Kevin Warn, the official photographer on the ‘Bitch Slap’ movie set, talks about the skills required of a movie production photographer.
PHOTOGRILL: Tell us about your photography in general.
PHOTOGRILL: Tell us about your photography in general.
PHOTOGRILL: You photograph in old buildings & structures; what’s behind your interest in these places?
PHOTOGRAPHER: It’s often somewhat difficult to put into words what I find intriguing about these kinds locations; sometimes it’s the history, sometimes just the architecture…and sometimes, it’s simply the opportunity the location presents for a compelling or unusual shot. A common idea among Urbex enthusiasts is what’s referred to as “beauty in decay”…the idea that the effects of entropy on a place can render it aesthetically appealing. I see that, and I think many others do too.
PHOTOGRILL: Why did you make the photo of the exorcist?
PHOTOGRAPHER: I photographed Bob Larsen for Metro a section in the Age in 2005, he was the Exorcist that had a run in with John Saffran on his popular ABC TV series ’John Saffran Vs. God’. The footage Saffron shot with Larsen was pretty disturbing. I asked Saffran (we did a photo shoot for A2 a few weeks before) about the ‘possession’ he had apparently experienced on the show and he assured me he hadn’t been hamming it up and that he had no idea what had happened that night.
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PHOTOGRILL: Which photographer inspired you to make these images?
PHOTOGRAPHER: I was on Princes Bridge with camera on tripod making boat loads of pictures when a passerby asked me if I’d seen the work of Ansel Adams Little did he know, that was a opening for a long conversation. Ansel Adams was an artist who inspired and challenged me as a young photography student. I was mesmerised by the beauty of his B&W photographs of Yosemite National Park, which inspired me to spend many months learning and implementing the ‘Zone System’. Adams created the system in 1940 by careful observation of the relationship between exposure and processing. His images exhibit a depth of rich detail that you could fall into, that’s what the system does.
PHOTOGRILL: Can you tell us about your personal projects
PHOTOGRAPHER: I have made three big personal projects: Artur’s 365 Project (my son), Greta’s (my younger daughter) 52 weeks project and my self-portrait 365 Project. The last one being the most professional and the most recent. I’m planning to start 2 new projects this autumn.
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PHOTOGRILL: Tell us about your photography in general.
PHOTOGRAPHER: I have been working as a professional photographer approaching two decades. I laid the foundations of my career as a press photographer in regional Victoria before graduating to hold staff positions for the Melbourne Herald Sun, The Age and Sunday Age. I will always have an enormous respect for newspaper photographers. Their ability to think, react, adapt and produce high quality images in constantly changing environments is astounding.
PHOTOGRILL: Why did you take the photo ‘This Land Of Mind’?
For years now photographer Katherine Newbegin has travelled the world and photographing inside empty buildings. Newbegin lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, but in 2008 she received a DAAD fellowship to live in Berlin, where she had been visiting and working over the years.
PHOTOGRILL: Please tell us about your photography in general.
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PHOTOGRILL: Why did you create a merged image for this shot?
PHOTOGRILL: This photo was made following the Black Saturday bushfires which left 173 people dead. Tell us some of your experience of the fires.
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