The Sunday interview: 5 questions for Tom Minty

Today I will present Tom Minty the author of One Stop Over. Tom is photographer based in NJ.

1. Why photography?

I’ve written and spoken about this before on Substack. I struggled with undiagnosed ADHD for most of my life. Up until my diagnosis several years ago, I spent significant and prolonged periods of my life in a state of either depression or anxiety. Up until 11 years ago, the way I dealt with this was to self medicate with alcohol. I got sober and my mental state greatly improved. Then Covid happened and I quickly found myself at a point where I felt like I was about to throw the past years of hard work away. I’d become very cynical and angry about the state of humanity. My wife recommended I pick up a camera again which was something I hadn’t done for a very long time. But within a very short period of time, I felt better. The camera allowed me to see life in a more positive light, it helped drown out all of the noise that was causing me distress. Essentially, I credit photography for keeping me sober and giving me a more positive outlook on life and now it’s an important part of my everyday mental health regime.

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

After years of experimenting with various camera systems I’ve finally found a combo that works for me. For 35mm film I have a Leica M6 and for 120 film a Fuji GA645. Finally, I recently sold a whole bunch of unused gear to pay for a Leica M10. I love the fact that for travel I can now pack the 2 small rangefinder bodies and 3 light and small lenses in a small bag and carry it around all day without breaking my back. The rangefinder system really compliments my shooting style and I love the simplicity and consistency in the user experience I get when jumping between film and digital with these 2 bodies. I think out of the 3, the M6 paired with a 40mm lens is my favorite combo.

3. What are your favourite subject to photograph?

I go through phases but at the core of everything, I always come back to candid “street” photography. The skills that you develop by regularly practicing this type of work are transferable to many other genres. What I’ve been trying to do more of recently is improving my story/documentary skills. I love the process of going out to shoot without a story in mind and then trying to create sets of images to tell the story of that day’s experience. I often find that I return to the same places repeatedly and then this leads to a larger body of work being created. I remember learning something from a workshop at ICP a few years back when the instructor was looking at some of my work from a particular part of NJ that I had started to shoot. He really encouraged me to keep going back there week after week to try and see the place differently. The experience of doing so helped me create some work that I really liked and as a result, it’s a practice I try to build into all of my photography. Even if I’m on a vacation and have limited time, I’m often a creature of habit and will find 1 or 2 locations that I find interesting and work them alot.

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

Alex Webb, Matt Black, Abbas and Sebastiao Salgado. I find all of their work has impacted me deeply in different ways. Webb’s use of layer and color is incredible. Every shot is teetering on the edge of falling apart with the amount of information he crams into his frames. Layering is a skill I really need to practice more, and his work is inspirational. Black’s “American Geography” book touched me deeply. Not just the images but the journal entries he included in the book. He described places I’d been to (and thought were indescribable) and he did so by combining images and writing that deeply resonated with me. Abbas and Salgado help me remember to take things slowly. Their commitment to long term documentary work and specific subjects is so admirable. I especially love Abbas’s work around the faiths.

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

My focus is going to be on providing a mix of thoughts on my personal creative journey/process, travel journals, updates on personal projects along with some educational material. I really like how subtack allows you to use a combination of communication methods. Being able to combine written work, audio and video works really well for me. It allows me to keep putting out my thoughts and ideas on a consistent basis. I think the most important thing that the community can expect is engagement. I really love how substack is more than just likes and fire emojis and I believe that creatives accomplish their best work when they have a community to engage with.