Purple Sneakers were kind enough to run an interview with me about my photography, T-SQUAT, creativity and life in general.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Where you’re from? What you do now and what you did before T-SQUAT?
My name is James Watkins and I was born in Oxford, England but grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and definitely consider myself a kiwi! I am a photographer and a writer and I run an online magazine called T-SQUAT. Before I did that, I was living for six months in unadulterated paradise in NZ on a small island called Great Barrier…mostly just being massively irresponsible and loving every second of it.
Before that I was living in the middle of nowhere in Golden Bay on the south island of NZ, in a house bus. Waking up to the sound of the ocean every day, watering vegetables, riding horses, staring at star filled galaxies every night, hanging out on the beach, playing guitar, reading and taking photos… it was pretty nice to be honest. I used to joke with my friends that I’d been retired since I was 17.
That life was totally awesome and there’s so much to learn about yourself through geographic isolation, with no one to impress you can really develop a sense of self that is difficult amongst the demands of a metropolis. After a while I craved the culture, energy and challenges of a city though, so I came to Melbourne .
To read the rest of the interview on Purple Sneakers, click here.
