FEATURED PORTFOLIO CHRIS FRIEL

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Nigel Douglas
5 years ago
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1 FEATURED PORTFOLIO CHRIS FRIEL A colourblind former painter from Britain, Chris Friel s camera has replaced his brush and the landscape is now his canvas. Chris painterly images were a hit on Flickr and garnered him a large following in a relatively short period of time, and he has been nominated several times for landscape photographer of the year. Known for his intentional camera movement ( ICM ) photography, Chris has been mentioned by several previous featured portfolio artists as their inspiration for why they also became ICM photographers. Photographs Chris Friel All Rights Reserved. 103

22 In Conversation with Chris Friel It s been said that many photographers find themselves in love with ICM after accidentally making a blurry image. Do you remember your eureka moment when you realized that this was the creative path for you? Sitting under a tree in a forest sheltering from the rain. Despite how it may seem, intentional camera movement is more than simply waving your camera around. Tell us a bit about your creative process: what do you look for when framing your compositions? Lines? Colours? Shapes? What makes for a good ICM photograph? A simplified representation of a scene, but with sufficient detail to hopefully engage the viewer. Your work has been described as evocative, and yet eerie and macabre: dark art, if you will. Was that intentional from the onset, or did it appear as you grew into your photography? It certainly wasn t a conscious decision. Half of the photographs in this portfolio are from your Framed collection, which has now been made into a book: tell us a bit about your inspiration for this series. How did it come to be? 144

23 For years as a painter I was interested in the idea of self-contained images, where physical frames were unnecessary and the picture had its own resolution. Obviously Howard Hodgkin mastered this many years ago, and he was always a big influence. The framed photos were all done earlier this year, where I returned to see if I could succeed with photography where I had failed with paint. As a former painter, I notice the re-emergence of those roots in the Framed series. How did you create these images? Most of these images are multiple long exposures, with camera movement. Some are done in camera and some have had the frame tweaked in post. I have written an automated sequence in Corel Painter, which grabs colour and texture from the original image and generates a randomized frame. Since putting out the book, I have gotten the hang of doing this all in camera, which I find more satisfying, but does involve rotating the camera 360 degrees to generate the frame and the use of a tripod, which I dislike. Of the photographs in this portfolio, which is/are your favourite(s) and why? This one, probably because it is the most recent. This is 50 multiple long exposures done in camera, shot from my balcony with colours adjusted in Lightroom, otherwise this is as it was shot. How much of your work is conceptualized and how much is just a matter of capturing what you see when you see it? 145

24 I usually go out with an end image in mind, though that image often changes in situ. Because the outcome with ICM is always different, do you find that you are more frustrated or enlightened by the results? How often do you envision the end result only to find that you totally missed it? The serendipity of ICM is always enlightening, but I often miss what I hoped to get. So much of your art is characterized by deep, rich colour, and yet, you re colourblind! How do you work around (or with) this? I just ignore it and try to produce images that appeal to me. I realized long ago that I am unable to take realistically toned landscapes. Colourblindness aside, where do you find your greatest creative struggle(s)? Having a day job and children. You built a substantial following in a relatively short amount of time on Flickr; other than the obvious raving fans, how did this exposure help you as a photographer? As a painter, I would work on a body of work for six months, have an exhibition for a couple of hundred people, and only then know if anyone liked the work, and then start the cycle again. Flickr is a wonderful instant feedback loop. You can take a photo in the afternoon, post it that evening, and 20,000 people will have seen it by the morning. Spend 146

25 an hour on Flickr and you will always find 10 photographers doing more interesting work than you are. I understand that you use a combination of tiltshift lenses and long exposures: tell us a bit about your technique and how you use these methods. For many years I did only use tilt shift lenses in order to achieve the image simplification I was after. These days I just use a straight 50mm prime. ICM photographers have certain gear needs since shutters are open longer than traditional photographers: any must-have accessories in your gear bag? What s your favourite go-to piece of photographic equipment? Chris Friel is a British photographer who has spent the last 10 years trying to take a photograph that he likes. His images have been exhibited at the South Bank Centre in London, on the Santiago subway in Chile, and projected behind the London Sinfonietta in the Royal Festival Hall. He has worked in 150 countries and would very much like to visit the remaining 45. My must-have accessory is a radio with headphones. My current favourite camera is an Olympus EM5 MK2, a Voigtlander 50mm prime, and a couple of ND filters. Is there one quote that you feel sums up your photographic philosophy or vision? Something that, no matter how many times you cite it or read it, still leaves you with a feeling of resonance? My friends tell me I must stop saying in public that I hate all my novels. What I mean is that I am profoundly dissatisfied with everything that I have done simply because it is not good enough by my standards. On the other hand I begin every new book in the complete conviction that this time I shall get it right. John Banville [ ] 147

INTERVIEW. All pictures Chris Friel

INTERVIEW. All pictures Chris Friel 08 09 INTERVIEW All pictures Chris Friel SECOND SIGHT When a colour-blind painter turns his hand to black & white photography, the results are bound to be interesting. Chris Friel talks to Elizabeth Roberts