We are David Gwynne and Ellie Gibbons: partners and artistic collaborators. We are artists who create images that blur the lines between photographic and painterly techniques. Whilst we specialise in wedding and fine art work, we enjoying capturing a wide range of subjects, spending a lot of our free time honing our love of photography, shooting in nature, in marketplaces and abroad.
Our home is in Birmingham, UK, where we live together happily with our little black and white cat, Otto, who is often an unwilling subject for our photographs! Aside from photography, our activities revolve around our love of nature, films, music and literature...we love to find a good café and sit and read or chat - in fact, whenever we visit a new place, finding the best cafés is the first thing we do!
You may be interested in visiting our online journal where we regularly post new images, words and thoughts. Our friends who looked at this website during its development stages commented that we had written far too much text on this page, so, by way of compromise, I shall enthusiastically point you in the direction of our first post which gives a little more insight into the background of our artistic partnership.
Here's a little bit more about us:
Ellie
Studying at the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design nine years ago, I began to learn the craft of photography, and have spent the time since refining my skills and visual style. I have an innate passion for photographing people, and take great joy in observing form, movement and emotion; I love the way the most subtle gesture - a movement of the hand, a facial expression, a touch - can be so powerful when captured on camera. As a result, my photographic background has revolved in the main around documentary work; capturing people as they are in their 'everyday' environments. I also enjoy capturing people 'creatively', working in the studio or on location to bring a creative idea to life - my collaborative fine art work with David has come as a result of my enjoyment for this type of work.
When I'm not taking photographs myself, I teach photography at Birmingham City University's School of Media. I also enjoy travelling and have a special love for India, having spent time there on four separate occasions which includes a trip in 2010 when I spent three months in the Himalayan foothills. David and I also love to visit France where we spend most of our time drinking coffee and eating sandwiches and cakes...we like to eat! Aside from photography, I spend a lot of time reading, watching films, and listening to music. I am also currently learning to play the piano...you might be able to guess who my teacher is...
David
My artistic background is rooted in music. I began playing piano before the age of five, and it has remained a lifelong passion. Bach is probably my favourite composer, along with Mozart, Chopin and Prokofiev (amongst many others). I began self-teaching photography some years ago with a manual SLR camera, but until I met Ellie didn't consider that my work was suitable for professional output. Luckily Ellie was very supportive and loved my sense of composition, encouraging me to have confidence in my work; so since that time photography has become "another music" to me. I too love photographing people, as well as nature subjects. I am also deeply interested in "Vedic" Hinduism and Taoism, as well as literature - I spend a lot of time reading and am never without a book. Some of my favourite authors are Jane Austen, Milan Kundera and Vikram Seth.
© Ellie Gibbons