The photographer, publisher and film director Rankin, 41, launched Dazed &
Confused magazine in 1991 and has photographed the Queen and Tony Blair,
among many others. He lives in London and has a 10-year-old son, Lyle, from
his relationship with the actress and writer Kate Hardie. Rankin’s latest
collection of photography, Visually Hungry, is out now, published by Rankin
Photography at £35
'I TRAVEL abroad all the time for work, which is probably why my favourite
place for a holiday is Britain. I’m originally from Scotland and I love to
visit Nairn.
It’s so beautiful and remote – and it reminds me of family trips when I was a
child. I’ve taken my son, Lyle, there too: it’s important for him to see
Britain – to know what’s on his own doorstep.
The Scilly Isles are another favourite. You get these beautiful, long beaches
with nobody on them, and there’s a wonderful sense of space and peace and
quiet. Even during the height of summer, they’re quite sparsely populated.
Lyle’s mum introduced me to the islands – they’re absolute heaven for
bird-watchers, so it won’t be a surprise to learn that her father’s Bill
Oddie.
I’m not that keen on bird-watching myself, but I’m a big swimmer – whenever
I’m on holiday, I always need to find somewhere I can swim. I get very
little time to exercise in London, so when I’m on holiday I try to swim for
about an hour a day. It’s the tranquillity – there’s nothing around you but
water. It gives you a chance to think about things properly.
I learnt to swim when I was very young and I love sailing. We used to go to
Grange-over-Sands, in the Lake District, and spend hours looking at the
scenery. I know it would bore most kids to death, but I always wondered who
lived in the houses or who owned the sailing boats we’d see on the lakes. I
was from a working-class background, so the idea of sailing was completely
alien to me.
I really enjoy being by the sea. I lived in Brighton while I was at college,
and one of the things I most appreciated was being able to see the horizon.
It’s almost a philosophical thing: when you can see that far into the
distance every day, you look at things in another way. You get a better
perspective, perhaps, than when you’re in a city, with your day-to-day
routine. I’ve lived in cities all my life – I love London and I love Glasgow
– but being able to escape to the sea is a wonderful release.
I fly so much for work that travelling by train is a real treat – going to the
Scilly Isles, for instance... from the moment you leave Paddington, you
really feel you’re at the start of a journey. You’re not packed into your
seat – you can get up and walk around and actually see things out of the
window. And if I’m with Lyle, I can point things out to him, and we can talk
about them, whereas on a plane there’s nothing but clouds.
Until I was about 18, I hadn’t been abroad (my family had always done things
like camping; I particularly loved caravan trips – they were a real
adventure), so I wasn’t used to foreigners. I remember we were on the beach
once, when I was about 10, and a German woman near us took her top off. It
was the first time we’d ever seen anyone do that and my parents were so
shocked.
Though I love Britain, I know I’m very lucky to have travelled so widely.
Brazil is one of my favourite countries to visit – the people are so
incredibly friendly. I remember the first night I was there, looking up and
seeing a crescent moon – in the “wrong” place, of course, being in the
southern hemisphere.
South Africa is another favourite. Jo’burg is hard core – but, as a
photographer, even on holiday you’re always looking for the visual. That
doesn’t mean that it has to be perfect – the imperfections of a place are as
interesting as the beautiful aspects of it.
It’s always the people who really influence how I feel about a place. I was in
the Bahamas over Christmas, a beautiful place but full of people drinking
beer at 10am. We were in this idyllic setting but the people around us were
so drunk that all they could do was fall over and be rude.
I’m not a night person at all. Everybody assumes that if you’re a photographer
you’re into clubbing and trendy bars. When I was in my late twenties and
early thirties, I was a bit crazy, but I got that out of my system. Now, I
enjoy a nice dinner with good conversation and then I like to go to bed
early and get up early, so that I can really appreciate the next day –
wherever I am.’
