PROUD PHOTO BOOTH BY OLIVER RATH ... - Proud magazine

46
CHAT
H
i, I'm Reuben and I'm from Liverpool.
What’s been the greatest oddity you’ve
faced or captured with your photography
so far?
When I first saw the Maunsell Sea Forts
in the Thames Estuary in England, I
thought they resembled Imperial Walkers
on the horizon. They looked monstrous
and not of this world. Their original
purpose was to defend the coastline
from attack and provide early warning
during World War 2, but they were later
occupied by pirate radio stations. Now
they are maintained by a small group
of enthusiasts who stay onboard for a
number of weeks every month. I find
these remnants of war really fascinating
- what stories they tell of the time
they were used and also what they represent
now that they are disused and
forgotten about.
Travel inspires photography or photography
is the motivation to travel?
I think these are the same thing. Both
are ways of seeing and learning.
How much do you rely on chance in
your photographs? You are using a
Mamiya RZ67 which gives great control
but also polaroid and old film that
can be quite unpredictable?
I never rely on chance. Chances are
that some expired instant film will give
you bad results rather than good, so I
always take alternative film and cameras.
When I shot my Svalbard series I
had four film cameras with me. All (including
the RZ) malfunctioned due to
the cold. I suppose I like limitations and
I like a good challenge. There is always
a finite number of pictures I can take
and I enjoy doing something with the
old cameras which have rarely been
done before.
What does being artistic mean for you
and do you find yourself so?
It's about using my imagination more
than anything else.
How do you chose the places for your
photographs. Any sci-fi movie influence?:)
Last year I went to the Atacama Desert
in Northern Chile. Always wanted
to go, but it so happened that we got
booked to play some live shows in Brasil
and Chile, so I decided to go early
and spend two weeks travelling before
starting the tour. When I DJed in Honolulu
a few years back, I spent some time
beforehand exploring volcanos and
lava flows on one of the other islands. It
seems such a shame to fly all that way
and see the inside of your venue, hotel
room and a few restaurants and then
fly home.
Do you feel sometimes you are just
documenting a place?
Yeah, well that is another way of looking
at it. It's a question of degree how
much you want to focus on taking
some serious images though. You can
document it all but it does become
a bigger thing when you have to plan
your journey meticulously, scour websites
and return more than once in order
to get the image or images you are
happy with.
Aren't you living some sort of a double
life- the life of a well known musician
and the life of the solitude explorer
with a camera? How do you combine
these two opposites?
Just a man with two things he loves doing.
Describe a lovely machine.
So many, but right now, my Speed
Graphic 4x5 press camera coupled with
an Aero Ektar lens from a WW2 reconnaissance
camera.
They say polaroids always look the
same, how would you contravene on
that?
That's like saying 'black and white
photography all looks the same'. If you
think a picture is just the tonal characteristics
of film, then this is true! But
I'm not one to prioritise the look of Polaroid
film over the actual picture. Part
of my picture-taking process (when I
shoot Polaroid) involves asking myself,
'Is this still a good picture if I take it
with a conventional digital camera?'.
If not, then I don't take it. It's actually
quite difficult not to get terribly excited
about taking a Polaroid. In the end, it
really is all about the subject and composition.
How does the career of a musician
prepare you for the career of a photographer?
The sheer bulk of non-portable and
easily breakable analogue gear one has
to lug through airports.
Interview: Gergana Petrova
All images by Reuben Wu
CHAT 47