and travel around the UK. The result is a fascinating mosaic of contemporary British tattooing.
How long have you been photographing and how did you get into it?
As I said previously ive been taking photographs for around five years now. Im also really into rock climbing and some of my friends at the climbing wall were shooting pictures on trips with old film cameras from the 1980s. I got really obsessed with their cameras and decided I wanted to try it for myself. So I went to a camera shop in my home town of Edinburgh (Scotland) and bought an Olympus Pen. That was the camera that got me hooked, but before long I wanted a little bit more control over the image and got myself a Pentax ME Super with a 50mm 1.7. I found that I could get exactly what I wanted out of that lens. I knew really quickly that I wanted to shoot portraits and I challenged m myself to do ten portraits of friends around Edinburgh in a month. The rest is history.
Apart from tattooing, are you interested in alternative culture in general?
Yes! I would say that I’ve always been interested in “alternative culture”. I grew up in a very working class area where football and the pub were the normal on weekends. However I preferred skateboarding, playing in punk bands and browsing the many alternative shops in Edinburgh on the weekends. As I grew older, playing in hardcore bands became something that I wanted to take more seriously and I spent my early twenties pursuing that dream. Even in later life I would always say that I’ve been drawn to the things that are more on the edge of “normal” I found a home in tattooing after a long time searching for a place to be myself. It was obvious to me that I wanted to take photographs of tattooed people from the start, but over time I’ve understood why it felt so natural. Im dyslexic and ADHD and I think that those traits have always drawn me to more alternative things, when I started going to tattoo conventions with my photographs I discovered a whole community of people who feel very similarly about things as I do. I think the tattoo industry is magical, the art, the fact its so alternative and most of all the people fascinate me.
Tell us about this project, where and when did it start?
The project started in Edinburgh. I was originally just photographing everyone, people I found interesting and people who were involved in things I was. Climbers, baristas, local business owners, artists and also tattooed people. After the first lockdown I was asked by a friends start-up business to take pictures for their instagram. That was the original nudge that I needed, suddenly I felt a massive surge of self confidence, “someone thinks I’m good enough to pay me”. After that I gained more work and was able to leave my job part time and eventually full time. That’s when I started taking the project more seriously, suddenly I could set my own schedule and go on trips to take photographs. I can’t remember exactly when but there was a moment around that point that I decided it was just going to be about tattooed people. I always wanted it to be just about that, but traveling made it possible to just focus on tattooed people and make it a project focusing on the social implications of tattooing. People really started being interested after that.
What was your objective?
There was never really an objective, originally it was just fun. But in more recent years it has been about trying to show the general public all the really incredible individuals we have within the tattooing community in the UK. However I have always maintained that it’s more about the people than the tattoos. On a more professional level, it would be incredible if I could make this my main job, however just the fact that I get to work with a camera each day is more than I ever thought id get to do with my life. I am forever content and humbled by the fact that people like my photographs enough to hire me, it’s a pleasure.
And what about today and in the future? Is it a mapping of professional tattooing in 21st century England?
At the moment its an effort to document everything that makes tattooing so fantastic in the UK and Ireland. I hope that in the future it will develop into being able to do the same worldwide, I would love to go to the USA and wider reaches of Europe. We also have a book being released in December, I hope that this will help propel what I do to wider audiences.
How do you choose the tattoo artists you photograph?
I choose the tattoo artists I meet based on recommendations from other tattooers and my audience on instagram mainly. The only thing that they all share in common is that they all have tattoos, as I said before I always wanted it to be about people more than tattoos, but I have a bit of a rule that you have tattoos to be photographed by me (for this project) . I did recently photograph a man called Earl Knight who doesn’t have any tattoos due to a condition called Haemophilia, which stops the blood clotting. He however has the record for having visited more tattoo conventions than anyone else on the planet, so I felt that I had to include him. But at the end of the day I can do what I want hahah. Its commonly said that “constraint breeds creativity” and my constraints are black and white, tattoos, instagram.
Why do you shoot exclusively in black and white?
