‘A LABOUR OF LOVE!’
Photographer Andrew turns garage into purpose-built dramatic portraiture studio
PHOTOGRAPHER Andrew Heath has completed a labour of love turning a ‘freezing cold’ garage at his city home into a purpose-built studio for his business.
Andrew spent more than £8,000 on the conversion at his house in Longton. It took him eight-and-ahalf months but Faith Studios is now complete. The 60-year-old embarked on the renovation to explore a particular technique.
He said: “My aim is to nail dramatic portraiture. Dramatic portraiture is a technique when you use different types of light and you use light and shadow, rather than it being a completely well lit face. It’s like a new use of shadow. It creates depth to the actual face itself, then you separate the background from the subject to get that distinctive look.”
He said his family supported him throughout the conversion.
He added: “I’ve been married for 38 years and my wife Helen, my two children Alex and Natasha and son-in-law Steve gave me a massive amount of help during the project.
“There were times I thought ‘why did I take this on?’ It really was one of those things where you just had to keep on going. We worked throughout the winter just so we had it ready for the summer.
“Work started in October 2021, and we finished it about two or three weeks ago. We are still adding to the prop list we’ve got but we are getting there now. We had to do so many things that were unforeseen.”
The garage measures 20 feet in length and is 11 feet wide. Before work starting it had a concrete floor, which has now been waterproofed. Condensation problems in the roof have also been fixed and the building has been rewired.
And Andrew is pleased with the outcome, adding: “The garage did turn out how I imagined it, nearly everyone that comes in says they can’t believe how it turned out, I’m really really pleased.
“I’ve been interested in photography since I was about 17 but It’s probably the last four to five years since I started taking things really seriously. I did several courses to get me into the digital side of things.”
Despite having had to overcome various obstacles during the garage renovation the experience has not put him off and he has similar projects on the horizon. Andrew said: “I am looking to convert parts of the garden into an outdoor studio.