Tim Barber: Untitled Photographs

There’s something magical about photo-curator Tim Barber’s photographs – the focus of his latest book Untitled Photographs, which launches tomorrow at Mother London alongside an exhibition of select works. Published by OHWOW with a forward by Miranda July, the publication spans 15 years of Barber’s career and brings together his work for the first time through a selection of portraits, landscapes and narratives.

Candid and yet calculated, unposed and yet composed, spontaneous and yet meditated, Barber’s images have a unique quality that can only be described as sitting somewhere between fantasy and reality. From a lover’s intimate embrace on a studio floor to a puff of smoke floating serenely above a kitchen sink Barber finds beauty in the mundane whilst managing to entirely seduce his viewer.

What is your photography all about?
I don't try and sum it up. I work intuitively, using small cameras, photographing things that stand out to me, things that are important to me. I'm interested in the poetry and iconography of the mundane, of everyday experience. I think of photos as puzzle pieces or clues, threads that hint at larger narratives. Aren't we all just trying to make some sense of things?

What inspires your practice?
Running tinyvices.com keeps me excited about things.

What is the focus of your new book?
The book is a collection of images that span the last 15 years of my photographic life.

What do you look for when taking your photographs?
Light on things.

What do you look for in people when taking portraits?
I think a portrait is successful when it conveys a relationship, either between the photographer and the subject, or the subject and their surroundings.

"Be kind and work hard at what you love."

What is your favourite image in this book and why?
I don't have favorites, they are all equally important to me.

What keeps you photographing?
Time and space.

What makes a good image?
There's no answer to this question, everyone will have their own take. That's part of the fun...

What do you hope people get from your images?
A sense of wonder…?

What are you working on next?
Setting up an in-house photo studio.

What is your dream project?
It's all a dream.

What is your motto for life?
Be kind and work hard at what you love.

Tim Barber: Untitled Photographs is available and on show tomorrow at Mother. For further queries please contact Webber Represents.

Text by Lucia Davies