Im actually pretty badly red-green colour blind. So I can see colour and I can shoot in colour, but removing it simplifies things for me and lets me understand the image more. I also feel like it maybe tells a better story than a colour photograph by getting straight to the point. I think that black and white, combined with a lens that has a really thin appature, 1.4 or lower, really allows me to show only the details that I want the viewer to see. It’s always been important for me to be fully in control of the images I create. I often focus by hand rather than trusting the camera as well. The viewer should see exactly what I saw, the way in saw it.
Spending time with colourful characters such as the ones you photograph is not without its surprises (and dangers for the liver, among others!) and I imagine it's not all plain sailing. Do you have any anecdotes?
Haha! Yes your right that tattooers definitely like to live a bit more of a chaotic lifestyle! Ive had an incredible adventure through all my trips around the UK, but personally I do try to leave the party early. All my favourite anecdotes tend to be more wholesome than chaotic. Like visiting Rambos tattoo museum in Liverpool, or getting to inspect never before seen tattooed skins from the eighteenth century with Matt Lodder. I recently was taken to some neolithic standing stones with some tattooers in Ireland and YES I’ve had a few mental nights out…….. especially in Manchester, those guys go hard! Ive never got into any bad situations, everyone I’ve met so far has tended to warm up to me, eventually, even the tough characters.
Your photos reflect the pleasure you take in meeting people, an experience you then share on instagram in the comments to your posts, but also in the interviews you publish for the UK magazine Total Tattoo. This human dimension, these exchanges, all play an important part in your passion for tattooing?
I just love people, the underlying drive the whole time has been to meet people from different backgrounds and who are different to myself. I love tattooing for the same reason I love taking photographs, I think that more than just art on skin, its more of an energy exchange. When you get tattooed in the right circumstances, you leave with a little bit of that persons energy. I have a tattoo on me from a tattooer in Edinburgh called Bill Hooper who sadly died last year, he might be gone but a little bit of his incredible life lives on, on my arm. I feel that photographs do the same thing, they catch a moment and an energy and I can take that with me forever. I find it fascinating how that works and I find myself getting choked up looking through my collection of photos. Ive also met some of the best people in my life through this project and tattooing, some who genuinely feel like family. Tattooing is incredible.
The last time we met at the London Tattoo Convention, you told me about a photograph of which you were particularly proud, that of Steven Wrigley. What does this photograph mean to you?
There are a few photographs that I’m super proud of, Stevens photo is definitely one of them. I feel like he is a bit of a cultural icon in Scotland when it comes to tattooing and I’m proud that I could draw some attention to him, maybe not so much for the older generation but more for people my age. I didn’t really know that much about him before I started and I feel like I’ve made a genuine friend in him, I love going there, getting tattooed and hearing stories of his.
Analogue or digital?
Analogue first, digital later. I learned on analogue, doing this was not only financially easier, but also taught me exactly how a camera works. Trial and error until I got it right. However when I’m traveling all around the UK and only getting fifteen minutes to get it right, digital is the only way to go. I do love shooting film cameras when the time allows, on holiday or whatever. I also really love editing my photos after the initial shot has been taken, there’s nothing better than sitting in a cafe with a good coffee, good tunes, tinkering with an image to get it just the way I like.
Which photographers do you feel close to?
My favourite photographer is Derek Ridgers, his 1980s portraits of punks and skins in London always resonated with me in a profound way. I loved how he took photos and originally I tried to replicate his photography before I found my own style, but I can still see aspects of his work in mine. I also love more contemporary photographers like Danny Woodstock and Haris Newcombe, they captured the alternative culture well. I also think that a love of skateboarding has influenced my work, I always loved fisheye work, although I don’t use one I love how a fisheye directs the viewers eye whilst still telling a full story.
Art, and photography in particular, has helped you get through some difficult times in your life.
I did have a bit of a hard time at school and I’ve always struggled academically. At school I was identified as intelligent early on but struggled to focus and subsequently lost interest. At the time I felt like no one understood me. My teachers often said I just “wasn’t applying myself” I now understand that I was struggling with the effects of ADHD and Dyslexia. Eventually one of my teachers told me that “I would never do anything with my life”. I never viewed myself as “an artist” however I have always done something creative at almost all periods of my life. Photography really helped me find my voice, both as a creative and as a writer and in recent years the support of the team at Total Tattoo has really made me feel confident. Photography has taught me a lot about myself and given me a huge sense of self worth that I dint have growing up in the school system. + IG @continuous_portrait_project
