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Interviews Melvin Nicholson

by Paul Gallagher

1. How long have you lived in Preston and when

did you begin to photograph the city? I have lived in Preston since 2004 after returning from a year travelling around Australia and New Zealand. The location was based on having an improved chance of gaining employment, as I previously resided in the Lake District. I have lived in several areas of Preston and as such I have developed an interest in the city, which incidentally acquired the status of the UK's newest city back in 2002 and has several Grade 1 and Grade II* listed buildings which presents many photographic opportunities. I started shooting in the city back in 2007 when I joined my local photography society. Next year Preston celebrates the Guild, an event that only happens every 20 years and the whole city really comes alive through lots of council-organised events and our photography society has just been nominated as the official photographers for all of the events, which is a fantastic achievement. It is particularly good to be in a position to give something back to the community, after all, we have existed since 1905.

2. What is it about city photography that draws

you? Originally and, as is the case for a lot of photographers I suppose,

landscape is where I started, mainly because it combined two of my passions, the great outdoors and photography. Indeed a lot of my work has been captured in and around the mountains and valleys of the Lake District, the open fields of Yorkshire and the great expanse and beaches of Scotland.

However, over the past couple of years I have found myself moving more into architecture and cityscapes. On reflection there are several reasons for this. Firstly I live in a city and therefore have a wealth of subjects available on my doorstep. Secondly it appears that I have developed a curiosity for people and although they do not always appear in my cityscape work, they can and often do play a huge role in featuring in city life, in the same way that animals do in the open countryside.

I also find that cities demand a different skill-set if you are after capturing a high standard of image. There are many more obstacles to overcome when shooting in a city compared to the countryside. Issues I've found range from over-zealous law enforcement officers and security guards, to members of the general public who assume that you have no right to include them in any image that you capture and the subsequent conversations that follow as a result, sometimes brief, sometimes protracted*.

The challenges of ever-changing light can seriously affect how a scene looks; traffic problems which can demand never-ending supplies of patience in waiting for the situation to clear before resuming shooting. I also find that my attitude and body language changes in order to shoot within the confines of small spaces with potentially large numbers of people than perhaps standing next to a lake alone at 4am. I tend to adopt a more serious, confident persona when shooting cities if only to hopefully deflect unwanted attention. My stress levels certainly increase whenever I shoot cityscapes for I always have to be prepared for the unexpected.

*Take care on this issue! see also http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Photographs_of_identifiable_people

3. I see much of your work is taken in the dark hours. What is it about the night time that attracts you and do you ever feel threatened?

Well the night time interests me greatly and mainly because artificial light changes the look and feel of a city enormously and this presents many challenges when trying to capture the scene. I am also really a night owl, tending to come alive after the sun has set and I feel that my photography perhaps best reflects this. City life, however, has a completely different feel at night; whereas during the day when every street, alleyway and park is exposed and visible, with workers and shoppers filling up the city, at night it becomes a different creature altogether. Workers and shoppers are replaced by people who are seeking to be entertained and those who seek to entertain them.
But there is also a sinister element to most cities at night and if you havebeen fortunate enough to have never experienced this, simply set up a £2,000 camera on a large tripod in the depths of a dark alley or perhaps in the middle of a busy city centre and you suddenly become very, very aware of your surroundings, becoming very alert to everyone who is around you. I personally find this an adrenaline rush and it helps to enhance my experience of capturing a city in the dark and somehow heightens the satisfaction I get when I see an image printed and hanging on a wall.

However, there have been times when I think that I might have bitten off more than I can chew and been confronted with someone who seems to have a motive to have you parted from your equipment. Worse still, your tormentor may be somewhat incapacitated through alcohol or drugs or something else altogether in which case you might become more familiar with the local hospital. It is in these moments that I must demonstrate a calm and confident attitude and not give them what they want even if my whole body is urging me to walk away and return to capture that particular shot another time. Personally I've never had to walk away.

4. What is your general post-processing approach

to both colour and black and white? That's a really interesting question Paul, and one that would have brought forth a different answer just a year ago. I have been shooting for almost five years now and my approach to post-editing has changed as I have become more familiar with the software that I have used. Initially, very little editing occurred and some of my earlier work looks a little unfinished as a result. Then I tried creating HDR images, and while there is no doubt that applying that technique does work very well on certain subjects and the results it yields are impressive, personally it is not for me. These days I use Photoshop Elements 7 with the Nik range of software and I find that I use a limited range of options to bring out the elements in an image that I want to become noticeable.

The biggest improvement to my post-editing process involves my monochrome work. These days I use Nik's Silver Efex software. This produces images that almost perfectly recreate what I envisaged when on the ground, shooting. The results that I have obtained from internal and external competitions have improved tremendously with several of my monochrome images having been accepted into national exhibitions this year for the first time which brings me great satisfaction and clearly shows that I am improving. I find that monochrome suits my thought and viewing processes when out shooting and whilst I don't 'see' life in black and white (I'm quite a complex character), where my photography is concerned I do and overall this has been the biggest surprise to me on my photographic journey.

5.Are there any other cities that you are particularly drawn to and why?

Yes there are, and living in the centre of the UK, I am very fortunate to have two of the country's largest and most famous cities within a 30-minute drive away, Manchester and Liverpool. I have shot both many times; Liverpool mainly at dawn and Manchester mainly at dusk, as both offer very different photographic opportunities. I prefer Manchester for its inner city high-rise buildings, urban development and the waterfront development of Salford Quays. Liverpool offers me more interesting opportunities to capture older inner city buildings, modern shopping centres and very architecturally interesting car parks, which are better captured very, very early morning before the workers and shoppers arrive.

I am very appreciative of where I live in having the best of both worlds. Heading north to the city of Lancaster has recently become a firm favourite. The area around Castle Gate, in particular, and the prison, is lined with cobbled streets, old Victorian street lamps and a real sense of history exudes in the city which, of course, is famous for the hanging of the Pendle Witches way back in 1612.



Updated 27/04/2026 16:44:22 Last Modified: Monday, 27 April 2026