Photography News | Issue 64 | photographynews.co.uk
Interview 34
PN: One of your most recent exhibitions, ‘Tabletops’, features images of tabletops printed onto tabletops – it’s such a simple yet effective idea. Was this something you always had in mind when taking these photographs, or is it an idea that you developed later? DH: To be honest, it happened during the shooting of them. Just being framed or on an online gallery didn’t seem right to me, so I made it harder for myself and started printing them on actual tables. It works really well. PN: Finding new ways to be creative with photography can sometimes be a difficult challenge, but you seem to have it spot on. How do you do it? DH: In part, I’ve taken my experience of designing and creating giftware to think sideways. I’m always under pressure to think of something new and different for that market, so I used the same thinking process. PN: Have you got anything coming up that we should look out for? DH: No exhibitions planned (as we speak), but lots happening in terms of newwork. Also, I’m testing a new substrate to print on. described as ‘vivid, evocative, whimsical, graphically powerful and surprising – in their content as well as in the way he invents themes for his sets of images’ Images David’s travels take him all over the world, “looking at things others would consider dreary”. His work has been
fit into the themes you have, but to create new themes? DH: I always look to create new themes, unless it’s an exceptional photograph in the making. I walk the streets a lot when I travel and just come across things. It’s hard to seek shots out, because you never know what direction to walk in. I can’t say that they come to me exactly, but I stumble across things. PN: Are there any other themes you’ve yet to publish, or themes that you’d like to shoot? DH: There are loads always waiting to process and upload. Some I’ll look at with fresh eyes at some point and a small percentage will never see the light of day. With others I may decide I’ve strayed from my original intention, but there are plenty I just have to edit intensively. Sometimes it’s about being harsh and not showing certain images I might love, in order for the gallery to work. I don’t really seek out themes, but there are plenty that I have to add to ongoing projects if I stumble upon them. My latest gallery was released on 31 January. PN: We hear you’ve printed your images on materials such as glass, wood and even silk. Can you talk us through your ‘photomentary’ process? DH: Yes, I’m keen on this. Obviously, I can’t do it with every theme, just the ones you can physically print on something appropriate. I started by thinking how boring photography had got. Too much printing, mounting and Ikea framing. If photography is art, then it had got lazy and needed to take the hard path of presenting the work on other things. So, photomentarywas born. So far, I've printed on tabletops, rear-view mirrors, sari silk, old greenhouse glass, goatskins, old bus windows and old double-glazing panels. They need a certain type of printing that you don’t find everywhere, and of course searching out the substrates and testing if it’s possible in the first place. It takes time, but good art should. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of fantastic photographers out there, but I just wanted to focus on how photography could move on in terms of presenting the art.
I’ve printed on tabletops, rear view mirrors, sari silk, goatskin and old double glazing panels
my problem. I’m creative and won’t be slowed down to a pace that might suit others. ‘They’ want to pigeonhole and sell a brand. If I’m branded, I can’t produce what I want or think I should, so success isn’t always creative. PN: Each gallery has a very specific theme, for example, ‘Those Pesky Pigeons’, ‘World Time’ and ‘The Jumpers’. Which came first, the themes or the images? Can you talk us through the process? DH: Good question. The images in the first instance. But there are a number of trips when you start photographing things where you’re not sure if you’ll ever see another one again or it’s ‘a thing’ in the country you’re in. Then you think of a title and you get excited and start seeking whatever out. From the
galleries you mentioned, though, always the images, as they all took several years to complete. PN: Of all of the themes, do you have a particular favourite? What about a favourite image and why? DH: My favourite gallery is always the next one I’m working on. It’s important to love it and get excited by it. However, I have a slight weakness for ‘With or Without You’, ‘The Optimists’ and ‘The Light of the Darkness’. As for favourite image, that’s even harder. Today,it’sthis(previouspage,top).Tomorrow... Who knows? PN: Are you always on the lookout for new types of shots to capture – not only to
Contact
To enjoyDavid’s ever-growing galleries – which includes short ‘stills’ films and images fromexhibitions usingDavid’s photomentary process – visit hiswebsite hixposure.co.uk
Powered by FlippingBook