#beanshoot questionnaire

[beanshoot]

The Beanshoot questionnaire – Robert Clark

Robert Clark is a Brooklyn-based photographer who works with National Geographic very regularly. He is fascinated by the story of evolution, and this is felt in his work, the grand scale of which depicts the minutiae of life on earth.

What initiated your interest in photography?

I first started shooting photos when I was 15 years old. My dream was to work at Sports Illustrated. After University I worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer for several years.

An older photographer gave me Irving Penn’s book Passage and from that moment on photography was different for me.

How would you describe your practice and how has it changed over time?

Slower, more deliberate, more driven by an idea or a concept.

Who or what inspires you?

The elegance and simplicity of nature.

What keeps you motivated to keep on making pictures? 

The possibility that I might make an important/smart/beautiful picture tomorrow.

How does your practice relate to your every day life?

I’m busy work at the Geographic work but I need to move on to other areas of interest, so I’m busy working at being busy in other areas.

What is your latest project?

I want to do studio and location pictures of Lady GaGa’s fans. They have all been encouraged by her to let out the inner monsters. I think it could be a very interesting set of pictures.

How important is working collaboratively?

I love to work with some art directors, a great assistant who can read my mind is very important. And on a large project, the team is important, the chemistry is vital to the success of the work. 

What is your favourite...

…piece of kit? 50mm lens very shallow dept of field

…picture or photographer? Avedon, Penn, Albert Watson, Nadav Kander

…time of day? dusk

…website? Nadav Kander's website

[beanshoot]

The Beanshoot Questionnaire: David Chancellor

To celebrate my first (official) day at INSTITUTE, I am launching a series of Beanshoot Questionnaires featuring INSTITUTE artists, beginning with David Chancellor, a British artist who fell in love with the land and the light of South Africa. He makes long-term documentary projects that have majesty and depth, and his photographs are subtle whilst striking. His 'Huntress with Buck' (below) won the Taylor-Wessing Prize.

    What initiated your interest in photography? 

 My earliest memory is that of my father marching us around the island of Guernsey, camera in hand, a row of little leather pouches on the camera strap around his neck holding all manner of meters, flashes, and associated photographic gadgets. We spent many hours standing completely still whilst he executed the most beautiful portraits of us all on Kodachrome. There was always great excitement when they arrived in the post, which inevitably resulted in a slide show. I always remember the cursing and swearing as the carousel clunked and ground its way through the selected images. The projector screen would sit in the corner of the living room until we travelled again.

 As soon as I was able I picked up the camera and starting taking pictures of all and everything around me. To me it seemed like I’d had the approval, the ‘nod’ to do this and so off I went. I wasn’t that successful, he seemed to work well with all the pouches, I didn’t. I remember he bought a Praktika MTL3, far more technical than what he was used to, and I happily and frequently fell heir to it. This camera just seemed to work for me. My first project was documenting the butchers and traders in the Bull Ring Market in Birmingham City centre. I’d travel there every weekend taking portraits on the Saturday, process the film and return the next week to sell the pictures to the sitters. I was shy and it seemed to me that this was a good place to become more confident. I became quite well known around the market and as a result began to pick up commissions and occasionally sold images to the local newspaper, for almost nothing of course, but that wasn’t the point, I had an audience, people liked my work, and all I was doing was enjoying myself, how much better could it get... Suddenly I was in heaven, everything made sense, all I had to do each and everyday was take pictures…

  How would you describe your practice and how has it changed over time?

I don’t think it has changed, I still just wander around taking pictures of stuff.

  Who or what inspires you?

So many different things and people inspire me. The real privilege we have as photographers is that we get to meet some of these people, and spend time with them, like a 4th emergency service, fire, police, ambulance... and err… photographers. We should have a ‘pink flashy light’ that allows us to part the traffic and rush to scenes of interest... I say this simply because I constantly question why ‘someone’ is prepared to let me totally into their life, just because I’m a photographer? ‘It’s OK he can witness my most intimate moment because he’s a photographer’ Really? But they do, and may that always be the case...

