SUITCASE Interview

SUITCASE MEETS: BARRY LEWIS After making his first film as a chemistry teacher, Barry Lewis caught the artistic bug and soon became a full time photographer and filmmaker. Thirty years after obtaining a master’s degree at the Royal College of Art, Lewis has now set up Network – a leading forum for the exploration of all aspects of photography. He’s also collaborated with sound artists, writers, musicians, editors, performers, and directors, as well as continuing to showcase his work across the globe.

Here at SUITCASE, we were intrigued to find out more about how digital technology influences his work and his inspirations of both science and art…

SUITCASE MAGAZINE: It’s been around thirty years since you first became a photojournalist. Have you always wanted to be a photographer and filmmaker?

BARRY LEWIS: Originally I was consumed with interest for science and invention. It was when I was a teacher of maths and chemistry that I made my first film. I was always fascinated by art and photography – I had seen Bill Brandt’s work – and made the big step of leaving my job, determined to be a photographer.

Creative Camera magazine was a huge influence. I was lucky to get a job as a photography technician at an art college and heard about the Royal College of Art. I was obsessed enough by photography to give it a shot and apply to do a master’s.

I think my science background gives me a rigour and understanding of the material world and enables my creativity. I see both science and art as problem solving – both sides of the same coin.

SM: You seem to work a lot with digital technology. Would you say that as an artist you’ve evolved with the continuous improvement of technology?

BL: I was very lucky in two ways. In 1987, Apple gave me one of their first computers for a book project and I also stayed with Pedro Mayer in Los Angeles – he was a pioneer in digital photography and storytelling.

Those two things gave me both access to the technology and also inspiration to use digital for multimedia storytelling.

In 1989 I went to Albania for The Sunday Times and shot a black and white photo story. When I was offered one of the first digital exhibitions at the Zelda Cheatle gallery, I decided to take the huge step to produce the prints digitally and see how it looked. I was pretty obsessed by what digital could do – just in terms of processing images and doing what I would do in a conventional dark room. So my first foray was processing conventional black and white film and scanning it into digital form.

SM: You’ve mentioned that you have grown your interests according to the digital world. What were these interests?

BL: As the quality of digital cameras improved, my use of them has increased. I dropped film very early on – I last used film over twelve years ago. There were no regret; digital handles colour better than film and being able to shoot in low light was a huge advantage. For me it has always been making sequences of stills, never just an isolated image. As I got more interested in digital I was doing more and more of my own experimental work because it was much cheaper – no film and processing costs.

SM: Do you have a particular style or approach to work?

BL: My work has changed from traditional storytelling with words and pictures to a far more metaphorical visual storytelling style. My stills work is very much about looking and seeing things in a different way and the video work has been more literal. The part of me that works in a documentary way has adopted video for that role. I still love just taking walks with the stills camera and focusing on looking. That is the essence of photography for me.

SM: You’ve become increasingly interested in creative narratives, particularly with multiple media. What began this interest and what is your favourite media?

BL: I really like working with artists, creating a synthesis of sound and visual. Still and moving images both have different strengths for me – stills are more visceral, instant responses. Films are more cerebral, involving more planning and editing to make into a final piece. I just worked on a short feature film and again, working with actors showed me an entirely new approach.

SM: You are constantly collaborating with a vast range of people, who are you working with currently?

BL: Recently I’ve made several films with both dancers and musicians. I’ve also worked with Tamasha, a theatre company where I created videos to be projected behind the performance. This winter I worked with a choreographer Adesole Akinle on stories from workers in the old car factories in Flint, outside of Detroit.

The final piece will be a combination of dance, interview footage, my editing of assembly line footage, and the final performance.

A long term collaboration has been with the sound artist David Toop (now professor of audio culture at the University of Arts London). We worked with singer Elaine Ketchner on a piece based on Leonardo da Vinci’s writings. This opera will have its U.K. premier at the Ashmolean in Oxford later this year in October.

SM: Is there a specific place where you go to find inspiration, or to just get away?

BL: This last year I’ve been spending time in France where I first played extensively with video. That led to my film Pond which is about looking at the microscopic world contained in a thimbleful of water, featuring ambient sound by David Toop. This year I am restoring a mediaeval house in the same place – very hands on and non-digital.

SM: What are your five essentials on a working trip?

BL: Good pair of boots, a tripod, a compass for sun directions, an app for release forms, and a pop-out reflector.

SM: How did the show at New Orleans-themed Sassafras happen?

BL: We took our daughter to New Orleans when she was two and I think she must have absorbed the spirit of the place because now she has a New Orleans themed pop-up restaurant. When she asked if I would show my images from Mardi Gras and the city as well as Louisiana I was delighted to work with her to help create an overall experience of the place – food, music, and visual stories.