Smoke Cities with Photographer Antony Cairns for French Fries

Interview Riham Bou Ghannam / rihamsbg

Photography Clare Hewitt / clarehewittphotography

Going through Antony Cairns’ oeuvre is like witnessing factual records of the past, and the present, through a sci-fi lens. The London born, and based, photographer has been keeping record of cities at night since the start of his career, mainly focusing on the city he’s from. His nocturnal shots are a showcase of simplicity in their rawness. The add-ons or “effects” are achieved through the different printing techniques the photographer uses. It’s almost impossible to come across Antony’s work and not be completely transfixed by how such mundane matters could seem so fey. We caught up with the Hariban award winning photographer, and got the chance to better know him and his thought process.

You have experimented with an impressive variation of printing techniques throughout the years. Do you have a favorite between them?

I love all forms of printing a photograph, I don't think I have a favourite yet, Im always trying to find new ways to reproduce a photograph whether that's using new techonology or finding old techniques that have been forgotten about or have become obsolete as common practice.

What city would you like to photograph where you haven’t shot before?

I want to shoot in Shanghai, and some desert cities that have had rapid expansion like Dubai.

You prefer to take photos at night, but print on aluminium to make the images more luminous. You showcase cities as jigsaw puzzles with the aim to portray cities as a whole. Is this contrast purposely sought after, or does this paradox happen by pure coincidence?

I printed the images onto Aluminium to mimic the original 35mm Transparency that I create when shooting the photographs, A city at night is not a dark place, it's a place full of artificial light and a constant hum of activity.

You constantly refer to JG Ballard’s quote which refers to what aliens would think of humankind in accordance to what it has left behind. What do you think aliens would think of your work if they were to ever encounter it, or what do you hope it would depict?

I like to I shoot photographs of the city in the same way Eugene Atget created his seven albums of Paris, simply records of the city and how it was at the point at which he took the photograph. Underneath all the laying of process the works are still record documents of places, streets, building ….

Your love of science fiction is no secret. What is your favorite sci-fi movie of all time?

Ah so many, in relation to my work I like to watch science fiction to look at the textures and art direction of what future cities could look like, so going way back to something like Metropolis by Fritz Lang, or 80’s classics like total recall, Blade Runner…. But my actual favourite is by Andrei Tarkovsky called ‘Stalker’ where a group of people enter a Mysterious Restricted site simply known as ‘The Zone’

As much fiction as sci-fi has, it also carries within real sociological matters, and real-life problems. Given the poor environmental choices humanity has made, and continues to make, an apocalypse doesn’t seem too far away. If you were to witness an apocalypse, where would you be? Would you find yourself right in the middle keeping record of it all through photography, or would you be hiding it out somewhere?

Haha, an apocalypse doesn’t seem too far away you say! If one did happen I would not be out there shooting it, I would leave that to the Plethora of reportage photographers, I imagine it would be a more current affairs issue so I would leave it to the them, I would hopefully have been invited to the secret bunkers under the thames…

What would you be if you weren’t a photographer?

I’m really not sure… I used to do a lot of music stuff also, I imagine something within the art, acting possibly but not sure I could take the contstant rejection…. I have done photography since a young age ( I took it for GCSE) so I have always liked it as a practice.

You have been taking photos of London from the start, and the city has evolved greatly since then. What changes have been positive, and what changes have been negative, in your opinion?

I try not to have opinions on the city like that, I’m simply making records of it, the audience can be the judge of what they think of the city through the artworks.

Why is the majority of your work in black and white?

I like the neutrality of black and white, a black and white photograph has historical connotations also, early photography was considered to be proof of something factual, I want this association to keep the imagery rooted in something that is real and not manipulated digitally.

Most artists are perfectionist who usually like to showcase utmost perfection in their work. You, on the other hand, do not shy away from imperfection, which forms part of your work. What do you personally see within these imperfections? Why do you choose to show them, or what message do you try to convey through them?

Like I said in my previous answer I like the idea that the photographs are records. From these records It's the process that adds the layers of abstraction. So when the process has imperfections I see it as part of the production, sometimes the actual essence of this process are the imperfections the laying of the process onto of the record documents that are the original transparency’s.

What artist (any art form) would you like to collaborate with?

Perhaps a film director on the art direction of a mid budget sci fi film.

How would you describe London in four words?

The City I Live.

What would you consider to be the best thing you learned or experienced during your time in Kyoto?

Kyoto is a great city, very peaceful, I went to learn how to Collotype print with Benrido Collotype Studio. The experience of learning such a historical and unique way of making a mechanical reproduction of a photograph has informed my practice going forward from that point immensely.

How did the idea of LDN EI first come to mind?

I wanted to make a digital photo book that was both physically and virtually a digital object.

What has been the highlight of your career so far? Showing a large scale body of work with the Tate as part of their shape of light 100 years of photography and abstract art Exhibition in 2018

What’s next for Antony Cairns?

I’m working on a video piece based on a short story I wrote. The story is of a man ‘Gordon Earl Adams’ who built a time machine in the past and arrives in a present day (future for him). He record video files of the city accompanied with notes on concepts of time and space. The works have been made using an obsolete video camera from the 1980’s, a Pixelvision 2000. This camera is unique because it record black and white video files onto magnetic audio cassette tapes. These works can be seen on my website