Photographer Focus: Martin D. Barker

I love portraits, and portraits are definitely Martin's strong suit. All the way from Glasgow, Martin has travelled to the big apple, Brooklyn more specifically, to pursue photography. His images are striking and unique, capturing the subject in every sense of the word and telling their story. Martin wins the award for best answer to our  "what makes a great photo" question by responding, "when the photographer is invisible." I'm in love with this answer because it really speaks to his photography, you feel like you're just looking at a friend or happen to take note of a brief, amazing moment in time. Check out more of Martin's work on his personal site, and read a quick Q&A with the artist below.

location 

Brooklyn NYC, by way of Glasgow Scotland

favorite camera 

When I moved here I could only bring two due to baggage restrictions so i'd say it's a toss between the Canon 5d Mark ii and the Olympus µ[mju:]-II. 

random fact about yourself 

I sleep on a couch in someone's kitchen because I moved to New York with little to no money as I was offered an internship with Ryan McGinley and I couldn't refuse it. 

favorite subject matter to shoot 

People. I can't do still life, landscape or anything  like that. I need to photograph people. It's the only sort of pictures that make sense to me to make as I can't make sense of people. 

photographers you admire 

Ryan McGinely, Dash Snow, Sandy Kim, Juergen Teller, Larry Clark, Nan Goldin, Terry Richardson, Stephen Meisel, Nick Knight, Hedi Slimane, James Mollison, Peter Hugo, Lise Sarfati, Tim Barber. I could keep going. 

what makes a great photo 

When the photographer is invisible. 

what makes a terrible photo "

there is no accounting for taste". 

why do you love photography 

It helps me understand the world and more importantly myself. It's also like having a ticket to every experience out there. It allows you to enter into situations that you normally wouldn't purely because you can document them.

do you do any other art?

 I write but I wouldn't say it was in any sort of artistic capacity.