Trent Parke. Minutes to Midnight or Moments of a Genius?

Trent Parke was born in 1971 and raised in Newcastle, New South Wales. Using his mother's Pentax Spotmatic and the family laundry as a darkroom, he began taking pictures when he was around 12 years old. Today, Parke, the only Australian photographer to be represented by Magnum, works primarily as a street photographer.

Trent Parke, the first Australian to become a Full Member of the renowned photographers' cooperative Magnum Photo Agency, is considered one of the most innovative and challenging young photographers of his generation. He is also member of street photography collective of In-Public. 

In 2003, with wife and fellow photographer Narelle Autio, Parke drove almost 90,000 km (56,000 miles) around Australia. He had been saving for five years to make a road trip, but finally set off after noticing a newspaper survey that claimed most Australians thought their country had come to the end of an era. Parke says it was then he decided that the time had come to find out what his country had become. Minutes to Midnight, the collection of photographs from this journey, offers a sometimes disturbing portrait of twenty-first century Australia, from the desiccated outback to the chaotic, melancholic vitality of life in remote Aboriginal towns. For this project Parke was awarded the W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography.

The project of  Minutes to Midnight is a highly personal and elemental kind: events, people and places as they are chanced upon and as they appear, not in the face of a looming deadline, but in the perma-glare of the outback.. Like many of Parke’s photographs it is beyond news. It looks as if it could have been taken the day after tomorrow, in the aftermath of history.

Trent Parke's intense black and white photographs present a vision of this country that is desolate, dark, and hauntingly beautiful. He went looking for Australia and found not a dead heart, but a heart of darkness. He found a harsh country still dealing with its brutal colonial past, unsure of its future and where it is going. But Parke finishes the exhibition on a cautiously hopeful note. The final image records the birth of his son. Presented on a glowing light box, the next generation arrives slippery wet, limply white and with his eyes wide open.

Parke won World Press Photo Awards in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005, and in 2006 was granted the ABN AMRO Emerging Artist Award. He was selected to be part of the World Press Photo Masterclass in 1999. Parke has published two books, Dream/Life in 1999, and The Seventh Wave with Narelle Autio in 2000. His work has been exhibited widely. In 2006 the National Gallery of Australia acquired Parke's entire Minutes to Midnight exhibition.

                                                          All photos ©Trent Parke

Trent Parke's quote: "I am forever chasing light. Light turns the ordinary into the magical."  

Blake Andrews. An Interview

Blake Andrews is a great photographer member of In-Public. He lives with his wife and their three sons in Eugene, Oregon. You can find more of his photos in his site www.blakeandrewsphoto.com You can also find more of his thoughts in his great blog blakeandrews.blogspot.com

Please tell us something about yourself. When and how did you start photography? How did you first get started in street photography?

I took a photography class in 1993 and that kindled my interest. From that point I took photos on my own and gradually became more and more enamored. I was living in a city at the time, exploring with a camera, so most of what I shot early on might fall under the "street photography" label. But I didn't consciously set out to shoot that style. I didn't even know what street photography was until I'd been shooting for several years. And even now "street photography" is not a perfect description for what I do.

Which contemporary or emerging photographers impress you?

I've been asked this question a few times so I'l try to pick people I haven't yet mentioned. Matt Eich. Garry Trinh. Thomas Michael Alleman. Jon Lowenstein. Masao Yamamoto. Jason Fulford. Gordon Stettinius. Ron Jude. Michael Ackerman. Vanessa Winship. Simon Kosoff. Caleb Charland. Ed Panar.

Which of the old Masters inspired you the most?

Same logic. Some of these folks are still quite active, so the word "old" doesn't quite apply, but they are all masters: Tony Ray-Jones. Sylvia Plachy. Ed Ruscha. Philip Perkis. Saul Leiter. Paul McDough. Barbara Crane. Louis Faurer. Helen Levitt. Henry Wessel. Charles Traub. Nicholas Nixon. Tom Wood. Mitch Epstein.

What is your favorite project till now and why?

I don't really work in projects but if I'm thinking in that way, I suppose my family photos make a nice body of work. It's probably the only work that I've done that I'm assured will have lasting meaning for someone in the future: my kids. They grow and change so quickly that the photos become historic in a hurry, and I kind of like that.

There are a lot of differing opinions when it comes to defining “street photography.” How would you define it? What is your opinion about street photography without life (not necessarily human). Documentary vs street photography. How close or how far apart do you think they are?

I was asked this question recently by someone else (http://jophilippe.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/interview-with-blake-andrews/) and I think my answer then still applies:
"I would define street photography as making unplanned photos in an unpredictable environment. That’s not exactly the same as documentary photography, which basically includes any photograph attempting to depict the world in a direct and real way."
An unpredictable environment can be one with life or without. Usually life adds to the uncertainty, but it's very possible to find chance moments without life.

