Derek Simpson

Born in Belfast - abide in Coleraine on Ireland's glorious North Atlantic coast.
Worked in theatre throughout Ireland as actor, stage manager, lighting designer. (Under another name).

From 2000 - 2015 press photographer specializing in sport. Paradoxically I now focus generally on unnoticed details and moments with a sense of calm. John Berger points out that a photograph can still the onrush of time - can hold a moment against the flood of sensations demanding our attention.

I am attracted to the imperfect; the flawed; the aged: the worn and the torn. The cycle of decay and regeneration is endlessly fascinating – perhaps a reflection of age.

Subject matter is less important than light. Light is life.

When the gods all too rarely grant superb light on superb subject matter the gift comes with an obligation.

I rearrange nothing and am neither innovative nor original. Beauty is not the object of my quest but it is there – always.
Print quality to me is paramount. A photograph does not exist until printed and viewed. Display screens are an approximation at best.

Digital photography requires post-production work: not to falsify but to by-pass the computer in every digital camera. I apply darkroom skills le...

Teaching Certficate.

2004. Still Pictures. Books Upstairs, Limavady, Co. Londonderry.

2012 Meditations. Leslie Hill, Ballymoney, Co. Antrim.

2015 Meditations. Roe Valley Art Centre, Limavady, Co. Londonderry.
Royal Ulster Academy annual open exhibition, 2015. Single image "Sub Hepworth"

2017 Royal Ulster Academy open exhibition. Belfast.
Singler image "Denim".