Who inspires me…?? Madiba inspires me for one, and it’s a huge ONE. How can someone who’s life has been screwed around by others bear no apparent malice...?? And my wife inspires me, she always smiles first.

   How does your practice relate to your every day life? 

 It’s my life, it’s a bit like asking me what motivates me to take a breath... The two are interwoven…

   What is your latest project?

‘Hunters’ is a project documenting the tourist trophy hunting industry in Africa today, exploring the complex relationship that exists between man, and animal, the hunter, and the hunted as we both struggle to adapt to our changing environments. I’m a great admirer of Peter Beards work and passionate about wildlife and everything about natural history. Wildlife in Africa is a commodity, a resource; I wanted to look at its commercial value and the hunting industry seemed a logical starting place to do this. I’ve been working on it for nearly 3 years now, I’m beginning to feel it’s taking me down another path, so may be it’s time to travel down that path...

The new work will be a very different way of looking at Africa’s wildlife. I have no desire to stand back on long lenses and observe what going on, so it will also be up close and personal, may be a ‘green flashy’ light this time…

How important is working collaboratively? 

 It’s not important to me, I’m a bit of a loner…

  Where do photographers go when they die? What happens / should happen to their work? 

 I saw a coffee mug in a lab in London many years ago and on the front it read: ‘old photographers don’t die, they just slowly go out of focus’…

 The work we produce is a wonderful document of our time here, even if we aren’t very good, it’s still our particular vision of that moment and credible in my eyes. My father’s documentation of our time together is an example of that. Rather, what shouldn’t happen is that future generations are restricted or denied access to material because of the trends and market pressures applied by manufacturers. Can we honestly say for sure that we’ll be able to ‘drag’ those wonderful images off hard drives in 50 years time... shame if we can’t because on our behalf the manufacturers think they are not of interest.

  What is your favourite... 

 …piece of kit? Mamiya 7II, and Minolta light meter (can’t separate the two)

 …picture or photographer? Many pictures, many photographers, but right now it’s a photograph by Alixandra Fazzina of NOOR Agency, taken in Shahr-I-Buzorg, Afghanistan, in August 2008: Siamoy breast feeds her month old baby boy Hokim as she goes to visit her sisters at their home in Khourdakon village.

 …time of day? 30 minutes after sunset, preferably in the bush.

 …website? http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/

 ...lab? That’s easy, without a doubt... Artful Dodgers, Hatton Garden, London. http://www.artfuldodgersimaging.com/ They are totally brilliant.

[beanshoot]

The Beanshoot Questionnaire: Zed Nelson

Zed Nelson is well-known for his immersion into his projects, and using his commitment to photography to explore political issues in depth. His project Gun Nation explored the huge, white, middle-class, suburban American society that buys and sells weapons. In the latest installment of the Beanshoot Questionnaire, he talks about his recent book Love Me, an incredible project that documents the pursuit of particular ideals of beauty in our society.

What initiated your interest in photography?

I found myself in the countryside, aged 10, with access to an old Pentax camera. I started taking pictures of the local inhabitants - people, cows and stray dogs. I enjoyed the reason it gave me to go on an adventure. Later, as a teenager, I remember seeing shocking political images from the civil rights movement in the United States, and photographs of the ‘Kent State Massacre’ – the shooting of unarmed American college students by members of the Ohio National Guard (taken in May 4, 1970.) Even though it had happened fifteen years previously, I was shocked and gripped by the visual evidence of injustice shown in these photographs. The students had been peacefully protesting against the American invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam war when the soldiers fired 67 rounds, killing four students and wounding nine others. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was politicized by those images.

How would you describe your practice and how has it changed over time?

