Interview 26
Photography News Issue 44 absolutephoto.com
Christoffer Relander creates and preserves memories using a double exposure technique. We find out more about his multiple exposure work and Jarred & Displaced project Jarred&Displaced
Interviewby Jemma Dodd
Focusing on one particular technique is a sure-fireway tohelpyou improve. Looking at Christoffer Relander’s portfolio proves this point; his drive and creativity has helped him shape the technique to something unique to him and resulted in some mesmerising and surreal images. When did you first come across multiple exposure photography? When I was in 6th grade. My teacher had returned from a vacation and told us about an incident when she hadbeen taking 35mmpictureswhile out in the countryside. The shots she captured included a cow eating grass and another of her mom sitting in a small Fiat. When she received her images from the printing lab it turned out some were accidentally double exposed; the cow looked like it was sat in the Fiat chomping grass. I found it fascinating that you could manipulate images in- camera instantly without needing any software. When did you start using the technique yourself? In 2010 I decided to get more serious with photography and even sold my car to be able to afford a DSLR that supported multiple exposures. I purchased a Nikon D700 with some prime lenses and started to experiment, taking several hundred frames per day. Soon I started to focus onman and nature and decided to title my project We Are Nature. After publishing the images online, they went viral the day after. My website crashed, my inbox got swamped and even Oprah Winfrey published one of my portraits in her blog. Nothing an introvert photographer from the countryside like me ever expected to experience. Howmuch planning goes into each shot? Generally I don’t plan much. Often, I prefer to go out with no expectations whatsoever. One of the reasons that I am such a fan of multiple exposures is because of the excitement of creating the unexpected. Sometimes I even try to fail as it could lead to a new idea, sometimes I may have a bit of an idea from the start, which is usually a shape or gesture combined with a specific texture. What inspires your multiple exposure shots? I believe the works from artists such as Harry Callahan and Charles Swedlund inspired me somewhat. Our works are quite
Above Villager & Village: "People on theMiranda Plateau have been leaving their villages since the 1950s, in search of moremodern lives, but a few resist." Right Jarred Anemones III: "In spring theWood Anemones bloom like a galaxy of stars." Far right top Jarred Old Tjikko: " The world’s oldest clonal tree we knowof, on Fulufjället in Sweden." Far right below Miranda Donkey Foal and Cork Tree: "Lameiros are very biodiverse traditional pastures, bordered by Ash trees. TheMiranda Donkey frequently feeds. Their symbiosis contributes to avoiding each other’s extinction."
different, but I believe we share a similar fundamental experimental playfulness. Sometimes I get new ideas by deciding to be very experimental and I believe they did too. I also look for inspiration in places where you wouldn’t expect it to be found, like through an abstract doodle or a shape in nature that reminds me of a pose or expression. I like the idea of creating my pictures rather than 'taking' them. Can you talk our readers through the shooting technique? My Nikon D800E has a multiple exposure feature built-in which I use. I tend to use compositionswhich offer a strong contrast. It’s important
to understand that the exposure can only get brighter, this means that if I overexpose an area on the frame on my first exposure, it will remain overexposed. It doesn’t matter which order I shoot my exposures though, the result is still the same. Is there any post-processing involved in your images? I never manipulate my images in post-processing, I find it a slow and almost never ending process. I don’t like the idea of having to decide when the manipulation is finished, or when enough tweaking has been done. That’s why I shoot the multiple exposure in-camera, doing it in- camera is an instant manipulation
I found it fascinating that you could manipulate images in-camera instantly without needing software
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