Next up in our interview series is Matthew Joseph, you might also know his as Fotodudenz on flickr.
The Bypassers #4
Please introduce yourself. what is “your style” of photography?
Hi. My name is Matthew Joseph, also known as Fotodudenz by many and Wideboy by one other person. What is my style of photography? I wouldn’t really know how to describe it, where does one begin? Firstly, I love to shoot panoramas and wide angle stuff and I take photos of pretty much anything, but here is a short list: The everyday, the odd and obscure, run-down and abandoned stuff, graffiti, people on the street and the street itself, light in a traditional sense and actual lights, my own feet, statues, skies, art, cameras, friends, people I actually like and signs. Did I remember to say colour? So some people might call me a panoramic street photographer or maybe I’m just taking wide angle notes in photographic shorthand? Some people might describe what I do as just shit, hell, most of the time I describe it as shit but I do enjoy shooting the shit I shoot. This would be a hell of a lot easier if someone was asking me this stuff in person, that way I don’t have to think about the answers. Are you confused yet?
Little Red
How long have you been shooting film?
I have been shooting film by default all of my life, but even though I’m not fond of the term, I have been shooting film “seriously” without being serious since 1998. I do have a bit of a soft spot for video and I have been known dip my toes into the digital realm, five times be be exact but mostly for business and not pleasure. I suppose you could say I got really serious with film in 2004 when I bought the Xpan and my first Voigtlander. I fuckin’ love film, for me it is the be all and end all, I have shot great images on digital and when I took at them now I think: “Damn, I wish I took that on film”, hopefully that has all ended now. I just hope they keep making film, for at least the next 10 years anyway and by “they” I mean Fuji, I have no faith in Kodak, if they are still around in 10 years time I will be surprised. But then again, if people can come together and resurrect Polariod, maybe I’ll get to fulfill my dream of being the annoying old fart who staggers into photolabs to get my film developed and spend an hour telling the cyborgs that work there about the good old days when I worked in a lab before digital.
Do you prefer colour or black & white? do you have a favourite film or camera?
Colour or black & white, I couldn’t possibly choose between the two. I switch back and forth all the time and I actually go to the trouble of not uploading more than one film of either at a time to try and keep it interesting. It’s funny, I have noticed over the years, I get more views of my Xpan images when they are black & white than in colour and more views from the Voigtlander the other way ’round. Not that I’m counting… oh who am I kidding, I’m counting!
I do have a favourite film, well two of them, most of you will know what one is already, it’s Agfa Ultra and the second one? anyone? anyone? something-d-o-o economics? No, actually it’s Kodak BW400CN and shut up, I know what you’re thinking, but I hate developing B&W film plus I don’t really have anywhere to do it at home now. More about that later…
Cameras! Shit. Where do I start?! Technically all of my cameras are my favourite because I don’t keep the ones I don’t like or don’t use. #1 would have to be the Xpan, I love the panoramic format, I love the quality of the images I get back and I just love the camera in general, I am comfortable with it and I can trust it as it has never failed me or broken down, touch wood. #2 is the Voigtlander Bessa L, with the 12mm of course. I like it because it is basic, focus, set your aperture, set your shutter speed, it tells you if you are under, over or spot on, adjust, compose and click! This camera taught me how to measure light without a light meter. #3 is my latest acquisition, the Ricoh GR1, what a little beauty, sharp as a tack and quick off the mark, not bad at all considering it’s a compact and it hasn’t hardly left my side since I got it.
Abandoned Motel #1
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?
That’s not fair! That would be like asking a parent to choose their favourite child! Not fair at all! Being an only child I would have no idea about these thing but I always had a sneaking suspicion that parents had a favourite, anyway. There is a lot to consider when thinking about a favourite shot, it could be easy just to have a look through your most popular or most viewed images and pick from them. Every picture has a story behind it, maybe even some emotion, but most of the time that information stays with the capturer. Well I am about to let you in on a little secret, this is my favourite shot:
AP #4
It’s of my girlfriend Ambre. I had come over to Melbourne from Christchurch to meet her, we spent an amazing week together and I took this photo of her near the end of our time together. When you look at this, you see her and she is smiling, when I look at this I see and feel love. That’s it, that’s why it’s my favourite photo. And for those of you who want the technical details, it was taken on a Voigtlander Bessa R3A, 40mm Nokton and Agfa Ultra 100 film.
Show us a favourite shot from the MSM pool. what do you enjoy in other peoples’ photos? Just as difficult as the last question. There are so many great photographers in the Melbourne Silver Mine but there are only a few images that I go back and look at, revisit for one reason or another and one that I have been revisiting lately is this one:
*** by Museum of Dirt
Shit name but wow, what an image. At first I didn’t really know what I was looking at, there are all these elements in the image that threw me off, I thought I may have been looking at a painting or a drawing to start with, lots of different textures and these amazing shadow areas. Wow again, but not at the image, at the amount of wankery that just came out of my brain. Here is another wow for the image, wow. I enjoy the different perspective other people offer, we all have our own styles and equipment and it’s nice to see other people’s take on similar subjects. For example I went to an abandoned motel with Barb a week or so ago, here I was trying to cram everything into one frame and she just picked out the best elements of what was there, something that I often neglect to do.
Fine with tones or gritty and contrasty? why? For me, I like fine with tones, thank you for asking. Oh why? Umm… When I shooting B&W, 99% of the time I am shooting Kodak BW400CN. I don’t develop it, the machine does, so I don’t have as much (or any for that matter) control over the developing, it’s fairly low contrast so I get a good range of tones, but if I do want it to be grainier and more contrasty, all I have to do is over-expose it and develop it normally.
Give us a question to ask the next person. my question is: What is your dream camera or lens? and why don’t you have it already?
Thanks Matthew! Matthew is exhibiting images in UNSENSORED09, at the Collingwood Gallery until 19th August 2009.