How do you define “beauty” when it comes to photography?

That's a loaded question because I think beauty is extremely subjective. For me it's often tied to imperfection. I'm not so interested in perfect scenes in the style of Ansel Adams or Edward Weston. I think photos with flaws are more beautiful, because that's what the world looks like. It isn't perfect. It's got buck teeth. People who've had braces having boring teeth.
On one of Dylan's early records there's a song which starts, gets messed up, and then breaks down into him laughing. I think it's great that they left that in the recording, because if it was being recorded today I think that may have been smoothed over or erased in the name of "beauty". I like photos which operate by the same principle. Some of Winogrand's slanting shots feel like that. You're not supposed to hold the camera that way, which makes them appealing for me. After you look at a few of them you forget about the slant. I think this explains also the appeal for me of Holga and Diana work, although much of that work fetishizes the imperfect. But when it's done well it can be really nice.

Do you feel sometimes that your blogging activity maybe competes with your photography? I mean your blog is so successful that when people think of Blake Andrews do they first think of him as a blogger or as photographer?

It depends which audience you're talking about. In the online world I'm probably better known as a blogger because that's where I've put my online energy. I don't post many photos online but I keep the blog fairly active. So if you ask someone in Asia or Europe, or someone who only knowns me online, that's probably who I am to them.
But in the real world I'm known primarily as a photographer. My photographer friends don't pay much attention to my blog. I share photos with them and shoot with them and they know me as someone behind a camera, not necessarily a computer. And that's what I consider myself first and foremost, a shooter.

What is your relation with social networks like Facebook or Flickr, do we live in picture overdose times?

I enjoy Facebook but for me it doesn't have much practical application. It's just a fun amusement to check in on occasionally. It's been interesting to follow FPN on Facebook, not necessarily because the posts always lead to interesting discussions but because they're sort of a temperature check. They show what's on people's minds.
I don't post photos on Flickr so I can't comment on that aspect of it. I drop in occasionally on Flickr chat forums like HCSP. Sometimes they can be interesting.

Do you think that social networks can help a photographer by making him popular - well known - or is there a danger of making him after the "likes" of public and not really express himself.

I think it's very valuable to find colleagues who can give feedback and whose opinion you trust. Whether you find this online or in the real world doesn't matter, but I think that sort of feedback is vital, because otherwise photography can be quite isolating. For myself I rely mostly on real-world feedback. I have 4 or 5 friends who I meet with regularly to share work. I value their comments, and I think they value mine.
I think one potential pitfall of online feedback is that it's hard to know how to value it. If a photo gets 10 "likes" from strangers, that doesn't tell you very much. But one "like" from a trusted friend can be very informative. So if you can cultivate trusted colleagues online, that's valuable.
But in the end, feedback is feedback. The only judge that really matters is yourself. It sounds like a cliche but it's true.

Street photography has become wildly popular, What do you think the future is? What is the role of groups like inPublic or HCSP?

I'm not sure I agree with the premise. Everyone says street photography is popular but I think that depends where you look. Walk down the street and ask the first person you run into to name any street photographer. Or any photographer period. Street photography is an incredibly small niche in the grand scheme of things. Even in the photography world, which I think is what your question refers to, street photography is a minor footnote. Most fine art photography doesn't treat it seriously.
I think where it is popular, especially among beginners, is on the internet, simply because street is the most accessible form of photography, and the internet is the most accessible forum. All you need is a camera and walking shoes, and at the end of the day, a computer to post images. On the one hand this is great. It's never been easier to share work, and perhaps it's easier for street photographers to find and develop their voice now. I think street photography more than most other photographic forms has boomed online. But I think there's a risk of mistaking all of that online energy for real-world impact. At the end of the day, how many world class street photographers are there now compared to 30 years ago? My guess is roughly the same number.
A good example of online energy is the Street Photography Now book, which I think attempted to encapsulate the contemporary street photography zeitgeist. It did that to an extent, but I think what it did even better is give written form to the online street photo scene. To me the book seemed built around the internet, and sort of confirmed my view that the online world dominates street photography.
As for the future, I'm not sure. Things are changing quickly, but I suspect that in 30 years there will probably be roughly the same number of world class street photographers around as there are now.

Street Photography Now project was a great success last year. This year the community continues the project by self organizing. You are one of this year's instructors. What is your advice to the community?

Even though I submitted an instruction, I am rather dubious about learning via instruction. I've never had training in photography or taught it. I'm a great believer in practical experience. So my advice would be to treat these instructions as a fun activity but not with the expectation that they'll lead to anything. The path that leads forward is daily practice. Thousands of hours.

