Richard Montag is a mental health nurse and therapist who learned how to shoot and process film at the age of 9 years old out of boredom from hanging around Glasgow School of Art while his dad was a student there. Now he loves the instant magic of digital but still misses the grit of film.

Hello Richard! Tell us how has your practice changed over time?
I generally now only do tonal tweaks in Photoshop to capture some feeling of nostalgia and no longer feel the need to scour over every pixel.

How do you overcome creative blocks?
I make some music for a while instead. It is always a good idea to take a break when you can no longer ‘feel it’.  Alongside my Photography work, I am building towards a live performance in 2025, so my next project will be live electronic music with psychedelic video pieces. I don’t think my work is ever finished, so I am continuously making slight tweaks as I progress and notice little things I need to adjust.

Are there specific advantages or challenges associated with working in your chosen mediums? Have you experimented with other mediums or techniques?
It started off with photography around the age of ten out of boredom when my dad was at Glasgow School of Art and I had to entertain myself and got shown how to use their dark room and how to process film and make prints. Now I love the instant nature of digital cameras and then try to make like old dirty film again.

How do you typically approach your creative process from initial inspiration to the completion of your artwork?
It often pretty much just appears in front of me. Sometimes I think of an experiment lying in bed as I’m drifting off to sleep. My work in the exhibition came to shape when I was trying to capture a beautiful sunset on a very rudimentary digital camera.   

Will your next project be a continuation of your current style or are you experimenting with something different?
This is a very old piece and I have strayed far from that over the years, but in many ways I am coming back to a sheer joy in just colours

What advice would you give to artists who are just starting out?
Just concentrate on getting it right for you; it always comes off better than trying to pitch your work to an audience in a contrived way. My own creative process is: point, shoot, point, shoot, point shoot, until it looks good!

Find out more about Richard’s work on his Instagram. Our Winter Open Call exhibition features an incredible collection of works by twenty-six artists who have each considered the season and explored the interplay of light and shadow, warmth and cold, presence and absence, through a wide range of mediums and styles. Chiaroscuro runs at Six Foot Gallery until Thursday 9th January 2025.