Michael Potter

"A camera of one sort or another has been in my hand since I was 8 years old when my father gave me an old Kodak bellows version and then a wind on Kodak Instamatic. After leaving college in the early 1970s the film camera started to have a different allure and that allowed me to work professionally for a few years. It was a passport to travel, and a different conversation with other creative people from stylists to art directors, from models to print specialists, and although I was tempted by the lifestyle, I could not quite commit to it entirely as life, earning a living, raising a family, and generally being distracted by other creative interests meant this device, this tool in its earlier film form, stayed close at hand but was rarely utilised other than for reference.

It was not until a dog sledding trip in Sweden in early 2006 accompanying a Conde Nast Traveller shoot that the world of photography came fully back to life for me. Having purchased a digital Canon SLR 5d Mk 1, I was suddenly able to properly appreciate the extraordinary technical advances that had become possible for picture taking and it made me want to explore the digital world that had erupted into photography, alongside Photoshop for post-production and inkjet printer technology to appreciate the image as never before.

From then on it was a mission to show the people and places that inspired me through the lens of my camera - and what a view I had, and what wonderful people I found."

Career Work

Michael Potter first established himself as a fashion, travel, and advertising photographer on leaving art college, and in his early thirties became an accomplished water colour and acrylic painter.

Throughout the 1980s he was represented internationally by Christie's Contemporary Art in London, Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, and Paris, and exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition for two years running. His images are photographic in inspiration but painterly in execution, a fusion between his two skills. This led to an ongoing career in fine art and limited edition print sales, working internationally and building a growing private client base.

In 1991 he established his own gallery, Walton Contemporary Art in London's Knightsbridge, which represented his own and other artists' work. During that period he published many limited editions with and for major international retailers including the John Lewis Partnership The Art Group, and worked with the world's leading hotel groups in the Far East, and the USA including the Dorchester Hotel in London, the Shangri La, and the Four Seasons in Hong Kong,

In 2000 he returned to his photographic roots, building a portfolio and running workshops around the world from 2009 when his photographs started being collected privately.

His image bank is considerable and covers a number of subjects but his composition, style, and eye for creating impact is the cornerstone of the print collection.

BOOK

Michael Potter's beautiful hardback, linen-covered book features thirty-nine photographic images some of which are available from his

print collection on this website.

Taken from the folios of the Wrangler, Athletes, and the Observer portrait collections, this is an insight into the photographer's mindset on assignment.

Produced on 140 gm pearl paper with inside details of what the motivation was on Michael's assignments, together with the specifications of each image as a limited edition, fine art print.