Tom Shortell and his Kenopsia-love

We've recently caught up with Tom, lead singer of Liverpool-based Melwood on his new project called "Kenopsia", a representation of life and photography.

Here's what he had to tell us:

Can you introduce yourself? I’m Tom, I sing in the band Melwood and I’ve taken up a lot of projects since this whole virus situation started. And I'm very happy to get this started. I’ve been known as a musician until I started Kenopsia as I’ve always had an avid love for photography and entrepreneur type of work. Hopefully you can understand a bit more of the messages I’ve been trying to get across during this interview!

Why this project? The idea behind the profile was to establish numerous outcomes within the photography sector. Firstly, I was aiming to take standard photographs with minimal editing, then I had the idea of adding my own personal style and surrealism to each image. The more I did it the more I entered a realm which I was more comfortable with. I’ve always been fond of throwing advice at people and helping out when they are struggling too. Which I thought this was the perfect platform for me to do that as well as showing images I’ve taken. On most images ill state my feelings, how the day is going and what you can do to help it, and since the past 20 I’ve received a fair few private messages asking me questions and advice on what they need to do next to help them progress. There is a huge satisfaction in giving positive advice to people and it’s made me want to continue and grow in this region.

Why the name "Kenopsia"? Right so, I was researching words that would stick out, along the lines of beautiful and not in the average day conversation, however this word stuck with me as it referred to the times, we are currently living in. The word resonates with the atmosphere of a place that is usually bustling with people, active and positive. But is now abandoned, quiet and almost dead to the population. The word sounds relatively lovely but it has such a deep and dark meaning that could not be any more relevant to the world we are living in at the moment. I’ve not actually explained the reason why this was chosen as a title so I'm glad to show it now!

Why this project during this time of our life? With the time we are in and the time we have to spare, I wanted to incorporate a lot more projects than I already have and see where it takes me. Be brave and provide all thought and feelings into my work.

What is photography to you? I’ve always liked taking photographs, and I’ve always had a phone that is capable of producing quality images, I just never utilised them at all. Now that I’ve got an iPhone, I just thought I’d take it up. Im always a fan of beautiful images, which could actually be the floor for all I know it’s always something that catches my eye really. I started with flowers and trees because there’s something about them that you can inhabit and delve into by making them your own, you know?

What are your inspirations for this project? My inspirations came from numerous thoughts, Unsplash.com is the top-notch hierarchy of photography because no matter what you search, you will get results relevant to what you need. I also have a lot of photography friends who’ve always inspired me to take up photography. I was scrolling across my Instagram looking for new accounts to follow. And I came across Nate Ryan (brace legs) who portrayed a perfect entrepreneur profile I was aiming to be like. Having such a following and the stylistic views he puts across in his images was the pinnacle of what I was aiming for.

What are your future projects with Kenopsia? For now, it’s just photography and advice but I have a few more ideas that will broaden out the project to appeal to more people. Visuals will definitely be next for sure. Bringing videos into life and editing them into the same style I have been previously. On my personal profile I have done a lot of Q&A’s which have been successful so I'm hoping when I have a bit more of a following and consistency that I can plan a few of these question and answers over the next month and see if my followers take a liking to it. I have been working with Wix on a website also, so that I have an attractive hub that is the central place so that people can see my work. And YouTube will be the last project I will mention right now, hopefully I can share a bit more information regarding that soon. How did you know when you had the right idea? Once I had an established theme, and mood that I wanted to produce it was easy for me. I had an instant idea of making a profile that will ensure all the ideas and emotive meanings were shown correctly. As long as the images used are shining in the way I want them to and the information I'm giving out to people help, then I’ll know I'm on the right direction.

Follow on

Kenopsia on Instagram

Tommy on Instagram

Melwood on Instagram