'Soundcheck Sessions': Stephen Dowling's Exhibition

Stephen Dowling is a photojournalist and longterm LomoAmigo who is presenting his series, “Soundcheck Sessions,” as his first exhibition for Lomography this month. In an interview, we asked him a few questions about his work and what goes on behind the scenes.

What inspired this exhibition?

I was a music journalist for a long time, originally in New Zealand and then in the UK. Around 2000 I got really into photography, and after a few years felt the need to start a project. I wanted something long-term that I could revisit year after year.

I made friends with the Nashville band Lambchop after interviewing their leader Kurt Wagner for a Sunday paper. Originally I thought of documenting their travels to interesting places [as] they’re a band who tours all the over the place. I shot them when they played a gig in Zagreb, Croatia in 2004, then in Moscow and London later that year.

The shots I was happiest with were the soundchecks. They were performance shots but felt more intimate than most live photography. There was something added to it by the empty venues as well. I began shooting bands other than Lambchop, and a broader idea began to take shape—shooting bands during soundchecks.

How do you choose your subjects?

First and foremost, as a fan. I think it’s easier to create an atmosphere in the photographs if you feel some connection to the music.

The artists I’ve photographed several times—Buffalo Tom, Josh Rouse, Lambchop, Calexico, Neil Finn—are all people I got to know via my music journalism. Finding different scenes to shoot with these performers is good practice. My photographic eye has vastly improved since I started this project.

It would be very easy, being based in London, to simply shoot in this city’s venues. But the locations have ranged from New York to Istanbul, Moscow to New Zealand.

What was the process behind it?

All of these shots are soundchecks. I don’t shoot the concert themselves. I like to capture what [it] feels like [during] behind-the-scenes moments. The bands are playing music but not performing. The venues are empty, the lights low. There’s atmosphere in spades.

I’ve shot about 25 bands for the project so far, and my ultimate aim is to do 50 and then produce a book. This is my third exhibition, after one in Cluj-Napoca in Romania last year and Paris in March. Staging exhibitions has been incredibly helpful in editing down the shots.

What makes you passionate about film photography, and how is it different from digital?

Film photography is a totally different medium. It’s tactile and physical: loading film, winding film, focusing. Armed with a manual camera you reduce photography to its most basic elements: seeing and capturing.

Shooting on film means when you take pictures, that’s all you’re doing. You’re not constantly breaking off to edit and check things on a screen. Many of us are overstimulated by the electronic devices we carry, devices that constantly demand our attention and input. Even the most die hard digital devotees should try a day shooting on a film camera. It’s really liberating.

Anything else you want to mention or talk about is more than welcome.

This project is only one aspect of my film photography. I have a cabinet full of old cameras and a fridge full to bursting with film, a lot of it old slide film that’s no longer made and is great for cross-processing. Buying a Lomo LC-A back in 2000 was one of the things that turned me into such a mad fan of film photography. I love mixing and matching various films and cameras and seeing what they’re capable of. I travel as often as I can and always take a few cameras with me. It’s great to capture this 21st century world with old cameras.

When I’m not out taking pictures, I also write about photography on my blog, Zorki Photo, which I’ve been running for the last few years.

Thank you, Stephen!

“Soundcheck Sessions” opens on Thursday, May 28, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m and will be running until early July.

Lomography Gallery Store Soho
3 Newburgh Street, London W1F 7RE
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sohostore@lomography.com

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written by gise11e on 2015-05-04 #news #people #music #event #london #exhibition #lomography-gallery-store-soho #stephen-dowling #soundcheck-sessions