Neon Visions From a Broken Camera
How Australia-based photographer Christopher Sutherland was inspired to refract the world of color.
Creative breakthroughs can sometimes come from quite literally breaking the camera.
With everything becoming increasingly digital, instant, and automated, Christopher Sutherland has found inspiration by tangibly manipulating his tools of the trade. Introducing elements of risk and chance to the process has been key in the development of the Australia-based photographer’s personal practice.
This experimentation led to a series of dazzlingly colorful images that resulted from Christopher’s playful application of a technique that originally occurred by mistake.
“The first time I went to Paris, I stupidly only carried a camera that hardly worked most of the trip and took a photo of the Eiffel Tower. When I got the negatives back I realized that I took a photo I had never seen of one of the most photographed things in the world.”
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He describes its discovery as a frustrating accident.
“An expensive 35mm camera fell apart,” Christopher recalls. “After seeing some of the strange negatives, I decided to explore it more and experiment. It quickly became me taking apart 35mm cameras, removing lens elements, adding filters — just playing around with it. It seemed like I had a secret portal to another world.”
As a professional photographer, Christopher spends his days working on commercial shoots where, as he describes it, “everything is in focus, digital, and hours are spent in front of a screen.”
Working with film is a refreshing break from that monotony, and his new process of retooling 35mm cameras enables Christopher to make images that he describes as “spontaneous, with no rules or purpose.”
“The day that I understood a photo doesn’t need to be in focus or even recognizable was a liberating day.”
“Most storefront signs at night are an aggressively bright demand to buy, or branding. It’s an amusing challenge to turn these signs and light sources into something I find alluring. I’m stealing their power to create something else for me.”
Christopher became well-versed in playing with artificial lighting over the course of years spent working in nightclubs, where he found a passion for using light and projections to create interesting visual effects. This experience led to the saturation of color becoming central to his personal photography.
“It seems color has soaked right into everything I do now,” he says,” to the point where in this series I just wander around at night like a moth to a flame.”
“A lot of the intense motion in my work can be explained by sometimes irresponsibly taking photos while driving or riding my bike. Of course, I don’t recommend this, but I’ve been able to create really powerful photos of movement and intensity.”
“There are thousands of decaying 35mm cameras out there that you can play around with. They won’t last forever.”
“Walking through Chinatown in Melbourne is an easy way to shoot a whole roll. I’ll often wait for the right amount of cars or bikes to come into frame or for a sign to change color. Generally I like for the images to be as abstract as possible, as it’s more about the feeling and color than a photo of where I am.”
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Though Christopher’s path to this creative discovery was informed by unintentional malfunction as well as his past experience, it’s an approach he insists is open to all aspiring creators who may have similar inclinations.
“There are thousands of decaying 35mm cameras out there that you can play around with,” he notes. “They won’t last forever. Experimenting with film, old cameras, and making mistakes is one of most rewarding steps you can make to finding work you love. The day that I understood a photo doesn’t need to be in focus or even recognizable was a liberating day.”
See more of Christopher Sutherland’s work on VSCO.
