Photo Booth

PHOTOBOOTH: Sam Eckersley

Manchester Born and Raised

I’ve seen some Eckers photos popping up from time to time. There’s a certain ‘look’ to them, which is great as a signifier of his photography style.

From looking at his website, I was really impressed with his portrait work. I’ve included a couple of these non-BMX images in this article, but I really encourage you to take a look at his website too.

Remember the article on BMX with fireworks recently? Eckers was in there. On our Facebook page every now and then with a banger shot? Eckers. Here’s some more from the man himself…

Full Name: Sam Eckersley
Age: 22
Occupation: Photographer
Hometown:  Manchester
Instagram: @eckersphoto – digital. @agfalavistababy – film.

– Tell us a little about yourself, some vital info. What’s it like where you come from?

“Yo, I’m Sam but everyone calls me Eckers, 22 years of age, Manchester born and raised. I ride a skateboard, occasionally attempt to BMX and I recently graduated from MMU.”

“Two things that stick in my mind about where I live is that it always rains and we make the best brews in the country.”

“The scene in Manchester is amazing, it’s only a small city so everyone who rides knows everyone, making it easy to put together street mooches or trips to the skatepark. If I want to take photos or ride this is always someone down for it in Manc.”

– What’s going on in your life right now? What’s your day to day like?

“At the moment I’m working as a photographer full time, however I just landed onto a graduate scheme which I start next year. My day to day usually involves a lie in followed by editing in bed, before I eventually get up and start the day with a poorly cooked breakfasts.

At the moment I’m shooting things for clothing labels and contributing to a magazine (Doin’ Bits), I’m also starting to photograph weddings and smashed my first one last month. Oh and I just bought my first car, a mk5 Golf which I have been saving for forever to buy.”

– How long have you been shooting and how did you get started?

“I’ve been taking photos for as long as I can remember, then one year I got a canon 1000D with a screw on fisheye for Christmas. I used to take it everywhere with me and as I skate I was always at some skatepark or another which is what got me into shooting BMX.

As I got older and school/college got more intense I drifted away from my camera for a good few years but toward the end of uni I rediscovered my love for it, and haven’t put it down since.”

“I try to make my images as interesting, different and challenging to capture as I can.”

– What’s your current setup, what gear could we find in your bag on a given day?

“Crammed into my camera bag is a Canon 5D mkIII with a Canon 16-35L and a Sigma 50mm, 2 wireless flashes, a Canon 300D with a 50mm, an Olympus mjuii and other essentials like spare film, tape, business cards, scran and filters.”

– When it comes to photography, what grabs your interest? Is there a certain aesthetic you are striving for or do you prefer to shoot stuff as it happens, on the fly?

“I love shooting things on the fly that really capture the moment as it happens, usually for this kind of photo I shoot on film.

I also like properly planning and setting up for a shot, when I do this I try to make my images as interesting, different and challenging to capture as I can.”

– Do you have a favourite kind of spot to shoot photos at? Or favourite tricks?

“My favourite spots are unusual, I like finding spots that haven’t been ridden and then getting people down to see what they can do. Recently I had Aaron Haywood barspin out the side of an abandoned mill, which was awesome.”

“I think my all time favourite spot is the 50ft radar dishes which I hit with Louis Robinson and Lee Hebb, it was nuts watching them fly from dish to dish. Next on the cards is a set of disused cooling towers with a couple of banks at the side, if anyone reading this wants to hit that with me feel free to hit me up… I’ve got a feeling the results will be insane.”

– Finally, any shout outs to be given?

“Large ups to all the riders I’ve worked with in the past, big shoutout to Leanne and the team at beast rampz and shoutout to Emerson for driving my ass to shoots before I got a car.”