Andrew Bartholomew

Brisbane based Andrew is a big fan of mid-century modern architecture as anyone who's seen his Instagram feed will already know. He embodies creativity, not just through his photography but also through his daily endeavours at You Can't Be Serious where he and his wife, Hailey – and their 2 daughters – travel the world in search of work they love to do. Inspired by his Italian roots, he's also learning Italian in between writing books, running workshops and public speaking engagements.  

“I’m reminded of the exchange in Seinfeld where Elaine is talking to Jerry about Newman”

First of all, I’ve got to ask about your Instagram name because we’re all intrigued – what’s the story behind @surfistatomato and can you tell us a little bit about your mobile photography history.

It is a slightly unusual name that I have created for myself and now have to live with, but when thinking of its genesis I’m reminded of the exchange in Seinfeld where Elaine is talking to Jerry about Newman:

Elaine: Perhaps there's more to Newman than meets the eye?
Jerry: No, there's less.

So it is in this case, unfortunately… I used to have a business named ‘Tomato Tomato Graphic Design’ and over that time all my logins or passwords had a Tomato in there somewhere… and ‘Surfer’ (as it was originally before I changed it to the Portuguese translation – another tediously life-sapping story), well I like surfing and always thought it sounded cool! Put it all together, and hey presto, a name you can guarantee will not be taken by anyone else!

In terms of my mobile photography history, I honestly didn’t have one before I joined Instagram – did anyone? But I was never even really interested in photography. My wife is a brilliant photographer and filmmaker and I was always happy to leave the documenting of life and things to her! She eventually convinced me to download Instagram late in 2011 but I didn’t really use it much - apart from a few snaps of my lovely daughters. But gradually as I was sitting at a park or walking in the city, I began to notice other things that I found interesting – little details, shadows, buildings, signs, pieces of life I would have otherwise overlooked. I did some checking around on Instagram and found a large community of people doing the same thing – only better – and I was hooked.

“It’s hard to hang out when you’re in Australia! ”

Looking at your early Instagram images, it’s clear that your style has evolved. Is that something you consciously wanted to change or do think it was a more organic process, and are you at a stage now where you’re happy with the kind of imagery you’re producing.

I’m amazed when I look through some people’s feeds and the photos they originally posted are remarkably similar to the ones they post now! As you say, my style was a definite evolution. As time went on I was re-discovering a latent interest in architecture combining with my graphic design background, fusing into 500 pixel compositions on Instagram. I was inspired by what I was seeing others producing online and so would spend more time looking at a subject thinking of different ways to shoot it in order to get the look I wanted. So it became a lot more of an intentional style of photography. I learnt to pay more attention to symmetry, lighting – the time of day, distracting elements, clouds, people etc and pare back everything that wasn’t going to add to a perfect shot. This has been a long-term process and although I’m pretty happy with where I am now, I know I’m still evolving and regularly want to try something new!

You have an ability to make seemingly mundane things look beautiful which reminds me of the Diane Arbus quote ”I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them”. How do you do what you do? Do you use apps much and what’s the secret behind your wonderful color palette?

Thank you very much – that’s very kind! I guess I kind of trained my eye to notice and observe interesting design occurring almost wherever I am. And then sometimes I look and look and there’s really nothing! But there are certain things I look for that get me really inspired… for example, give me large areas of contoured or flat concrete with a blue sky background and I’m in heaven!

As we now live one street away from a beautiful beach, I’m also inspired on a daily basis by the beauty of nature. This is often reflected in my feed as well and I love the fact that the scenery changes every day. In terms of apps, yes I do use them. I usually try a few different ones on each picture to see how I can push it to its absolute best. Sometimes I use a combination of apps but often just one. I usually start off in Snapseed doing lighting, colour and alignment correction. When the shot is looking technically close to perfect I try other apps to attempt to create the atmosphere I’m wanting to achieve. My favourite is Luminance, and I use this when I’m creating the greeny-blue skies I love. Some photos lend themselves more to one of the great filters in PicFX, and other times VSCOcam would be first choice for a lovely flat film look.

You have quite a following on Instagram and you seem to get a lot of feedback about your photos. How does that affect what you shoot and post, and do you engage with people offline as a result of interactions that have started on Instagram?

Yes, I’m very fortunate to have a reasonably large following. I do love getting lots of feedback! I know that some shots will get more love than others but I try not to let that be the deciding factor in what I post. I made a decision to post anything that I really like even if I know a lot of followers won’t like it.

Sometimes I’ve been unsure of a picture – unsure whether it meets my own personal high standard of what I want on my feed but I’ll post it anyway. I almost always regret it later though, and often end up deleting the picture. So if my instinct tells me that I’ve done a great job I will post with confidence – even if there’s not overwhelming applause from my friends!

I haven’t had a lot of offline interaction yet with IG friends. Most of my good friends are in the US or Europe so it’s hard to hang out when you’re in Australia!

As an Art Director and Photographer, are you conscious of an increase in the use of mobile photography in the commercial arena in Australia and have you used a mobile yourself for any jobs?

To be honest I haven’t seen much in the way of mobile phone photography being used commercially. However, any tool can be used well in the hands of a master and I’ve seen some fabulous results in exhibitions of photographers who were only using a mobile device. I have not personally used any of my iPhone shots in printed jobs – especially as I’m married to a professional photographer too who would berate me severely if I ever attempted to! I did make up a large montage of about 100 of my early IG shots and sell prints of this off my website.

There’s quite a bit of debate about mobile photography and whether mobile photographers can be professionals. What are your thoughts on that, on mobile photography generally and how do you see it evolving personally and professionally for you in the next year.

I think it’s quite clear that mobile photographers will become more professional and will find a market for their product. As cameras evolve and increase in quality we’ll certainly see them used more commercially. That’s not to say they’ll replace DSLR photographers in the way digital cameras more or less replaced film cameras, but they will I think make up a very useful market segment. There is always a huge demand for low-budget photography and mobile photography can have a very appealing immediate, raw aesthetic that many advertisers are interested in.

For me personally, I sometimes think that I’m ready to pursue a career in architectural photography (using a proper camera!) but I worry that that will take all the fun and spontaneity out of it for me. I’d like to keep doing what I’m doing, try to further develop and refine my style and see what opportunities open up. I would certainly be interested in finding ways to sell my work – either from my existing catalog or commercial engagements. I’d love for my mobile photography to be able to fund travel to some of the places I have on my world-architectural-must-photograph list!