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Spraygraphic Interview with Photographer Chris Friel
By Spraygraphic | March 22, 2010
Spraygraphic Interview with Photographer Chris Friel
SG: Please tell us about yourself. Where do you currently live and work?
CF: I am a color blind middle aged man who has had too many careers. I was a painter for 10 years and actually bought a camera to document some paintings. I moved on to a digital SLR 3 years ago and have not painted since. I am a sound recordist on travel documentaries in the day and live on a beach in southern England.
SG: What mediums do you work with?
CF: Digital photography
SG: What kind of equipment do you use?
CF: A canon full frame digital camera with a bunch of old prime lenses, my favorite being a 45mm manual focus tilt shift lens which stays on my camera most of the time
SG: Describe your working process when creating a new work.
CF: I go for a long walk and photograph anything that catches my eye. I have an appalling shooting ratio. I take about 1000 images a day, of which I keep 30 and print maybe 1. That’s the joy of digital. I would love to end up like William Eggleston who only ever takes one shot in any location.
SG: What kind of things do you do when you get blocked or find it hard to create something or simply uninspired?
CF: Just keep walking, there’s always a shot just around the corner
SG: Where are you currently finding your inspiration?
CF: The internet. An hour on flickr always brings up something new
SG: What do you look for when you are picking models/subjects to work with? Is it a physical feature? Personality? Photogenic? etc…
CF: In terms of landscape photography I am looking for simplicity. Can this image be reduced down. This usually involves using a tilt shift lens to blur part of the picture combined with a long exposure and camera movement
SG: Do you bring your camera with you everywhere with you or do you leave it home when you go out on the town?
CF: I leave it at home most of the time and rarely take family photos. I have to be walking and thinking about photography and nothing else. This sounds pretentious but it is just how I work
SG: Where has your work been seen?
CF: I have just had a couple of shows – one in the UK and one in Santiago, Chile
SG: Where will it be seen next?
CF: Who knows
CF: SG: What is your dream art assignment?
CF: To be paid to keep walking
CF: SG: What is your favorite color?.
CF: Being red green color blind this is tricky. Until recently I only shot in black and white and then I realized I could shoot in color if I did not worry about getting the colors ‘right’.
SG: Who is your favorite photographer? And Why?
CF: In terms of long exposure photography I like the work of James Wainwright and Peter Scammell in Britain, and the Russian photographer Alexey Titarenko. In terms of photography in general I find the work of people like Toshihiro Oshima in Japan and Luis Montemeyer in Mexico continually challenging.
SG: What book/magazine are you reading this week?
CF: A couple of books on the history of Nigeria as my next job is there.
SG: Where is your favorite place to hang out?
CF: On the front step at home with a beer
SG: Any final words of advice?
CF: Keep shooting
Topics: Artist Interviews, International-Art, Photography |
March 23rd, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Wonderful images. Great job of seeing outside the box!