About
Photo by Del Robertson Photography.
JayJay Robertson Somerville has dabbled in many aspects of the media industry from a young age. He has always had an admiration for art, film and photography. However, it was not until after his tenure writing and performing with five-piece rock outfit Hiding Place – that he was able to channel his creativity into his main passion: photography. Working in the music industry with Sony/BMG Records gave JayJay insight and experience into video directing. Thusly, for many years JayJay took a hands-on, multi-disciplinary approach in creating and editing treatments; working with performance artists, writing and producing music and working both; in front of, and behind the camera. After a spell in London writing and touring another of his musical pet projects Black Arc, JayJay decided that it was time to take a break from the music industry as he wanted to concentrate all his artistic endeavors into photography . It was the ambiguity of the still shot and the ability to inspire cognition – as well as generating aesthetics – that he found more challenging than anything he had done before, and naturally, he found this far more rewarding.
Taking influential aspects from the earlier works of Stanley Kubrick, Larry Clark, Ingmar Bergman and contemporary artists like Jay Maisel and Emmanuel Lubezki has had a noticeable impact on JayJay’s photographic style. Studying Philosophy, JayJay’s academic work with minimalism and existentialism have embedded a conceptual ethos that has spawned his signature naturalistic shots and the work method of ‘shoot more, edit less’, which has contributed to the overall look and feel of his shots. Consequently, due his passion of cinematography he has developed a unique style of framing and perspective to add to an already original mix to ‘allow the visuals to speak for themselves’. JayJay continues to try and erase the boundaries between photo production and everyday life; offering snapshots based on situated knowledge, history, culture, portrait shots and politics.
Jayjay has worked with Project Scotland, Hear Glasgow, and Tollcross YMCA as a photographer and mentor to youth groups as well as Glasgow City Marketing Bureau's People Make Glasgow brand. He's currently the in-house photographer for O2 venues in Glasgow and focussing on his wedding photography business with his twin brother; Del and Jayjay Wedding Photography.
Publications; The Sunday Mail, The Daily Record, Classic Rock Magazine, Kerrang!, Eclipsed(Germany), Outpost Magazine(Canada), The Independent, The Evening Times.
Clients; Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Ad Lib sound lighting and visuals, Newlands Junior College, Phantom Scotland, The Anchor Line, O2 Music, Kerrang!
Honours and Awards include;
The Adelaide Law School Images of Justice Finalist, Australia.
Creative snapshot, The BBC.
Southern Exposure Selected image for auction in Tennessee , USA.
WON Outpost Magazine Action Photo Contest. Canada.
Don’t Take Pictures Magazine Selected for Gallery of work, USA.
Short Listed in the Sports Category for the Event Photography Awards, London.
