Tom Cockram
Photographer & Director, Probation
Tom Cockram, Photographer & Director, Probation
Probation’s advertising director and photographer Tom Cockram has seemingly nailed the balance between his commercial and editorial work, and his passion projects. Known for his love of sports and portraiture, he has managed to merge these interests into his professional ventures to work with well-known and internationally recognised clients like Nike, Beats by Dre and British GQ. And his resolve to evolve his creativity is admirable and has not gone unnoticed, garnering him exhibition space and meaningful projects. Life under lockdown helped him to review his creative contributions and be more mindful of his time and what he takes on.
How do you differentiate your work as a director and a photographer?
I didn’t want to be a photographer who naively thinks he can do both off the bat. The big difference between the two is how involved you get. With directing, you might be on a job prepping for weeks in advance, picking out every prop for a shoot, or storyboarding every frame. Photography jobs still require some prep, but not to the same extent as film. Moving-image projects need so much more preparation time.
You keep up with your own projects; do you tend to follow your nose for inspiration?
It can be a challenge balancing personal projects with commercial jobs, especially when work gets busy. I prefer projects to grow organically; I’m not one to plan too far ahead and enjoy finding a subject or idea to fully invest in.
You’re known as a sports photographer. What is it about this group of people that you enjoy depicting?
Shooting athletes is a huge passion of mine. Their dedication and drive is inspiring to document. It’s a pleasure observing people at work, and I really enjoy being allowed into their training spaces. Once you have spent time in their environment, their guard tends to drop which means I can capture a more personal side that’s not often seen by the public.
Thinking about your 2019 work for Grenfell United and your billboard campaign for Shelter charity, what emotional considerations did you have to make around their creative direction?
For both projects, I wanted to be respectful to the community and subjects I was photographing. I was very careful to create an intimate studio environment so that the people I was photographing felt comfortable; I took it slow and kept the set-up simple to avoid overwhelming anyone with too much equipment.
How does that differ from the work that you do with public figures?
Some shoots need energy and some need calmness. Paul Smith was a dream to shoot, but it’s not always the case. You have to read the room and go with the flow of the day.
You’ve held a number of photographic exhibitions; what is it like sharing your work in public?
I enjoy it. The run up is hectic, getting everything done but it’s amazing seeing your work printed and hung in a gallery – which doesn’t happen much these days. As photographers, most of the time our work is only ever seen on a phone or a computer screen. I definitely want to carry on contributing to more exhibitions when the time and project is right.
What do you do to stay inspired and how did you keep yourself creatively occupied during lockdown?
Initially, I put a lot of pressure on myself thinking up ideas to shoot. I also finished working on my website, so I just took one thing at a time, and took the chance to really switch off and reconnect with what’s important in my life. That helped me feel motivated for when things opened up again.
Interview by: Olivia Atkins / Photography by: Ollie Grove
