The Sunday interview: 5 questions for Michela Griffith

Today I will present Michela Griffith, the author of FLOW: Letters from the moss. Michela is a photographer and mixed media artist from NE Scotland.

1. Why photography?

I first picked up my father’s camera as a newly self-conscious teenager, having worked out that whoever took the family photos wasn’t in them. I became fascinated that the viewfinder made me really notice the world, and the satisfaction of trying to arrange everything within it in a pleasing way. My first roll of film was a revelation and encouraged me, but university and then work filled my days, and photography slipped into being little more than a record of places visited. I can remember the disappointment when the photos came back from the lab; they were never quite as I had lived them, but the desire to keep looking stayed.

Twenty odd years ago something happened and I applied myself with new energy. This was a good time for books by landscape photographers, Joe Cornish and David Ward among them. I read copiously, still took plenty of duds, but at some point I began to improve. My early images were inevitably influenced by those that I had seen in print. I might have carried on like this, but in summer 2012 I stopped by my local river. I have photographed water for 12 years, and this became a creative outlet for me when my design based career led to computers, and spreadsheets. It unexpectedly led to exhibitions, artist memberships and gallery representation; the biggest reward remains intrinsic - it makes me happy and I enjoy sharing my images.

2. What is your favourite gear? (camera, lens)

I don’t really have favourite gear - curiosity and a willingness to experiment is more important. But I enjoy looking at things close up, so I would probably say my (10 year old) 100mm macro lens which I use on a 11 year old Canon 6D. Otherwise I’m usually employing the 200mm end of a compact zoom (Sony Rx100) in a way that its manufacturer didn’t intend.

3. What are your favourite subjects to photograph?

Water: its movement, the things it reflects, the light that dances on its surface. The way that it is both a mirror and a window. It is always different, has transformed my vision and practice, and keeps introducing me to new ways of looking at the world. I have a bit of a thing for trees too….

I always work a short walk from home, and keep going back to the same few places. Yes, I’m fortunate to live in a rural area, but it’s the small things that are easy to overlook that speak to me.

4. Can you name a few of your favourite photographers?

I’ve long left behind any desire to imitate anyone else, and consider myself fortunate that I found my muse before I went onto social media. I’ve also been fortunate to interview many photographers over the last decade for On Landscape magazine.

People whose work I admire are invariably doing their own thing, and often working locally. Set the task earlier this year of choosing a number of photographs by others I pulled some of my favourite books off the shelves. First Paul Kenny’s ‘Seaworks 1998-2013’, then Meghann Riepenhoff ‘Littoral Drift / Ecotone’, Susan Derges ‘Elemental’ and Linda Lashford’s ‘From the Seahouse’.

I noticed that while the visual is important, it is the story they tell that draws me. Alternative processes, memories of water and rain, the passage of time and nature’s mark making. Perhaps they hold clues as to where I want to go.

Paul Kenny Paul Kenny-PhotographicWorks: welcome

Meghann Riepenhoff Meghann Riepenhoff |

Susan Derges Susan Derges

Linda Lashford Linda Lashford | From the Seahouse | On Landscape

And if you really want to stretch your thoughts on the creativity possible, you should look up Chris Friel. https://www.cfriel.com/home

5. What can the Substack community expect from you/your publication in the future?

A weekly letter mixing things noticed, beauty found, and creative thinking. I’m interested in evocation, not record. I resist the idea of a content calendar as I like to respond to the things that unexpectedly shift the needle on a day, and the wonder to be found in the seemingly commonplace. I enjoy playing with words, so there’ll be the odd prose poem, and with media: handmade books, art, sound.

I came to Substack to establish a regular writing habit and maybe grow my audience a little. Ten months on I now consider writing an essential part of my practice, and it has deepened my connection with this place. I’m loving the people and publications I find here; it can be difficult to keep up - there’s so much I want to read - but it’s definitely my favourite place to hang out.