This week I’m digging a little deeper into my back catalogue for the third installment of Archive Five, sharing some of the stories and details behind the images in my collection.
#1
A few years ago I was tasked by Patagonia Korea with photographing their climbers in action. I was hooked on indoor bouldering at the time, and the idea of shooting from the side of a cliff sounded like a ton of fun. I scaled the rock using an awkward amalgam of loops and clips that resembled a cat’s cradle, sketchily slinging the camera on my shoulder like I would on a regular walk.
It was a wonderful challenge trying to figure out novel angles and talking the climbers into tougher routes than they’d ordinarily climb, and letting go of all the ropes and stretching out in a horizontal tip-toe over the climber and the empty air below was a feeling second to none.
#2
Anyone who has tried to live and work in a foreign country knows the path is rarely straightforward. I’d been in Korea close to 10 years before I was able to truly quit my day job to be a full-time photographer. In those first few weeks I suddenly had all this time on my hands, and took to riding further and further on my bicycle as a way to convince myself I’d reclaimed my life. It was on one of those missions that I came across a very unusual sight - a ramshackle outdoor barber shop.
The barber’s tools were humble: scissors, a comb and brush, a fabric cover, a chair and, of course, a mirror. Walls and a roof had been deemed bourgeois and unnecessary. It should be said that the patron only had access to the mirror once the haircut was done, meaning it revealed the results of the barber’s efforts but offered no suggestions to guide his hand. Seeing this man happily working outside in this strange space and on his own terms drove home the fact that I was at that start of my own version of this life. It was a happy, long ride home.
#3
There’ll come a moment in every working photographer’s career when their equipment will fail on the job. It’s the stuff of nightmares because, at least in the fashion industry, photography is something of a bottleneck. So much time and effort is spent conceiving, designing and producing the clothes, at which point the company, models, make up artists and stylists all gather in one place and at one time for one specific purpose: to produce images. That’s when they stop and you start.
I was midway into one of these shoots when for reasons unclear my camera seized, and I was faced with what an optimist would describe as an opportunity to grow. In order to focus on the point I want to make I’ll get it out of the way up front that I had a back up body - albeit one I had only just purchased and was unfamiliar with, making me reluctant to switch.
At the moment my camera failed, and I looked up at a room full of people waiting for me to direct the next shot, I felt a wave of panic that I wouldn’t be able to deliver the images I was responsible for. The bad thing I’d always worried about had happened. But, after that painful surprise had passed, dealing with it clarified into a series of decisions. I called for a coffee break, spoke to the client in private, explained how I would address the situation, tried to fix the fault, ultimately changed cameras/lenses/tether cables, worked out the new speed at which I’d have to shoot to finish on time, and set to it. There are a lot of experiences working in photography you’ll hope to avoid. I can assure you failing equipment is one of them. But each one you encounter and overcome will expand what you’re capable of, making you a more confident and able photographer.
#4
Making a photo book is something of a rite of passage for a photographer. It’s proof that you believe in the images enough to go through the effort and expense of packaging them between two covers and presenting them to the world. Long before I made Dirty Work and Serial Music, I started learning about the photo book process by making my own little dummy in the simplest way I could.
I bought a notebook from a local store that had thick, unlined paper and rounded edges. Next, I printed a month’s worth of photographs on a very cheap printer, and got to glueing.
I glued in one image per spread, and had my first experience of editing and sequencing for a book. It was a very easy, fun, tactile and low stakes way of engaging with the format.
I only ever made one of these and it’s sat in my drawer ever since. But don’t let a sentence like that discourage you from making your own. Every time I stumble on it I’m reminded of that first impulse of wanting to make something with my photographs, and I’m happy to know I still feel it as powerfully now as I did then.
#5
I’d known my wife as a friend for a little while before we started dating. Around the time I was building up the courage to tell her that I had feelings for her, the weather report said Seoul would be waking up the next morning to the year’s first snow. I messaged Kel and asked if she wanted to meet me a few hours before dawn to see the snowcapped sunrise. I don’t think I used that term specifically, and she’d probably have said ‘No’ if I had.
We climbed the mountain in the dark, arriving at the peak just as the sky turned its peculiar pre-morning colour. Hiking a mountain keeps you pretty warm, but standing on one in the snow is chilly business. I slipped off my bag, surprising Kel with a thermos of coffee and a blanket from which we watched the sun peak over an endless sea of city. I haven’t looked closely at the photos from that walk for a long time, but seeing them now, as the year winds down and the slow dip in temperature speaks of the weather to come, I feel good about where I am and who I’m here with. I hope you feel it too.
Cheers,
Chris
Coming Up
Friends and Photography - What working together does for creativity
Serial Music: Vol. 10 is Out! - Sharing a story from one of the zine’s image pairs.
Of course... where else would you want to have a haircut! Fabulous!!
👏📷