12/27/2023 0 Comments Roger deakins bywaysBlack-and-white is simple and my photos are simple. Several photographers use it well, but I find it really hard. I don’t remember what film, and there was only one person on the bus, but they were silhouetted and they had a mask on, and it was such an odd image.īTL: All of the images in Byways are black-and-white, so why do you prefer black-and-white photography?ĭeakins: Black-and-white images evoke mood best. It was a London bus and the whole bus was painted with a movie ad, a big alien poster. It’s just this solitary figure, and there’s something about it that’s strange, like, was he the homesick ghost?īTL: Now that the book has been published, will you continue to take photos?ĭeakins: Got one the other day. I’d seen this sign a few times, and when the guy was just standing there and seemingly for no reason, I took a couple of shots at different angles, but the one in the book is the one I like most. I took the photo with a couple of other people but then I almost gave up, and then the woman arrived with the umbrella and she’s looking at the poster and I don’t know if she was looking at it in shock, or longing to be where the girl was in the sunshine.īTL: What about the photo of the Homesick Ghosts sign?ĭeakins: I was living in Albuquerque, New Mexico while working on Sicario, and on the weekends I would walk the neighborhood. I remember that day, it was a particularly rainy day and I saw the poster and the shellfish restaurant (in the background) and the framing of the bus stop, and I was just waiting for some life in the shot. An amusing moment.īTL: And the one of the woman looking at the nudie ad at the bus stop?ĭeakins: I like that photo a lot. Because it looked at the camera, it’s special. I took a few pics and this one dog jumped and the dog looked at the camera. I’m much more interested in simplicity, isolation, in sparse and lonely places.īTL: Please tell the story of the Jumping Dog photo, as it’s very interesting looking.ĭeakins: The dog’s owner was throwing a stick over the promenade. It’s usually the little things that attract me. Even wandering around, I find it hard to connect. Also, Bill Brandt was an inspiration.īTL: When do you decide to take a picture?ĭeakins: I don’t know. One thing led to another.ĭeakins: Roger Main, who taught at the college, was a big inspiration. My painting was very naturalistic, not abstract, so really, it made sense for me to go into photography. It was at Art College where I really discovered photography. It was the ’60s and I didn’t know what to do, so I went to Art College. My father was a building contractor and he had expected me to work in the business, and I could not see myself doing that. I always did, but I couldn’t see myself spending my life there. I grew up in Torquay, a seaside town in Southern Devon - I love the place. When I was a teenager, I really didn’t know what to do with my life. I think of them as just sketches that I’ve done over the years.īTL: How did you get started taking pictures?ĭeakins: I started at Art College. Deakins: We were struggling with the title and, at one point, I just wrote down the expression ‘The highways and byways.’ I thought Byways, that’s about right, there’s no particular focus to the photos. Our conversation below has been edited for clarity.īelow the Line: How did you come up with the title of the book? Late last year, I connected with Deakins via Zoom to discuss Byways. Evoking a mood that is timeless and lasting, it’s the kind of photography book that could stop you in your tracks with its lush imagery. Meditative and inviting, it is a beautiful collection of black-and-white images. And yet, as intricate and complex as those productions were, when I first looked upon the pages of Byways, I was taken with its simplicity and charm. In fact, the latter two films earned him Oscars. More recently, Deakins has been busy shooting epic films like Sicario, Blade Runner 20, which are all career-bests from a career of bests. The appropriately titled Byways is Deakins’ first book of photos, and it’s certainly a striking departure from his grandiose film work, which includes personal favorites of mine such as Sid and Nancy, The Shawshank Redemption and Barton Fink. Late last year saw the release of a brand new book of photography by legendary cinematographer Roger A.
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