Before he developed his trained eye for the photographic art market, Charles Dunstone first began with £6,000 of his own savings and a promise of independent and impartial advice selling mobile phones out of his flat 20 years ago. Since then, The Carphone Warehouse has enjoyed rapid growth and currently has 2,450 stores across nine European markets and over a 1,000 Best Buy Mobile stores in the US, in partnership with the American retailer Best Buy. In 2003, Charles launched the group’s fixed line business, TalkTalk, which is now the largest residential broadband supplier in the UK with 4.25 million subscribers.

Sheyi Bankale (SB): Why do you collect photography? And what do you hope to achieve by doing so?

Charles Dunstone (CD): Why do I collect it? I like it I guess, quite simply.

SB: What is it about photography that attracts you? Where is the passion from?

CD: I guess that the world is such an amazing place that there are just so many different ways to record what we see everyday, and I’m looking at it in a different light as a result of seeing through the eyes of the photographer.

SB: It is interesting how people say – photography, it’s a fact, it’s the truth and it’s also a fantasy and storytelling as well, so it contradicts itself but at the same time there’s a harmony between those contradictions.

CD: Sure.

SB: Do you buy on a whim or is it led by compulsions to track down a certain image you desire?

CD: I have artists that I follow and I like but I only buy pieces that I like. I don’t buy pieces because I think I ought to.

SB: So, you say you follow a certain number of artists?

CD: Because I like their work.

SB: Have you ever met the artists before you purchase the work?

CD: Sometimes but it’s not a kind of precondition for me to buy something.

SB: Do you feel that you have a level of responsibility towards the artists whose work you collect?

CD: Yes but I don’t want to sort of overplay that, but yes, I guess you do have some kind of responsibility in terms of how you display it, what you do with the pieces, but principally I buy photography because I like it and want to look at it.

SB: Is your collection ever publicly displayed or is it more of a private collection for you?

CD: Yes, well I have lent pieces from time to time, for exhibitions, but it is just a private collection.

SB: So, therefore, is collecting photography a kind of investment for you? 

CD: No. I guess one day it might be worth something but that is not my purpose – that’s not the reason I do it, I would never buy a piece because I thought it was a good investment if I didn’t like it.

SB: Is there a kind of unifying theme that runs through your collection?

CD: No, I don’t think there is.

SB: Random then, to your choice and taste at that particular time?

CD: Yes but I mean, well, there’s quite a bit from certain artists, so to that extent, you could say there is a theme, a lot of German photography.

SB: Like who?

CD: Andreas Gursky.

SB: So is your collection a devised framework of established artists? Or is it looking through the canon of emerging artists?

CD: It is driven by liking the piece.

SB: Driven by the work itself rather than following the artists?

CD: Totally, yes.

SB: It’s not necessarily that the person behind the photograph is as important as the actual aesthetic of the work for you.

CD: Yes.

SB: Do you believe that what you collect is a reflection of yourself or perhaps your experiences?

CD: No.

SB: No? It’s more arbitrary compared than a reflection of who you are or what you see?

CD: Yes.

SB: Collecting in general, the whole concept of this: obviously it’s a rigorous task. How does the work of Mike Perry display a quality that assures collectibility for you or reasons of purchase?

CD: I just think that they’re beautiful and very cleverly composed pieces of work.

SB: You have Beach 4 and Beach 5 in your collection?

CD: Yes I do, that’s right.

SB: How did you purchase Mike Perry’s two pieces?

CD: I had come across it, I saw an exhibition that he had. It was in that place in Soho, close to Shaftesbury Avenue…

SB: Oh yes, The Photographers’ Gallery, he had his book launch at the same location. Well, looking at Mike’s work, and trying to analyze the key images of Beach 4 and 5. What in this edition, compared to the rest of the Beach series made you purchase 4 and 5 compared to the others?

CD: They were the ones that just felt to me to be the most interesting shots, and I think they are a great pair. And I think that it works on a number of levels, but on one level it just brilliantly captures the image of the waves breaking on a pebble beach, and on another level, if you stand back, the shapes in an abstract sense are also fascinating.

SB: Yes, I find, especially when Next Level produced the book Beach by Mike Perry, it is the simple dynamics between the earth, the sea and the sky that draw you in. What do you feel as a private collector is the significance of collecting art?

CD: I mean, collecting is something that I very much like, and I have got to know about. I would rather know quite a lot about a reasonably narrow field than know a little bit about lots of fields. I like to specialize in something and get comfortable within the environment.

SB: So you just collect photography?

CD: Yes, just photography. I think there are so many different types of collectors. Well, photography is interesting because the images are not unique either, so I think that’s a slightly different relationship because you are there not thinking that this is the only copy of this particular piece or whatever it is; so you’re sharing it with other people.