Introducing Chris King

As Vanishing Point opens this evening, it is time to introduce our latest addition to the Curious Duke Family, photographer Chris King!

 

Name: Chris King

Discipline: Photography

Age: 53

Where do you live?:  East Dulwich, London

Where did you study?:  University of Birmingham. BSc (1984) and PhD (1988) in biochemistry. Not very arty.

Life ambition:Never stop learning and looking. Be happy, and make others happy.

S. Oakes St in winter

How did you get started?

I started taking photos in my early teens - my friends, the dog, school, that sort of thing. I had a 110 format Agfamatic camera. Later, my father bribed me to study for exams with the promise of an SLR if I got good enough results. It worked, and I have been taking photographs ever since.

 

What can you tell us about your artistic practice?

My best work comes when I can spend an extended period of time out in the world with a camera – ideally concentrating on photography for days at a time. It’s a solitary, contemplative process, which is reflected in the images. As I find this much harder to do in London, most images come from travels to other parts of the world.

I do a preliminary edit the day images are taken, but it takes at least a few weeks to get the distance from them to see what really works.

Gas Only, No Premix

Do you have a routine, or an exercise you have to do get started?

Not particularly, unless preparing for a trip counts. It’s also important to understand that some days it just doesn’t quite work, so the best thing to do when this happens is stop.

 

What are your ambitions in the art world?

That’s a big question, so I’m going to answer a different one. The aim I have for my work is to keep developing and exploring.

 

What advice would you have anyone starting out?

Keep shooting. If you see a photo you want to take, take it. Also – try a simple camera with a fixed lens and manual controls – too many choices can be a distraction.

 

And lastly, choose one word:

Grotesque or beautiful? “beautiful”

Urban or surreal? “or”

Planned or spontaneous? “spontaneous”

Monochrome or rainbow? “monochrome”

 

Thanks Chris!

 

You can check out his work here, and in;

Vanishing Point

 19th March- 11th April.

PV Thursday 19th March 6-9

Curious Duke Gallery

173 Whitecross St.

London, EC1Y 8JT

 

Written by Curious Duke Gallery blogger Sinéad Loftus.

Lover of all art and fluffy cats.