By James Burns
If you ever walk the streets of Cardiff, and see a smiling face approaching you, uttering the words “My name’s Tom, I’m a photographer”, you may find yourself walking away with a beaming smile and a newfound sense of confidence. If this occurs, then there is a high chance you’ve just been snapped by photographer Tom Wilkins.
Tom Wilkins is on a mission to make the people of the Welsh capital feel that little bit more loved. He approaches with kindness and a warm sensitivity and, he looks for the “cool” in every stranger that stumbles through the streets of Cardiff.
Yet for Tom, coolness is “not a beauty contest”, it’s about finding that uniqueness we have the power to control, he explains his theory best, saying: “I don’t focus on the things people are born with. It’s not saying this person is beautiful so I’m going to take a picture of them. I focus on the decisions people have made.”
The street photographer, who is originally from Southampton, has lived in the Welsh city for three years. He praises Cardiff as his creative playground, and a base that aligns with his welcoming message to people from all walks of life.
Wilkins shared views on the cpital: “Cardiff’s an immense city. I think Cardiff is such a powerfully accepting city. You have got people who fit into so many different categories, and everyone is accepted no matter who you are.”
What makes Tom’s photography endeavours even more impressive is that back in April, he had not yet picked up a camera.
He managed to book a few model shoots, and it was on the walk home from one of these early shoots that the desire to take strangers’ portraits was born. “I was walking back towards town, and I saw the most incredible punk woman walk past. I knew I had to take her picture.”
“So, I walked up to her and asked to take her picture, and told her she had an insanely cool look. Afterwards I was like, Oh my god, that was one of the nicest feelings I’ve ever had. Seeing her light up, and seeing how she came out of her shell. I wanted to experience that again, again and again, so I started looking into that. I realised the positive impact it can have on other people. So, my ethos is to normalise the act of giving compliments to strangers, which is massively lacking in today’s society.”
While this pivotal moment could make one presume that giving compliments comes naturally to Tom, in fact, the opposite of this is closer to the truth, with the practice of talking to strangers, a barrier that the power of the camera helped overcome. “I would have absolutely never approached a stranger in the past. I’ve suffered with social anxiety to an extreme level, and it this time last year I couldn’t go into town if it was a busy day. Through doing this, I have developed those skills, and now I can approach anyone in any scenario. It’s something I hadn’t foreseen; I feed of the adrenaline of it.”
Tom’s story proves how creative visions, much like his own can improve the lives of both the creator and their subjects. From single smiles to overcoming consequential personal issues, creativity acts as a tool in which we can overcome, and if Cardiff can act as an accepting background to such endeavours, then the city can only continue to thrive in this department.
Tom leaves us with: “I think my photos tell a story about how everyone is different, but also the same. Whether they are old, wearing colourful clothes or a bloke with a beanie and full face of tattoos, they still want to be complimented, they still want to have that positive interaction with society. Cardiff is this—these people are part of the furniture and Cardiff accepts that.”
Photos reproduced by permission of Tom Wilkins