 

 Form, content, candid moment, the transformation of reality, all of these should be balanced in a good street photo, but what do you enjoy the most in good street photography?

I like photos which make you ask yourself, "How did they see that?" Those are the ones I enjoy most. Most photographs are fairly simple to decode. It's the ones which aren't which I find entertaining.

Living in a smaller town (Eugene, Oregon) like you have done in last few years, how has that influenced your work?

I've slowed my shooting since moving to Eugene. In some ways this has been a good thing. Living in a larger city I was a bit out of control. Although I learned quite a bit by constantly photographing, it was unmanageable. I never could've started my blog in Portland, for example. There just wasn't time. So the move to a community where shooting isn't a continual temptation has been a relief in some ways. Now I time my outings for certain places or certain events. The parade on Saturday or the tailgate scene or whatever. When I want a dose of urban life I go to Portland or plan strictly photographic outings to distant cities. I still have my camera with me between those times but the shooting isn't as constant. As I alluded to in my definition above, street photography can happen anywhere. It's "making unplanned photos in an unpredictable environment."

I know you are a film supporter. As they say there is no point in changing a winning team. When do you expect that digital will offer you something more than convenience (as you mention in another interview).

I'm not necessarily a film supporter. I shoot film but I'm happy for others to choose whatever format works for them. It's a personal decision. At this point I don't envision switching to digital, at least not for black and white. If I run out of things to say with b/w I might switch to color, at which point I'd look hard at digital. But for now I'm glad to do what I do. I've never taken a b/w film image and thought, "Darn, I wish I'd shot that in color digital." Instead it's been the other way. In those rare times I've been without my film camera I've regretted it.



Blake thank you very much for this interesting interview.

in-sight. Nick Turpin's film about Street Photography

in-sight is a 38 minute documentary film made by the British Street Photographer Nick Turpin that follows some of the members of the in-public Street Photographers group shooting on the streets of London, New York, Melbourne and Rotterdam. Using miniature HD camera technology to place the viewer on the Hotshoe, the film provides an in sight into the working methods and approach of some of the worlds most notable contemporary Street Photographers.


You can enjoy this great film with a small donation to paypal supporting this effort. My recommendation is that is worth every cent you give.  Just push the play button bellow and watch some of the greatest street photographers in action. 

David Gibson. An Interview

Please tell us something about yourself.  When and how did you start photographing? How did you first get started in street photography?

I came to photography relatively late having worked as a shipping clerk and then in social work for a number of years. I had a ‘proper’ camera when I was about 17 but it was more than ten years before an interest in photography became an obsession. My introduction was ‘humanistic photography’ which was mostly the photographers within Magnum such as David Hurn, Marc Riboud, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Elliott Erwitt.  The term ‘street photography’ never really gripped me until much later.

Describe the favorite street photograph you’ve taken. When and where did you take the photo, and why is it special to you?

It’s difficult to choose one absolute favourite photograph but I have to acknowledge ‘Audition’ that was taken as recently as 2008, Having probably learnt the craft of street photography over 20 years I know that the basic elements of luck and practice came together in that image.

I always feel that great street photographs are unearthed or discovered because they are always there. You just have to be ready and on that day - Feb 9^th 2008 - just off Shaftsbury Avenue in London I got lucky. Yes, I remember the day because that kind of day does not happen very often. There is a sense of excitement and relief when you ‘get it’.

Street Photography - color or b/w photography? What do you prefer and why? How digital time has influenced your photography?

Always a hard question, an unfair question even because why not both? At the moment I’m still hooked on colour, it seems right to pursue but I love both. I have more books with black and white photographs in them so that might be a clue to my true heart. But there must always be change and a challenge with photography. Digital as with many photographers pushed me towards colour but it surely comes down to whatever inspires you at the time. One point with digital is that so far I have never converted colour to monochrome. I always feel that is somehow ‘wrong’ but that might well change. I know a lot of photographers do that and I’m intrigued by the results

4. You are member of in-public (actually Nick Turpin invited you first of all the rest of the group), can you tell us something about this group?

It’s billed as ‘the home of street photography’ so in a sense it’s a home for all of it’s members. We feel comfortable there. We’ve been going more than 10 years and who knows what will happen but we do have a responsibility to street photography.

And we came into existence as the Internet truly began to enter people’s lives and therefore we’ve reached out to many photographers around the world. That’s what really matters. Nick Turpin and Matt Stuart deserve huge credit for that.

You are featured in the Street Photography Now book. What does that term street Photography  mean to you? How would you define it?

