Danielle Tunstall interview - 2010

Name: Danielle Tunstall

Place of Birth: England

1. What’s your background?

Before doing photography i was a cleaner, so has been life changing for me discovering photography and the internet.

2. Why photography?... Could you tell us about the meaning of your work?

Photography by accident, when i was younger i wanted to do sculpture. I also used to love painting but after having children no time and space for paints and canvas, having a camera and photoshop has given me back the freedom of my creativity. My work's meaning is really up to individual interpretation, it's really just me emptying my brain out visually, i never thought this process would have an audience so is amazing to me the response to my work, and this response helps me create new work and progress my skills.

3. Do you hope your art sends the viewer a message? What do you hope people take away after viewing your art?

Yes i hope it sends a message though i'm not sure what, i like to think people can get lost in my work as you do when viewing a film, watching programs, reading a book. just for split second your mind some were else.

4. What are your methods of visualization? How does the process of creating an art object begin?

They just sort of flow i'm not sure where they come from, i open up my photos on photoshop, find one that inspires me, then i just get lost in the image for a few hours, just as you would when painting an abstract painting. Often the images don't end up how i first thought they would, they seem to grow on their own.

5. Describe a real-life situation that inspired you?

I've seen someone get stabbed, i've seen people beaten up so bad they couldn't walk, i've seen bodies of my family after they passed. These are such strong things in my mind, they are just sort of always there, i'm not good at dealing with things i bottle every thing up so i suppose my way of dealing with things i've seen is making art. I also used to take a lot of drugs, the experiences i had on them very inspiring i also have slight psychosis now which helps my creativity but not my mental state. I have never told this before in an interview but feel i need to stop hiding it cause i'm all ways getting asked whats my inspiration, now it's open it's a weight of my mind not to keep hiding it. I'm not one for talking about things, just this interview hard.

6. Your photographs are very original and scary. Would you ever consider taking a job in the entertainment industry of horror films?

This would be a dream, i would love to make movie posters.

7. What is your personal favorite creation? Why?

I was asked to do a portrait of a man called Tim Andrews he was a lawyer in Hampshire, he found out he had parkinson's disease and gave up his job and is going on an artistic journey getting photographed by different photographers at different stages of his illness, i was so pleased he asked me to do his portrait and it was an honour and an inspiration to meet him and to be a part of the project. He said if tomorrow he could go back to his old life and get rid of parkinson's disease he wouldn't he has never felt so alive and happy. i have for obvious reasons had to shorten this story! The photo i took was be used to promote an exhibition alongside Rankin and Harry Borden, for my photo to be chosen to be used alongside there is amazing for me i have never even step foot inside a studio before so for that to happen i was in shock. i all so had to do a TV interview because of it (which i totally messed up) and it got in paper called The Guardian which is huge in the UK.

8. What’s your scariest experience?

I once fell 30foot of a roof, i fell 20 foot then hit a lower roof, rolled of sideways into a canal and nearly drowned, some one climbed down and got me out but as they did they dropped me onto metal spiked railings and i got my head impaled on a metal spike. I was lucky to survive and the guy who dropped me on the metal spike saved my life and if i hadn't rolled sideways and nearly drowned i would have hit concrete and not be here now to tell the story. It wasn't scary at the time because i was so of my face but afterwards it was scary when came round in hospital realiseing what had happened, all i remember from the experience was being at bottom of canal and seeing bubbles all around me.

9. What question do you hate being constantly asked about your work?

I hate constantly being asked about photoshop, most of the time the people asking just take my idea's and copy, i'm self taught and have worked very hard to teach my self so don't see why i should give away all my learning for people to learn and copy in 5 mins.

10. What is your dream project for the future?

My dream project for the future i'm not sure of but my dream for the future of my work is to make a decent living from it for me and my family.

Thanks for your time and your attention, good luck for your work!

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