Tim Tapling is a Liverpool (UK) based artist. After a long and varied career in many areas of the art and music industries, he has re-ignited a passion for photography that began in his childhood.

Tim explains: “It began with a ‘box brownieʼ when I was nine, that I was allowed to use on holiday. It broke and I was never allowed another camera nor could we afford one. I dabbled again ten years later at Art School, but the emphasis at the time was product and graphic photography which was rigidly inflexible.”

Tim Tapling, Spring Tide : Woodside Ferry Terminal : Birkenhead : Wirral : UK : 27:01:2019

As can often happen in life, a single choice can alter the course of our journey and provide a new definition for our artistic pursuits. In Tim’s case, it was a trip halfway around the world.

“In 2015, on a mad impulse, I was persuaded to visit Australia for Christmas,” says Tim. “The idea was floated on the 18th of December, on the 21st I landed in Brisbane and three brief weeks later I was back in the UK – but I had been snared by the Lucky Country.”

“I returned to Brisbane in November 2016 and by late December had bought a Ute in Perth (Western Australia) which I flew to collect in January and there began my love affair with a remarkable country and the rekindling of my love for photography, as I undertook a long meandering road trip back to Brisbane along the old highways, via the Nullarbor Plain and Tasmania.”

Tim Tapling, Imperial Cave : Jenolan : Blue Mountains : NSW : Australia : 15:03:2017

Along the way, Tim discovered his renewed passion for the photographic image and came to a deeper understanding of his own artistic process.

“Impulse has often led me into many an adventure and I learned on that trip that my approach to the photographic process was to follow my eye, allow instinct to frame shots and decide when was the ‘momentʼ to press the shutter.”

Tim Tapling, Up close & personal : Tasmanian Tiger Snake [ Notechis scutatus ] East Coast Wildlife Refuge : Bicheno : Tasmania : Australia : 17:02:2017 

“I donʼt research the work of the ‘greats’, I have no interest in ‘considered, contrived and overworked’ photography, though I appreciate the skills required. I shoot what I instinctively like, work the camera to capture 90% or more of the finished photograph and employ the simplest of post processing to achieve an image that satisfies my passion for immediacy. If others appreciate my photographs, I take that as a bonus.”

“There is a quote that I recently found that encapsulates my feelings too: ‘I never know in advance what I will photograph, I go out into the world and hope I will come across something that imperatively interests me. I am addicted to the found object. I have no doubt that I will continue to make photographs till my last breath.’” [ Ansel Adams ]

Tim Tapling, Inner visions : Wirral : UK : 01:09:2018
This is the first of Tim's photographs available as a limited edition print on metal. Pre-order here.