As mentioned previously I do feel a little uneasy about the term. I resist it a little feeling that I’m just a photographer who mostly takes photographs on the street. That’s a contradiction of course and maybe quite futile because it’s good to be known for any type of photography. It’s good to get recognition.

I would define street photography as any photography taken outside your front door, it is not set up and it depicts ordinary people going about their everyday lives. The essential point is that like the very word ‘street’ it has a little bit of attitude, it is real, a little dark, edgy and sometimes funny. It is real.

Street photography has become wildly popular with many exhibitions and documentaries springing up. You were a very active member of the Format festival as a member of in-public, What do you think is the future of street photography?

My description of street photography is hopefully it’s future. Street photography is real and people therefore respond to it. Trends in photography seem to go in cycles but street photography has always been there from the invention of photography itself. The future of street photography looks good, how can such a practice not be?  And the Internet is the future and street photography will inevitably thrive in that arena.

How often are you out on the streets shooting? Do you always have a camera with you and are you photographing on the streets anyway or are you only working with a clear concept or target in mind?  What is your favorite time of the day photographing in the streets?

I am much more selective about when I take street photographs now and I certainly don’t do it all the time. I wait for inspiration but realise that I often have to meet that inspiration half way.  The hardest part of street photography is in my head but I do have a camera with me on most days. Not having a camera with me is a risk.

I tend to avoid bright sunlight – so if I do have a favourite time of day it would probably be late afternoon.

Which contemporary or emerging photographers impress you? Which of the old Masters inspired you the most?

I’m not completely ‘up to date’ and perhaps it’s like music where you feel comfortable – or get stuck – with what you like. It requires effort to be aware of everything but I have become more aware of Alex Webb recently and Pinkhasov is an amazing and distinctive photographer. Blake Andrews of in-public is a fine photographer. His Picture of the Month (for April 2011) on the in-public site is a truly great photograph.

There are some very good Greek photographers of course. Nikos Econompoulos for example but none of these names can really be considered emerging but maybe they are less high profile.

It’s always good to return to the ‘old masters’ and Cartier-Bresson still resonates. I remember feeling the significance of his passing a few years ago but he’s now gone – and he hated colour. We have to move on. That’s the theory anyway but perhaps genius or class is timeless.

How do you define “beauty” when it comes to photography?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as someone said about women I think…so much the same can be said about photography. Elegance is also beauty. Beauty is everywhere and is something that we should seek out. I much prefer subtle beauty in photography rather than ugliness.

NickTurpin said describing your meeting back in 2000 that your work was witty and carefully observed with an edge of melancholy to many of your images of older people. How do you describe your work now?

An early subject matter was indeed the elderly that certainly had an air of nostalgia or melancholy about it. I think that I have moved away from that now but maybe there are traces of that ‘melancholy’ still there in my photography. I used to photograph a lot of children too when I first started so my subjects have shifted…and become more ‘colourful’ quite literally.

Looking at your photos a viewer can easily observe juxtapositions between subject and background. There are also the use of words and symbols.

Yes, definitely. I’ve always ‘used’ juxtapositions and sometimes they can be very effective. I love words too, always had a fascination for the graphic word and especially where it can act as a ‘subtitle’ in a street photograph.

In late March you led a street photography workshop in Athens. What is your experience from the workshop as well as from shooting on the streets of Athens?

Leading street photography workshops has been a major discovery for me because I never imagined that I would one day ‘teach’ in any way. It has become a source of inspiration and especially so when it is in a foreign city because it is a wonderful way to connect with people.  Athens was particularly satisfying because of the amazing enthusiasm amongst the photographic community there. That in itself was an eye opener and could well lead to more workshop opportunities in other places. The essential experience for me in doing these workshops is the sense of discovery and enthusiasm of the participants. In reality I learn more from them because it reinvigorates my own photography. Inspiration can often work both ways.

All photographs ©David Gibson

I know you planning some new workshops in the near future (London 28th-30th May) There is a lot of people just starting with Street Photography, can you recommend them something for better start?

Be inspired; seek out inspiration from the legacy of all the great street photographers that have gone before – and get connected with other photographers.  We are incredibly fortunate to live in the world of the Internet but don’t forget the pleasure of photographs on the page of a book. You can judge a photographer by their library of photographic books.

It’s essentially a question of soaking up the work of the best photographers and thereby knowing what is possible with your own photography. If you carry a certain standard in your head, then with luck and a lot of wandering…sometimes the magic can happen. I always return to the phrase about street photography that it is mostly about looking for the luck.

Thank you very much for this fantastic interview. It was my pleasure participating in Athens workshop as well wandering with you on the streets of Athens. I think is a privilege for me considering of you as my friend. Thanks David.