allen clark photography

I try to act like I don’t know how it happens, it’s just not true. I do, I know exactly how it happens. I make it happen. I always have.
I can remember when it changed for me, think it was the beginning of my sophomore year in high school , I just decided “why not?”
Believe this or not, I was pretty timid as a kid, & didn’t talk much to people, except to those who knew me. I was afraid of attempting to hang with the popular kids, and the thought of being in front of a large group of people made me sick, as I’m sure it did for most people. And I don’t remember where I got the thought from to be honest. Maybe it was Douglas Adams and his crazy books about the absurdity of “Life the Universe and Everything”. Not sure. I never wanted to be that person who let someone else or circumstances dictate my path.
Fast forward to the years spent trying to find my work-self in the 34 (count ‘em, 34) jobs I had before I prioritized photography above all others. In love with the art and great photography I still had my doubts about the vocational plausibility of this kind of photography. Regardless, I tucked “why not?” in the back of my mind, and never took “no” for an answer.
Ah….the struggle between art and commerce. As a commercial photographer I have always wanted to create striking images that show little parts of me in them whether it is my sense of humor or my take on the world . But I’ve also seen the value of putting things in my book that show recognizable people as a way to make an immediate impact on the person looking. Sort of that wow factor.
The inner struggle always exists between these two schools of thought and the resolve I found was in the exchange between artist and subject no matter who they are or what they do. I decided that the experience itself was why I did this and also what I loved about it the most. The footprint that you leave and the impression that is left on you.
And again I say… Why Not?

I was speaking the other day to a group of photographer’s and someone asked how I started doing this job that I have come to love for over 15 years.

I know I have told some of you about this before.  My mother, when I was growing up, always took photos of everything.  And even though she loved doing it, she wasn’t that great at taking pictures.  There was always a finger in the shot or a head that was chopped off and I think by default the camera usually ended up in my hands.  I can remember setting up shots when I was 6 or 7 that usually had me jumping off my porch or some kind of stunt that I wanted to pull and record on film.  I loved trick photography and usually did this type of thing to mess with my friends and make them think I was really holding a tiny tim sized version of one of my friends or that I could jump as high as the six million dollar man.

I still have most of these pics…and even though they have aged a bit underneath the plastic cover that’s holding them down,  I can remember how much I loved doing these shots and the feelings are just as strong now as then.

When I got a bit older I have a vivid memory of being in a drug store and seeing my first surfing magazine.  I loved magazines and even though I had seen (and bought) plenty of them…nothing looked like these amazing action sports displayed before me….Wow !!  No other magazines were designed like this and they seemed to have a complete respect for the photograph and photographer to the point that they would spread the photo over two pages with hardly any copy.

This had a huge impact on me visually and I think that’s what made me decide to do this as a profession.  Have I ever been surfing ?  No… but I’ve had the opportunity to watch and shoot pictures of this amazing sport and every time I do…I try to think of what one of my pics would look like spread over two pages full bleed….no copy.  Who knows..one day I may even take a lesson and someone can take a shot of me.

It’s funny how all we could think about when digital first started were the differences between film and digital and all the improvements of one over the other.  The big debate: is new really better ?

Having made the transition from film to digital over 3 years ago I have to say ..it was difficult at first.  Not so much because it made me sad that one technology like film was fading (one that had been here for over 100 years), or that I would be forced to learn new things like photoshop, digital workflow, and color correction. It was the difficult decision that I either had to maintain my style that I had worked to develop over the last 10 years or completely abandon it and re-invent myself.  I think I might have adopted a little of both.

There are some things I know have changed by having my hands on this new technology… composition, lighting and working more with darker backgrounds (like the image of The Zut Alors above) , but there are many things that have stayed the same such as subject matter, my sense of humor and point of view.

I remember a fellow photographer saying early on…”You can see everything”…all I could think was…oh crap…that may not be good.  Seeing everything isn’t necessarily great especially if you work in commercial photography and I spend a lot of man-hours trying to hide “everything”..

I also find myself trying to make things look bad to grab some of the charm of film and from the character of problems it used to create.  There are now companies like Totally Rad or Flaming Pear whose sole purpose is to emulate film and will help your perfect images look grainy, cross-processed or scratched.

Makes you wonder if all this technology forced us through the same door running from a burning building. It’s funny how all we could think about when digital first started were the differences between film and digital and all the improvements of one over the other.  The big debate: is new really better ?

Having made the transition from film to digital over 3 years ago I have to say ..it was difficult at first.  Not so much because it made me sad that one technology like film was fading (one that had been here for over 100 years), or that I would be forced to learn new things like photoshop, digital workflow, and color correction. It was the difficult decision that I either had to maintain my style that I had worked to develop over the last 10 years or completely abandon it and re-invent myself.  I think I might have adopted a little of both.

There are some things I know have changed by having my hands on this new technology… composition, lighting and working more with darker backgrounds (like the image above) , but there are many things that have stayed the same such as subject matter, my sense of humor and point of view.

I remember a fellow photographer saying early on…”You can see everything”…all I could think was…oh crap…that may not be good.  Seeing everything isn’t necessarily great especially if you work in commercial photography and I spend a lot of man-hours trying to hide “everything”..

I also find myself trying to make things look bad to grab some of the charm of film and from the character of problems it used to create.  There are now companies like Totally Rad or Flaming Pear whose sole purpose is to emulate film and will help your perfect images look grainy, cross-processed or scratched.

Makes you wonder if all this technology forced us through the same door running from a burning building.

Well, I would say…live.   So many people want to take photos with a telephoto lens or to be far away from the action. Mainly because they don’t want to intrude in people’s  lives..but that’s just it… you are only intruding if you impose your will on others.  If you think about it…we all are really crossing paths anyway.  Why not interact with someone along the way..?  This photo I took years ago in Japan of some school children…and even though I didn’t know them I took this while I was right in the middle of them all.  It’s always been a personal favorite of mine and I have no idea if anyone else would even like it…but I do…

So…mix it up..get closer and live..!