My recent work has developed over time and strives to be more complex, thought-provoking and challenging to accepted thinking. If there is a conflict, rather than depicting men with guns and acts of violence, I want to question why there is such a conflict, who created it, and who profits from it. The notion of being a ‘documentary photographer’ is increasingly problematic to me. The implicit suggestion is that to document is to provide a reliable, truthful account of a situation. This is a tall order, and often in this genre we may simply reinforce stereotypes and miss the important underlying issues. So my work has become more ‘conceptual’. Funnily enough, this to me has become an absurd word – sometimes mis-used in ‘art photography’ to suggest ambiguity, work with no clear point... detached images of things that may or may not really mean anything. For me - for something to be conceptual - there must be a concept. Something that drives the work, a point, a message, or at least a structure or presentation that is thought-provoking. I am increasingly interested in the point where documentary and art photography merge. Where the work is really about something, but is also reflective and thought-provoking. In Love Me (my latest book project) I employ a wide variety of photographic strategies and techniques – stylized portraiture, landscapes, studio still-life and documentary. But the documentary element has been pared down substantially, and the work has become more composed and considered. I also included text: statistics, traditional proverbs, historical notes, philosophical statements, quotes, excerpts from novels, image captions and even a poem.

Who or what inspires you?

My inspiration comes from a variety of sources... from Muhammed Ali (who refused to be conscripted to fight in the Vietnam war and was stripped of his world champion boxing title) to a mountaineer who paid $60,000 dollars and spent 6 months in training to climb Mount Everest and turned back near the summit (while the others continued against their better instincts and perished in a freezing storm). These were acts of courage, even though neither involved seeking glory. I’m inspired by people who follow their instincts.

What keeps you motivated to keep on making pictures?

A sense of enquiry, adventure, knowledge and a need to understand the world. A desire to have a voice in the world, to express thoughts and ideas.

How does your practice relate to your every day life?

 It IS my everyday life. I photograph things that interest me, I photograph in places that interest me, and I photograph people that interest me. And I choose subjects I want to know more about or understand, or things that I feel should be discussed. And then there’s some paid work, just to make a living. And that pretty much takes up my waking hours.

What is your latest project? 

 ‘Love Me’ is my most recently completed long-term project – a new book and exhibition. The project reflects on the cultural and commercial forces that drive a global obsession with youth and beauty.

I had a growing sense of our culture reaching a fever-pitch of self-consciousness, driven by an industry that breeds insecurity in order to sell us a ‘cure’. Our basic human need for acceptance and the ultimate need to be noticed and loved has been exploited, and we have created a world in which there are enormous social, psychological and economic rewards and penalties attached to the way we look. The book explores these ideas. [Ed.'s note: Zed's 2009 book project Love Me can be viewed here and the book can be ordered on Amazon here.]  

How important is working collaboratively?

I always feel I would like to work in a more collaborative situation...but I’m still trying to work out how to make it happen.

Where do photographers go when they die? What about their work?

They go a a special place where cameras are no longer necessary, and instead you can record a moments vision with a blink of your eye. Oh, actually, we have that already, its called memory. OK, it’s a place where there is no email, no downloading, no scanning. And ‘facebook’ means stopping reading a book for a minute, to look up at someone’s actual face, when they ask you a real question.

Regarding work, that can live on - that’s what’s special about photography...  an image’s potency increases over time. I love the historical aspect of photography.

What is your favourite... …piece of kit?  Mamiya RZ-67. …picture or photographer?  I’m a fan of Joel Sternfeld. His ‘Renegade Elephant’ is a very moving image. …time of day?  I like late afternoon, in warm sunlight. …website?  http://www.brainpickings.org/ It's interesting and off-beat, and has unexpected surprises.

...lab? Labyrinth Photographic, they still know how to process and print film.

[beanshoot]

The Beanshoot Questionnaire: Simon Norfolk

Simon Norfolk's beautifully crafted images address the polemics of structures of power. In the first issue of the Beanshoot Questionnaire, he gives us a peek at his most recent project documenting the launch of the one of biggest satellites ever conceived, and tells us how he continues to point the finger at "lying bastard politicians".

What was your first encounter with photography?

