Community Amigo: Dreamy Doubles with Matthew Davidson

Geologist and rock sample photographer Matthew Davidson has a wealth of knowledge about film photography. He recently shot a series of dramatic double exposure photographs in Aberdeen and Kingussie, which he talks about in this short feature.

Please us a bit about yourself.

Hi, I’m Matthew, from the North East of Scotland. I work as a geologist and rock sample photographer in Aberdeen and escape into the hills, mountains and islands on holiday whenever I can. My work photography needs to be very precise, detailed and structured and it’s nice to let loose again after that, although the experience of working with studio lighting rigs and large format digital systems does come in handy for my general photography planning.

Where did your love for film photography start?

I’m not sure when exactly it started. I began photography on film, using the family Polaroid camera then moving onto a Ricoh P&S and eventually my grandfather’s Olympus OM kit. When I was around 15 or 16 I got my first digital camera and moved over entirely to that format for a few years. Instant pictures, no waiting times for processing – it was great! I gradually became aware, however, of things I was missing – the ‘look’ of my older film shots and more importantly the feeling when using and handling that OM10. A lot of the fun had been taken out of it and I realized digital wasn’t as challenging as I would have liked, so I dug out the old kit. Just before I went to Newcastle for my MSc in 2009 I bought an old Cosmic 35 (Smena) camera to try out multiple exposures and a Holga to try medium format – and haven’t looked back. That year saw the start of a rapid rise in film photography experiments and a sharp decline in digital shots. I still use digital, but I prefer to use film for fun – although if got hold of a DSLR capable of unlimited multiple exposures I could be tempted back.

What are your favorite cameras and why?

My favorites change every month or so depending on what kind of series I want to focus on. For medium format multiple exposures I tend to use a Zeiss Ikon Nettar 518/16. It’s fairly light to carry around with a sharp lens and the shutter is fast to operate. Sadly, it’s showing signs of wearing out. The Dacora Digna is even faster, easier to keep a tight turning circle and gives a very interesting texture but it’s limited by a slow top shutter speed. I like getting hold of interesting old cameras – scientific Polaroids, passport cameras, etc. They have useful lens, shutter and film back combinations for switching around onto other modded camera systems. This Christmas and New Year I’m hoping to get out on the hills with a large format Speed Graphic and a few lenses. It’s needed some work and spare part sourcing to become operational again and I’m hoping it’ll be good for some massive double exposures.

Please tell us about these photos you chose.

Well, this particular roll was taken because I hadn’t done any multiples for a while and wanted an excuse to use the Nettar. Half were taken at the ruins of Ruthven Barracks near my family’s house at Kingussie in the Highlands. Every time I stay there I go out for a walk up to the ruins and try to find a new angle or perspective for photographing them (this is becoming increasingly difficult). The barracks came under successful siege from Jacobite forces in 1746, and following the Battle of Culloden much of the remainder of the Jacobite forces rallied here to wait for word from the Young Pretender, Charles Stuart. The word came: to flee. They burnt down the barracks before making their escape.

The Aberdeen pictures were all taken in a 100m diameter area around Summer Street and Huntly Street in the west end of town. There’s a mix of old and new office buildings there plus concrete car park towers and dismal housing blocks. It feels run-down and there’re lots of conflicting architectural styles; plenty of potential subjects for abstract exposures.

Please share the top locations for shooting in your town.

If I find myself stuck I’ll head down to the harbour area and the old fishing village of Fitty. Lots of ships, junk yards full of rusty anchors, cranes and gas containers are some of the good industrial sites to see. I’ve taken a few rolls around the various shopping centre buildings which are magnificently depressing – all of them seem to have been designed to stifle happiness and induce melancholia at the very sight of them. Fantastic! Of more practical application, they’ve got many discordant shapes built into them that translate well in multiple exposures. I’d also recommend going up to Old Aberdeen to see King’s College, St Machar’s Cathedral and the university campus. Back in the town centre, the area immediately around St Nicholas Kirk is very photogenic, as is the Castlegate.

If you were to invent a new film camera, what would it do?

I have a few ideas for DIY cameras that I have to stop getting distracted about and finally put together. One photographic thing I’d like to see built is a rig to hold a camera in place and allow it to only turn on its lens axis. This rig would have metal fingers reaching out towards the lens to trip the shutter (the Digna would be the easiest for this as a shutter cock switch wouldn’t need to be engaged). The camera could thus be rotated to take multiple exposures on a fixed plane without any handling shake and each multiple image would be identical: it should be fairly easy to put together. I think this would be good for abstractions. Yes, the elements of chance and spontaneous decision do help to make those images work, but sometimes I try very hard to do something precisely and it can still rarely come out the way I imagine.

2015-12-13 #people #medium-format #120 #amigos #community #nettar #diana-f #scotland #lomoamigo #aberdeen #matthew-davidson