From Hong Kong, we travel southward to Melbourne for our next installment of 5 Questions. Please welcome memetic (aka Chris), selected by Kit our previous interview.
Here’s what the Flickrverse has to say about Chris and his photography:
“Memetic’s devotion to film and medium format continues to inspire me. His film sensibilities and viewpoints are understated yet beguiling; he brings life and shimmering creativity to even the seemingly most mundane of subjects.” — hurtingbombz
“Above all, Chris is a mate. He stops, thinks and considers. And one sees this in both his work, but in how we react to it – it invites us to pause, reflect and reconsider.” — theurbannexus
“Memetic’s stream is one of my favourites here on Flickr and I have been following his work since I started taking pictures of my own. His photos, in particular those taken by his pentacon six, are extremely addictive, and I find myself revisiting them over and over again.” — AAGCTT
1. Chris, we know it’s a tough question, but if you had to pick just one camera to shoot with from now until the end of time, what would that be?
Chris: Although I have several cameras, people that know me probably already know that isn’t a tough question! I somewhat agree with the popular theory that “gear” matters, but I also believe that the cost/prestige of the camera is ultimately irrelevant. More importantly, there is a camera out there for everyone that is suited to help them achieve their vision; and that camera could be a Leica or a $20 Olympus Trip 35. For me, my favourite turned out to be a Pentacon Six TL, which is possibly the most basic medium format SLR around. It’s highly unreliable, breaks easily if you treat it wrong, very slow to use and weighs a ton but, for me, it creates the magic I want – so then nothing else matters.
2. Another (possibly) tough question… Tell us your favourite photos on Flickr, and why you like them. First, a favourite from your photostream?
Chris: What I like about photography is that it can dissect a split-second of a moment in the world where, even at its most mundane, that frozen moment can have a life of its own. “l’esprit de l’escalier” was a single click of the camera at the scene (I don’t often take a second shot)… I went there, clicked the button, then left. But now when I look at that moment, I still love how things came together in that one eighth of a second.
And from another Flickr member?
Chris: There are many thousands of amazing photos on here that this is definitely the hardest question. I couldn’t possibly pick just one. Recently I came across a photographer in southern China who goes by the Flickr name ☜ Yanming ☞ and his photos just blow me away. His surrealist vision of humanity and life in China is really quite inspiring, so his stream as a whole really stands out in my mind. “Wind flower” is just one great example.
3. What’s one tip that you would share with someone who’s just picking up a camera?
Chris: Just shoot and shoot. I didn’t really improve my photography much until I signed up for the first exhibition of the Melbourne Silver Mine. I didn’t have any material for it then so I just kept shooting whenever I could. It was during that period, through the patterns of many pictures, I could find what it was that I wanted to shoot.
And become familiar with cameras. Don’t just use them for a bit and then change – persevere and really get to know them and don’t be afraid to get them dirty and push them to do things you want. Shoot in the rain.
4. When we interview peeps for employment here at Team Flickr, we always ask: “Kittens, babies, sunsets or flowers? Pick one.”
Chris: I do admit to having a couple of cat pics in my stream but I think I would have allergic reactions to most of those categories. To pick one, it would have to be sunsets as I like what they can represent. A sunset isn’t just one of the most magical times of the day – it’s an ending. Just like you saw the last page of a novel you begin to wonder about the rest of the story before and after. Nostalgia and the beauty of transformation is something I like to explore.
5. Which Flickr member should we ask these 5 questions of next?
Chris: Another tough question, but Velco is one photographer who consistently produces magic on here and has been a big source of inspiration when I was starting to get into photography and still is. His photography is very diverse but always shows a strong insightful vision.
Heather: Chris, thank you. We’ll be back soon with the next installment of 5 Question when we interview Velco.
Photos from memetic, ☜ Yanming ☞ and Velco.
Previously, 5 Questions for Kevin Meredith, Steph Goralnick, Olivia Wright, Eric Lafforgue, Maciej Dakowicz, Swiatek Wojtkowiak, Bart Pogoda, Brett Walker, Susan Mac, Minas Papadopoulos, karton kutuda shot zımbırtısı, Fate, Nurul, Charlie Lumanlan, and Kit.