One of my lecturers at college showed me a book he'd written the text introduction to, and since it was a subject in my studies we chewed over all the points. Later I looked at the photographs in the rest of the book and they were quite good too! It was book called 'Gypsies' by someone called Josef Koudelka. What was the first photographic project you embarked upon?

When I first moved to London after college I didn't know anybody so I'd just walk and walk through the city. It was mostly at night after work so I figured out how to push TMZ 3200 to 25,000 ASA and I shot pictures around the West End whilst I walked. All I owned was a Nikon FM2 and a 35mm lens, so I had to make a project that was possible with what I had. It was the first magazine story I ever sold.

How has your practice changed over time?

Well, I use a lot slower film nowadays! Whilst my work looks a lot different to when I left college 20 years ago, I'd say that my recent work draws more heavily on all the things I was studying at college. The day I walked out the porter's lodge I imagined I would never again need to be mithered by Philosophy or Geography but I see the ghosts of them stalking through my work more and more these days.

Who or what inspires you?

The Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci once said his life was built around the dialectic between 'the Pessimism of the Intellect and the Optimism of the Will.' It would take all day to unwrap his idea, let me just say that you can write his words on my gravestone. And I'm inspired by my partner. She's a doctor (a brilliant surgeon), she deals with pain and death all day. She starts at 7.45 and works 12 hour days and on-call nights. It took her 25 years of exams to qualify. Compared to her, all this art stuff I do is just so much inconsequential bilge.

What keeps you motivated to keep on making pictures?

I turn on the TV news and lying bastard politicians are telling me their lying bastard lies. A short time later, I'm on the internet trying to buy plane tickets so I can fuck up their schemes.

How important is working collaboratively?

I've never tried it, I'm a bit of a loner.

Where do photographers go when they die? What happens, or should happen, to their work?

Art is not a mirror to hold up to society, but a hammer with which to shape it. - Mayakovsky

Finally, please tell us about your latest project. (All images shown are from Simon's latest body of work.)

I saw two shooting stars last night,

I wished on them

– but they were only satellites.

It's wrong to wish on space hardware,

but I wish, I wish I wish you'd care.

-Billy Bragg

At any one time there are about 8,000 objects orbiting the earth. One is the moon which has been there a Very Long Time: the rest are man-made satellites; junk fallen from satellites; bits of exploded satellite or redundant satellites waiting to fall back to earth. Since the launch of 'Sputnik' in 1957, humans have put 24,500 things into orbit. Just because it's called 'space' doesn't mean it isn't downright busy up there.

Despite their importance to the global economy and to the military, to my knowledge, no artist has ever been asked to look at the entire production process of one of these satellites from manufacture and testing; to command and control right through to picturing the rocket on the pad. In cahoots with This Is Real Art; the world's biggest commercial satellite operator, SES Astra, permitted me to follow the launch campaign of their Astra 3B, one of the biggest satellites ever launched but otherwise an everyday, common-or-garden satellite tasked with reflecting digital TV signals down onto Germany and Holland. It would be built mostly in Toulouse, flown from Betzdorf in Luxembourg and launched from the huge space complex at Kourou in French Guiana on the north coast of South America.

Burning through a tonne of fuel every second (!) it blasted off from Kourou in the middle of 2010. After 500 seconds it was out of gas. 3B's up there now, in a highly elliptical loop; sometimes 36,000 km away and sometimes swooping down to just 250km above our heads. Should you want to watch 350 channels of TV in Germany, Astra will bring them directly into your home.

What is your recommended...

…piece of kit? my Ebony camera.

…time of day? Coming back for breakfast at 7.30am knowing I've already done half a day's work by starting at 4

…website? www.bikeradar.com

…coffeehouse or drinking establishment? I don't drink so its a coffeehouse: 'Look Mum, No Hands' on Old St in London or there's a coffee shop on Hove seafront that I like a lot but it has no name. It's the one by the paddling pool.

http://www.lookmumnohands.com/

...photolab?  Spectrum in Hove

…city? Paris. No contest

…magazine? Rouleur

http://www.rouleur.cc/