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Photo by Stephen Gill, Outside In (Series)
“How do you achieve the overlay effect? Are the photos manipulated with a computer at all?
I place the objects, plant life, and small creatures inside the camera then load a color negative film. I have made a mirror device so the camera film plane is horizontal, allowing the objects to sit on the film emulsion as the shutter opens and closes like in camera photo-grams. These are straight photographs and neither made nor manipulated with a computer.
How did you first decide to add the effect to your photos?
I don’t really see it as an effect but simply as image content. I have always been trying to find ways of stepping back and allowing the subject to clamber aboard the images and steer the work, hoping the spirit of a place can remain even with little or no descriptive information. I have been attempting this for around 10 years now in different ways, like my “Buried” series or “Hackney Flowers.” In the case of the “Outside In” series it was the idea of sucking off such tiny details, and since I did not own a macro lens it ended up being the final push to put the subjects in the camera.
To what extent does chance influence the way your work turns out?
Chance is a key factor in this way of working. I am aware of what I have placed inside the camera, and of course of what I am photographing, but in many ways I am steering the image but have no idea where the final image will land, as this all depends on where the objects sit on the film emulsion. This way of working is very exciting, specially as photography can be so much about control, so thinking of the point where intentions collide with chance is very appealing to me. It’s a funny one, as when things are introduced into the camera body you are also obscuring as well as adding, so often the image forming in your head has done a complete U-turn and lands in another interesting place.” The Morning News
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