CHRIS SAUNDERS

 

 

Hello, welcome to my blog. Seeing as this is a new site, and every other photographer has seems to have a similar kind of thing, I thought I ought to have a blog as well. I've never really blogged before, except for a couple of bits on that once ok, now woeful, Myspace. So this may turn out to be one of those things that I initially hammer, spewing out all kinds of bullshit, before I quickly realise bullshit is exactly what it is and all that will be seen thereon will be the cyberspace equivalent of tumbleweed. Or I may get really into it and it'll become a narcissistic exercise that no-one but the proof reader (ie: me) will read. But isn't this, apart from the really good & entertaining ones, the way of most blogs..?

Anyway, on the way to either of those eventualities coming to pass, I'll be posting stuff about shoots I do & shoots I have done -  the latter if only to answer online the question of what was David Lynch/ Bill Hicks/ Derren Brown/ Tim Robbins etc like? - a question I get asked a lot and to be honest never tire of answering.  I like recalling them because for the most part every shoot I've done has been a joy. And there'll be lots of plugging of photographers whose work I love.

For now though I'll post this, an interview I did for the website http://www.mullitover.cc/ a couple of months ago - the interviewer asks the David Lynch question and there will be a more detailed account of the day I photographed the best filmmaker ever later (and yes he is, all the other greats have made crap in between their best stuff. Lynch has made one, debatable, wrong move that was scuppered for reasons that weren't down to him. So there, fanboy has spoken).  Mullitover is a great site if you're into photography, lots of interviews with loads of mostly relatively unknown photographers doing a huge variety of work. Highly recommended...


JONATHAN CHERRY: What did you have for breakfast this morning?

CHRIS SAUNDERS: Strong, slightly sweet coffee. Three Weetabix with warm milk.

JC: Are there any emerging artists inspiring you at the moment?

CS: Joey Lawrence. I love the photographs he's shot in Africa. And  Lara Jade’s work, I'm not really into fashion at all but I think her stuff is a cut above the usual stuff . I’d hesitate to call them “artists”, I don’t know if they’re "saying" much & their work is very much commercially orientated mainly, but a good picture is a good picture irrespective of whether there’s any meaning beyond the visual to back it up - to me anyway.

 

Both are *very* young and whilst their finished work doesn’t really have much in common with mine, I tend to keep my lighting and retouching very simple in comparison, they do keep reminding me I have to be on my toes (in actual fact I think they’re *much* better photographers than I’ll ever be!)

 

But I haven’t seen anyone’s work recently that I’ve liked anywhere near as much as Vivian Maier’s. What a find her work is.

 

 

JC: Have you got a current project on at the moment? If so, whats it all about?

 

CS: I’m currently photographing 100 people from my hometown, one person for every year of age. Alongside the portrait I shoot I’m putting a picture of the subject’s own taken when they were younger to show how the passage of time has altered their appearance. I’m fascinated by the ageing process, how the folds of skin & wrinkles become more enhanced, how some people do still bear a strong resemblance to their younger selves whilst some others change quite drastically. Plus I wanted to take a lot of simple shots in natural light for a change & I thought this was a reasonably good theme to undertake. I've been compiling the shots on & off for a couple of years now & I'm determined to get it finished soon.

 

 

JC: What has 2011 got in store for you?

 

CS: I’ll be working on having 2 exhibitions, one of the above project, & one of a musician from my hometown, Richard Hawley, who I’ve photographed numerous times over the years during which time he’s steadily become more & more popular.

 

JC: What was David Lynch like to photograph?

 

CS: As a fan of his work for 20+ years it was a thrill to meet and photograph him. I was originally given half an hour for the shoot which is an unusual length of time in my experience - usually it’s ten minutes tops and occasionally much less with really well known people. So I had a look on the website for the hotel where he was staying to see if I could plan any shots. Turned out the ground floor was decked out with Philippe Starck furniture, really great looking stuff, so I made a military precision plan of how & where to photograph him. Come the day, I get to the hotel with a couple of friends masquerading as assistants (in reality huge Lynch fans) to be told the ground floor is off limits for the shoot for some reason, & because Lynch’s day is running behind schedule I’d have to photograph him in his room. And I'd only have 5 minutes for the shoot (I got about 10 as it turned out). I had to photograph him on the balcony outside his room in windy conditions in the end. The cigarette that he’s smoking in the picture is a half smoked one that he enthusiastically picked out of a plant pot (“look there’s one just here!”) after I asked him if I could get a couple of him with a cig on the go..

 

Whenever I’ve photographed someone whose work I admire a great deal I try and remember (and sometimes fail at this) to not talk about their work, they do enough of that in interviews, and not to come across as a fanboy. That said, nerves had kicked in & I did have a moment when I first looked at him through the lens and thought “Fucking hell, I’m photographing David Lynch...”.

 

JC: What is it that draws you to portraiture?

 

CS: Faces. A remark often said in response to a portrait is something along the lines of “oh, the character of the subject is really coming through” or words to that effect, something I don’t really agree that a photograph has the capacity to do. People are complicated, they have many facets to their character. I think portraits can show an emotion in the moment that’s indicative of how the subject is responding to the photographer, or if there's something in the environment they’re being photographed in that relates to the subject which will show a certain side of them.

 

Actually I also like this quote from Sarah Mei Herman who you interviewed recently “I think a successful portrait is a portrait that triggers the imagination, and makes you want to look at it over and over again: revealing something that is usually hidden from view”.

 

I don't think that applies to my photographs particularly. For me its faces - I’m fascinated by the fact that something so simple in form, a few distinguishing features on an oval shape, can vary so greatly and offer a multitude of variations of its initial appearance.

 

I’m also drawn towards photographing creative people as well. The first person I photographed who was relatively well known was the late comedian Bill Hicks when I was a photography student. I had by chance seen a performance by him on TV which I thought was amazing, by far the best stand up set I had ever seen, & I discovered he was due to appear in town later that week. I decided I had to meet him so went down to the venue on the day & waited for him to arrive. When he turned up I explained I was a photography student & asked if could take his picture for my portfolio. He was happy to do it & had a great time talking to him. It was a buzz getting good results in a short time & I’ve sought to replicate that experience ever since I suppose.

 

JC: Any words of wisdom to recent photography graduates?

 

CS: There are so many more photographers around these days than there used to be partly because it’s easier to learn the rudimentary aspects of photography due to the advent of digital. It’s far less expensive & time consuming to learn from mistakes & to experiment now than back when film, paper, & chemicals were involved. There’s still, I imagine, the same ratio of good to bad photographers but there’s more of them now, chasing the same amount of opportunities as there used to be (or less, especially if it’s editorial photography). Plus there’s a big expectation to provide work for free as well. I had someone yesterday from a company asking if I were interested in a collaboration.  What this collaboration entailed was me providing some of my work for them to use in their advertising in return for a credit. When credits can be exchanged for food I’ll be all ears. Until then…

 

So my advice, for what it's worth, to photography graduates, as well as all the “be tenacious, be creative” stuff, is *do not* work for free for people who should be paying you. If your work is good enough to be used it’s good enough to be paid for. There are exceptions of course, eg whether you’ll have fun doing it, whether it’s a shot that’ll look good in your portfolio, if it’s a small magazine/band etc maybe you could end up growing with them etc, and I've done all of these and will continue to do so. But on the whole it’s a practice that if it prevails will end up devaluing photography as a way of making a living if photographers work for free for organisations who really should have a budget for photography. Graduates should look at these links here and here.

 

JC: Other thoughts?

 

CS: How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 

Fifty. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, “I could have done that.”

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And that's it for now.  Hope it was a vaguely diverting read.