SEEMINGLY INSIGNIFICANT / ABOUT US
A shared curiosity.
Three different perspectives.
We make photographs, films, books and learning experiences about the things that are easy to overlook. Seemingly Insignificant is where we share the way we see, the questions we ask and the ideas we keep returning to.
01 / THE IDEA
The interesting things aren’t always the obvious things.
A gesture in the background. Two unrelated moments that suddenly connect. A photograph that reveals itself only after you stop looking for what you expected to find.
Our work begins with attention. We believe curiosity, instinct, humour and an openness to the unexpected can change not just the photographs we make, but the way we experience the world.
02 / THE PEOPLE
Meet the people
behind the ideas.
Dominique Shaw, Liam Shaw and Matt Thompson bring photography, filmmaking and education together. Different disciplines, a closely shared outlook.
A conversation that keeps evolving.
Dominique and Liam have spent years looking at the world through cameras, finding connections in the moments most people pass by. Matt approaches those same questions through film and storytelling. The three of us have spent countless conversations pulling apart photographs, testing ideas and asking why certain moments stay with us.
Seemingly Insignificant grew from that ongoing exchange. The book, the workshops and the talks are different ways of opening up the conversation, not presenting a finished set of rules.
PHOTOGRAPHER · AUTHOR
DOMINIQUE SHAW
Dominique’s instinct for unposed moments and the humour of everyday life has shaped York Place Studios’ photographic language from the beginning. Her work is rooted in looking closely, staying curious and allowing the unexpected to unfold.
PHOTOGRAPHER · AUTHOR
LIAM SHAW
Liam brings an equally observant eye to the ordinary and extraordinary alike. Together with Dominique, he has developed a distinctive approach to documentary photography built around timing, layering and the connections between moments.
FILMMAKER · CREATIVE COLLABORATOR
MATT THOMPSON
Matt brings a filmmaker’s perspective to the shared conversation. His work in film, storytelling and education helps shape how the ideas are explored, edited, produced and shared through Seemingly Insignificant.
03 / WHAT WE NOTICE
Finding something
from nothing.
The approach isn’t confined to a particular subject. We look for the same possibilities in a wedding, on a street or in the middle of an ordinary day.
04 / SHARING THE PROCESS
Ideas are better
when they’re shared.
The conversations behind our photographs became workshops, talks, mentorships and eventually a book. Not a set of rules to follow, but an invitation to think differently about what makes an image worth taking.
We teach through real work: the frames that succeeded, the ones that nearly worked and the decisions that happened in between.
THE PROCESS / NOT JUST THE RESULT
05 / THE BOOK
Is This
Something?
Everything we kept returning to eventually became Is This Something? A 308-page book about looking closer, recognising possibilities and finding photographs in moments that might otherwise go unnoticed. Through finished images, contact sheets and the decisions behind them, it opens up the way we think and work.
Independently published. Now read in 36 countries.
EXPLORE THE BOOK ↗