The interviewing spotlight now turns to Cameron Stephen; the man with the plastic lens.
please introduce yourself. what is “your style” of photography? Hi, I’m Cameron. I’m an Emergency Department RN by vocation, but photography, music and art are my passions. I also seem to be unable to stop collecting cameras. I’m not sure if I have any kind of definable photographic ‘style’. I guess it would be fair to say I have a pretty lo-tech approach to photography, shooting (mainly) with plastic cameras, limited apertures and shutter speeds etc, very much operating on instinct and impulse. My work is very eclectic and I like to try to capture scenes and subjects with a different perspective to how we would usually look at them in the normal course of our daily life, if we take the time to look at them at all. In the rush of modern living I believe we sometimes forget to truly “see” what is really around us, the inherent beauty in everything and everybody…(well, most everybody!)
how long have you been shooting film? what do you get out of it? Many of my first memoreis involve being photographed. My first memory of taking a photograph was having a camera thrust into my hands by my father when we were in the city during the Queen’s visit in early 1970′s – I snapped a photo of the royal personage as she passed by.
It was at a bit of an angle but not bad for a first effort. I still have that photo. After that day I remember paying a lot more attention to photography and cameras, hijacking the families Polaroid OneStep camera and then grabbing my Dad’s Yashica Electro 35 whenever I could. When I was in my 20′s I was too busy partying and photography took a back seat for a while but I rediscovered my love of photography once I ‘settled down’ a bit, in my 30′s.
Photography as a medium is amazingly versatile, it can convey a story, an artistic statement, capture a memory, convey emotions and sometimes help change the course of history. Think of how photography helped change peoples’ perceptions of the Vietnam War, or help save the Franklin River in Tasmania, for example. I think what I get most out of photography though is that freezing of time and the powerful talisman of that unique moment a photograph can capture.
show us one of your favourite shots and tell us a bit about it. how did you take it and is there a story behind it?
I took this shot when I was wandering around these metal sculptures down at the Docklands precinct one day in February 2007 after another dry summer with an original Diana (toy camera) loaded with Fuji 160 NPC. I was attempting to get a certain geometric alignment of the rings against the background of the blue boarding in the background, set up in preparation of construction of new apartment and business complexes (I didn’t know how quickly this area was going to change at the time). I wouldn’t take it any differently as it turned out better than I could ever have hoped. In fact soon after that it would have been impossible to get this scene at all. The boarding, that could be mistaken for the sea in the background soon had corporate logos painted over it and very shortly after that scaffolding and construction work itself began to climb to the sky behind the scene. This is a good example of why you should take a shot right then and there if you see it rather than going back later to catch it, because by that time it might not be there!
do you prefer color or black & white? do you have a favourite film? a favourite camera? I prefer colour for my own photography but really love the impact a good B&W photograph can give. I will use any kind of film I can get my hand on, but I tend to like film that gives nicely saturated colour. With the number of cameras I have collected and use, I couldn’t state a favourite camera as such, I love them all for different reasons relating to their unique attributes. What camera I grab to use when I step out the door depends on what results I’m looking for on a particular day, or shoot. For example, my Polaroid 600 SE with Mamiya lens loaded with Medium Format Slide film will give me vastly different results to my Diana or my blackbird,fly 35mm plastic camera. If I was pinned down, I would confess a real fondness for my original Diana 151, my blackbird fly, my Polaroid SX-70 and my Yashica Electro 35 GX rangefinder.
what do you like to see in other peoples’ photos in the MSM pool? I love great composition where the timing of subject matter, colour (or tones in the case of B&W) and the way a scene is lit come together in a synergy that is ‘just right’. What is ‘just right’ may be different for varied individuals, but I know what it is for me when I see it. It can be of any kind of subject matter, anything at all. The most recent photograph I saw that ‘clicked’ like that for me was by Barbara Fischer of a couple of figures crossing a footbridge lit from the left with early morning sunlight.
The geometries of the footbridge, the buildings and the shadows combined with little things like the matching colour of the sky and one of the figure’s bag made this photo just stand out for me. It also reminds me very much of a Jeffrey Smart painting which may influence my fondness for it, as he is one of my favourite painters.
what advice would you give to someone wanting to take better photos? Even if you plan to shoot on ‘auto’ for the rest of your life (something I would strongly discourage) try and learn the basics of photography, light, aperture, shutter & film speed (or ISO settings if you are using a digital camera) and the like. There is a saying “know thyself” – further to that I would also say “Know thy camera”. This means taking your camera everywhere and taking a lot of photographs in as many varied conditions as you can with different films (assuming you are shooting film which I would strongly suggest you try if you aren’t!) When you get to know what your camera combined with your eye and imagination is capable of it different circumstances, then you can then push the boundaries and really start having fun!
Well that’s all from Cameron, and we thank him very kindly! If you are interested in learning more about plastic and toy photography, Cameron keeps a great blog. You can view two of his images during Unsensored09 at the Collingwood Gallery until 19th August 2009.
Queen Lizzie is looking hot! Very nice snap for a youngen!
yeah liz is rocking, and that is a pretty awesome photo-journo shot to have as your first pic.
Geez, I don’t remember Liz ever being so, err, desirable.