Simon attended some of our workshops. Then he showed me his pics of Nick Cave!

Deciding to teach photography here in Tokyo is, after picking a camera up at age seven and then marrying Hiromi 23 years later, probably the best thing I have ever done. Not only is it a massive buzz to be able to pass on some of the infectious obsession I have for photography, but it is a great way to meet all kinds of wonderful and talented people.

Simon Hunter is one such person. Over a beer after a recent workshop we did in Ningyocho – the first time Simon came along to one of our Japanorama events – he asked me if I’d like to see some of his pictures, ones he had on his iPhone. Little did I expect to see beautiful Type55 Polaroids of Nick Cave! We got chatting some more and it transpired that Simon and I had a wealth of things in common; a love of peel-apart film, a history of darkroom-induced skin afflictions, kids aged 8 & 6 and much more besides.

After seeing Simon’s pics, I asked him to put together a few words about himself, his photography and what – like me, after years in the wonderful world of film – he felt about that young turk called ‘digital’. Ladies and gents, Simon Hunter…….

“Alfie has already written very poetically about childhood experiences of home slideshows and projected images. I too grew up with such memories.

My father was a keen amateur photographer and I vividly remember similar slideshow evenings. We had a darkroom at home, as well. That mysterious place, cut off from the outside world, with its dim coloured safety light, its strange smells and the magical print emerging in its tray of developer had a huge impact on me as a young boy. I haven’t made a career out of photography but since I was a small kid it has always been an important part of my life.

I was about 10 when my father showed me how to use a light meter, make a good exposure, develop film and finally make a print. In every house I lived in for decades after, I always set up a darkroom.

These photographs were all taken in Tokyo around the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s. For a few years around that time I did earn money taking photos. It was after all, the peak of the “bubble economy” and people would pay you for doing all sorts of things. I shot for record companies, magazines and had pictures in books. I almost exclusively took portraits: dancers, musicians, writers and actors.

I started out shooting portfolios for models and actors. I set up a darkroom and small studio in a run down wooden house near Shinjuku. I saved up for and bought a second hand 1200w Comet pack with 2 beat up flash heads and

patchy umbrellas. It weighed a ton but I literally wheeled it around Tokyo. Shooting Nick Cave during a break for a sound check at a club in Shibuya was an experience I won’t forget. But I went all over town with that kit: backstage at concert halls, offices and even four-mat tatami rooms.

I never really shot much colour film, always black and white. My Nikon FM2 for 35mm, a Mamiya C330 for 6×6 and my favourite, a Tachihara 4×5 cherry wood field camera. I bought that camera from the maker himself in his workshop in Ikebukuro. I shot Tri-X because I loved the grain, Kodak Technical Pan a high contrast film because it had almost no grain and Polaroid Type 55 film on the 4×5. Type 55 gave you both a positive print and a negative. I used to carry around a Tupperware container full of 18% sodium-sulfite solution to drop the negatives into. Shooting portraits on that camera was so much fun. It slowed the whole process down to a point where people had to get involved.

Unfortunately, the countless hours spent in poorly ventilated darkrooms did take a toll and I became so allergic to the chemicals that I had to give it up. I have only really gotten back into taking pictures since about 2006. I am a very proud owner of a Nikon D700 and I love working in the digital darkroom with Photoshop and Lightroom. Digital photography has given me the opportunity to keep making pictures and for that I am very grateful.”

 Alfie has already written very poetically about childhood experiences of
home slideshows and projected images.

I too grew up with such memories. My father was a keen amateur photographer
and I vividly remember similar slideshow evenings. We had a darkroom at
home, as well. That mysterious place, cut off from the outside world, with
its dim coloured safety light, its strange smells and the magical print
emerging in its tray of developer had a huge impact on me as a young boy. I
haven’t made a career out of photography but since I was a small kid it has
always been an important part of my life.

I was about 10 when my father showed me how to use a light meter, make a
good exposure, develop film and finally make a print. In every house I lived
in for decades after, I always set up a darkroom.

These photographs were all taken in Tokyo around the end of the 80s and the
beginning of the 90s. For a few years around that time I did earn money
taking photos. It was after all, the peak of the “bubble economy” and people
would pay you for doing all sorts of things. I shot for record companies,
magazines and had pictures in books. I almost exclusively took portraits:
dancers, musicians, writers and actors.

I started out shooting portfolios for models and actors. I set up a darkroom
and small studio in a run down wooden house near Shinjuku. I saved up for
and bought a second hand 1200w Comet pack with 2 beat up flash heads and
patchy umbrellas. It weighed a ton but I literally wheeled it around Tokyo.
Shooting Nick Cave during a break for a sound check at a club in Shibuya was
an experience I won’t forget. But I went all over town with that kit:
backstage at concert halls, offices and even four-mat tatami rooms.

I never really shot much colour film, always black and white. My Nikon FM2
for 35mm, a Mamiya C330 for 6x6 and my favourite, a Tachihara 4x5 cherry
wood field camera. I bought that camera from the maker himself in his
workshop in Ikebukuro. I shot Tri-X because I loved the grain, Kodak
Technical Pan a high contrast film because it had almost no grain and
Polaroid Type 55 film on the 4x5. Type 55 gave you both a positive print and
a negative. I used to carry around a Tupperware container full of 18%
sodium-sulfite solution to drop the negatives into. Shooting portraits on
that camera was so much fun. It slowed the whole process down to a point
where people had to get involved.

Unfortunately, the countless hours spent in poorly ventilated darkrooms did
take a toll and I became so allergic to the chemicals that I had to give it
up. I have only really gotten back into taking pictures since about 2006. I
am a very proud owner of a Nikon D700 and I love working in the digital
darkroom with Photoshop and Lightroom. Digital photography has given me the
opportunity to keep making pictures and for that I am very grateful.