A 12-year-old schoolboy is taking Thanet’s photographic scene by storm.
Hartsdown pupil Jamie Horton has so impressed bosses at Turner Contemporary that they are planning to use one of his images.
Jamie has also been asked to be a roving photographer at the gallery’s Art 4 Change project on July 8 where art installations created by 80 children at four neglected sites in Margate will be unveiled. The photos Jamie takes will also be part of a newspaper/magazine put together by youngsters involved in the event.
And if that were not enough Hartsdown school will be displaying Year 7 Jamie’s images in the reception area and The Schoolwear Centre, which has shops in Margate and Ramsgate, is in discussions to create souvenirs such as cups and fridge magnets using his photos.
Jamie first started taking photographs when he was just four-years-old. He was then advised by renowned transport photographer – and former colleague of his dad John – Colin Marsden to upgrade. Jamie then got his first professional camera at the age of seven.
He said: “It’s something I like to do with my spare time. I’m not sporty but I do like art. I started with a proper camera when the batteries in my little one went dead.
“Colin Marsden said my dad should let me use his old one. Then I got my own.
“When I take photos I look for a good sky, something scenic.I have lots of photos of Devon, where I was born, and, since getting my proper camera, lots of Thanet and Medway.
“When we go to London there is always something amazing to see, I mainly take photos of the stations or landscapes. I like the waterfalls that go through the middle of Kings Cross because of all the different textures.”
Jamie had to choose three images, and six back up ones, for the Thanet Photographers exhibition at the King Street gallery, on show from July 24.
He said: “It was hard to choose the best as I have 4,000 photos and every picture is my favourite.”
Jamie’s dad, retired train driver John, is also a dab hand with a camera but says there is no competition between father and son.
He said: “I’m immensely proud. Jamie sees things in a different way to me sometimes. He is very good with architecture and will often get an angle that I hadn’t thought of. He has developed his own style.”
Jamie, who is also interested in stop motion animation, added: “My dad was quite a good photographer, back in the day!”
Orders are already coming in for Jamie’s framed prints and the youngster is hoping to hold a solo exhibition, displaying his images in a public place, such as a café, where everyone can get to see them.
He is hoping the sales will help him upgrade his current equipment. He said: “I’d like a laptop so I can do my own photo editing and maybe a higher-grade camera.
“I want to be a commercial and documentary photographer when I leave school.”
And if he does buy new equipment the old camera won’t go to waste – Jamie’s eight-year-old brother Lewis is also showing an interest in photography and video-making.
See more of Jamie’s photos here