Ones to Watch | Photographer James Bannister

Photography BA(Hons) graduate James Bannister works with creatives worldwide as a freelance photographer and director. We talked to him about his approach to visual storytelling, the importance of finding your unique voice and the highlights of his career since graduating.

"I graduated in 2013 from the Photography course at Falmouth University. After I graduated university, I assisted for a couple of years and I took some time to learn the craft of photography. But I always knew that I wanted to go out on my own and be the photographer.

Now I get to work with clients all over the world. I have been recently concentrating on only working with clients who have the same vision as me. Getting work has always been quite organic. I don't really reach out to people.

Any advice I would give is just focus on your work and what you do and if your personal work is strong and is your voice, that will attract the right people. As you go along in your career it is quite rare to get a bad client after a certain amount of experience. Everyone you work with is amazing and creative in their own field, so you learn to say no at an earlier stage of communication if you sense that your visions aren't aligned.

The achievement that I'm most proud of is being able to make a good living from what I love doing. I get to work with amazing, creative people all the time, so I'm very grateful for that.

Work-life balance as a freelancer is hard to achieve because work comes along like busses. Often I have to work seven days a week, sometimes. I think it's just being aware to take time away when you do have that downtime. If I had it my way, I would work all the time!

My eye works best with a four by five frame and the considered process of working with film. Gear is a funny question when it comes to photography, because kit does matter to some extent. The way I like to think about it is like how a painter would select a paintbrush or how a musician would select an instrument - it's only 10% of the equation and the important ingredient is your individual voice.

The achievement that I'm most proud of is being able to make a good living from what I love doing. I get to work with amazing, creative people all the time, so I'm very grateful for that.

My process when it comes to editing is quite natural, I like to print everything out. I really think a lot about sequencing in my work - how you turn the page, how it feels from turning from this image to this image, the pace at which you do that and how sequencing helps or speeds up or slows down.

When it's really working well, it doesn't really feel like it's you doing it, it's kind of flowing through you...And that's when I think the best work is made.

I was commissioned by the British Journal of Photography and Like Cameras to travel around the UK for a month. One of the images was selected and won the Portrait of Britain Award last year. The image that was selected was a portrait of Coach Haseebah Abdullah, who had won the Commonwealth Medal for Community because of her work with hijabi boxers.

Photography is an excellent way to process your thoughts and feelings about the world. I think when it's really working well, it doesn't really feel like it's you doing it...it's kind of flowing through you. And that's when I think the best work is made."

Check out James' work:
Instagram: @jamesbannist 
Website: jamesbannister.co.uk

Follow in James' footsteps with Falmouth University's Photography BA(Hons) degree