4TheRcrd Mag.

All photos taken by sp_clarke

The Flickr name sp_clarke has become casually famous among Vancouver photographers since Simon can be found on almost everyone’s contact list and he is not shy about contributing to different Vancouver Photography groups. The broad range of work on his photo stream is always spectacular and magnifying.

I am always anxious to check up on his Flickr as he documents his daily adventures and discoveries. Vancouver is very lucky to have so many talented photographers, but someone like Simon really depicts the passion and art that is photography. No bullshit fashion shots, advertisements shots, shots of shoes……just pure life goddamit!

I noticed that a lot of your work doesn’t just include photographs, but also digital interpretations, abstract compositions and a sort of drama (referring to the tree/flower shots taken on Hastings). What inspires you to go beyond just clicking the button and uploading the picture but to also manipulate it maybe through layering? Is it to reach a certain sense of satisfaction?

Aside from my collages, I only use Photoshop for cropping, and adjusting levels and saturation. I receive the greatest satisfaction from capturing a moment, something that simply can’t be done with digital manipulation. On the other hand, I see nothing wrong with using the software that’s at my disposal, as long as nothing is added or subtracted from the image that isn’t already there.

You can get some great shots by shooting through various surfaces like grimy windows, rainy awnings or curtains. One of my favourite finds was spotting some trees through a rusted rain-spattered awning in Gastown; the combination gave the image a wonderful sepia tone. It reminded me of paintings of trees I used to do as a kid, blowing ink across wet paper with a straw.

What sort of equipment do you use and what do you like to use the most?
I use a Kodak Z612. It’s by no means a high-end professional camera, but it’s not a simple point-and-shoot either. It’s lightweight, has a 2.5 inch display, and is incredibly flexible in terms of manual shutter and aperture settings. Maybe down the road someday I’ll do an upgrade, but for the moment, it suits my purposes just fine. Right now, I love having the freedom of having a camera that I can carry with me everywhere I go, without having to worry about extra lenses and equipment.

For the longest time I used an old school Canon Rebel XS, which sadly, has been neglected since I went digital.

With Vancouver’s famous cloudy/rainy weather, what sort of cameras in your experience are best to use - to exactly capture a moment in dull lighting and scenery?
Again, I’m pretty lo-fi when it comes to cameras at the moment, but I’m savvy enough with the settings to know what will work and what won’t.

For the most part though, Vancouver is great for capturing scenes set in all kinds of weather conditions. It really is a dramatically different city depending on the season. Yes, we get a lot of rain, but when the sun comes out, it REALLY comes out! Plus we get such vibrant colors in Spring and Fall. It’s narrow minded to think only in terms of “Oh, it’s sunny - what a great day to take pictures”. You have to work with what you have, especially in Vancouver!

What is the most exciting thing about being a photographer?
For me personally, the most exciting thing about photography is never knowing what I’m going to discover next. I carry my camera with me nearly all the time “just in case”. I never have it in my head that “Today I’m going to take pictures of flowers” or “Maybe today I’m going to take pictures of dumpsters”. Sometimes I notice something I see nearly every day in a certain light or from a different angle and it just jumps out at me. I love it when I am able to capture a subject from a perspective that has rarely been seen before.

I’m also extremely lucky in that I live near English Bay, work in Chinatown, and walk to and from work nearly every day. I work a variety of shifts, so I see the city at all hours of the day, from 6:00 in the morning to 11:00 at night. I rarely take the same route. On a good day I can take a couple of hours wandering home, just listening to music on my headphones, taking pictures of anything that captures my attention.

Any dream place to ever get published?
To be honest, having my work published has never really occurred to me, although I may start submitting soon! I love submitting my photos to sites such as Flickr and Beyond Robson where you get an immediate response to your work. There’s such a great wealth of creative individuals in Vancouver and it’s wonderful to get comments and critiques from people you admire.

What have you realized about your work now that you look back at it when maybe when you took the picture 5 - 10 years ago?
All of my photos on Flickr have been taken since the beginning of this year. At some point I’ll get around to scanning some of my non-digital photography from years gone by.

When I look back at older photographs, I do notice the lack of spontaneity that digital photography can bring. The technique and the style are there, but often the photographs seem forced or staged. The great thing about photography is that you can go back and trace the progression of your style and fine-tune it accordingly.

Are there any places in Vancouver that you haven’t photographically dissected yet, but wish to?
Like many Westenders without a car, I’m afraid that I live in a somewhat insular fashion. Sometimes it feels like an epic adventure just crossing the Burrard Street Bridge!

I hope to explore a lot more of Vancouver in the near future: Kitsilano, North Vancouver, Commercial Drive and the surrounding neighbourhoods. In the meantime, I’m still finding a lot to discover in the Westend, Downtown, Chinatown and the Downtown East Side.

When it comes to taking photos, is there something you wish to achieve and could do that you just can’t seem to get right?

I would love to be able to take better photographs of people. I’ve always wanted to be a lot more ‘in your face’ when it comes to people shots, but instead I end up lurking in alleys or sneaking shots from across the street. Usually I fall back on that old trick of pretending to take a picture of something else, and waiting for somebody to walk into the frame.

I’d also like to explore portrait photography more. I’ve experimented somewhat in self-portraits, but I’m getting tired of the subject matter!

Any advice to novice photographers out there on the art as a passion?
Break out of your routine, mentally and geographically. Look at the world with fresh eyes everyday. Carry your camera everywhere.