Andy Simon has been taking photographs as Darkslide Photography for five years now, so I thought it was time that I did a proper interview with him to find out what he thinks and how he ticks…

What are you working on at the moment?

I’ve currently just finished the photography on a big project I’ve been working on for the last couple of years entitled ‘The Dark Carnival’ This is the original summary of what the project vision was:

“Where the forgotten souls of a once vibrant community now haunt the forest, their clothes tattered, their spirits almost vacant, Their routines so engrained in their memories they still perform, subconsciously to an audience of trees. The big top tents taken down, rotted, decayed and lost to the mists of time…”

It’s been one of my most ambitious concepts to date with over 15 people involved including seven models! As well as stylists, an amazing SFX makeup artist called Troy Dennison who has worked on numerous short movies and music videos and an equally brilliant classical makeup artist called Helen Burton. I also had costume designers and jewellery makers donate and loan items to fit in with the whole concept and it was fantastic to work with such an enthusiastic team of people helping me to bring my vision to life!

My next big project is based around fear and I’m looking to do a series of pieces that reflect the fear of human nature, the stuff of nightmares, the monsters under the bed etc.

Whose picture would you like to take?

Everyone’s! But if I have to be specific then some of the bigger names in the fetish scene, Abbie Mac or Eliza-Beth. Of course, if we are talking famous famous people then Carol Vorderman as she is just pure sexiness! Or Karen Gillan who was in Doctor Who for a while.

What inspires you?

The world around me, I take inspiration from everywhere, from watching movies and TV, books or music. But I think what inspires me the most is being outdoors. The British and Welsh countryside where I am often travelling to never ceases to inspire me and leave me in awe. I can see a shadow on a floor, dappled light through trees and often from there I can build up an idea for a shoot.

What pisses you off?

This could be a long list!  But the biggest thing that grinds my gears from working in the creative arts industry is how some people can be so negative and frankly downright cruel to others. There is sadly an element in the industry where people can be so backstabbing and nasty and there is no need for it. I’ve seen it happen to others and it has happened to me also. Chinese whispers get passed around and snipey comments are made and it can be soul destroying. I’ve seen photographers and models quit the industry just because of how cruel others can be. I’ve often thought it myself, but something deep down always brings me back.

Photography is about community, collaboration, sharing of ideas, art and passion, but sometimes people can forget that. I can understand there is always a competitive element to this kind of work as well as some secrecy when planning shoots. I don’t work like that, I like to share my passion with others, Share my ideas and build on them, not leave it all locked away in a cupboard never to be seen.

What would be your dream photoshoot?

Something enormous, a masked ball in a grand hall with a chessboard floor; Decadence, dancing, movement, laughter, desire.

Do you consider your work to be fetish, or something else? Are you more interested in creating a good image rather than trying to fit it into a pigeon hole?

Well, it is said that there is a fetish for everything, but I would not say my work was overly fetish. Whilst I have explored this side of photography, such as doing shibari work and fetishwear-style shoots, and am looking to do more in the future, it is not my main area of work nor my style, although I guess there are some elements of fetish in a lot of my recent work. In the Dark Carnival there were some clear dominant and submissive roles amongst the characters. But in answer to your questions, yes, I would rather get a good image than stick to one genre or style of photography.

The majority of your work seems to be location based – is this something you prefer to studio work? Doesn’t that mean you have less control over the environment?

YES! As said before, I love the outdoors. When I first started out doing “people” photography most of my work was studio based. But to me my work lacked as certain umpfh to it. It didn’t jump out. I have a lot of difficulty finding inspiration in a black or white background and a model in the middle. It does nothing for me. Whereas when I am outside or on location my work comes to life, my enthusiasm comes out and I embrace the world around me, be it in the middle of a woods, an open field or an abandoned warehouse. I see what is around and fit the people into that environment. I guess a lot of it is down to starting out doing landscape photography as a child, it’s always stuck with me. The locations are my backdrops.

Whilst I do still shoot studio work on occasion to keep my skills fresh or if clients request it, if I had a choice between a studio or outdoors, I would choose the latter every time. Whilst I admire many studio photographers and their work and I see the control they have over lighting and the way they bring the models to life it is just not for me. Some studio photographers who are friends have a phenomenal talent for that kind of work and I deeply respect them for that, but in turn a lot of them have come to me to say how much they like my location work, and I have had a lot of requests recently from studio photographers to come along on some of my shoots to either observe or learn more about outdoor work.

Of course there are a lot of disadvantages to outdoor work, mostly the unpredictability of the weather. But bar from torrential rain and high winds it rarely stops me. My kit is all built around location work, I have enough lighting running off batteries to blind a T-rex or light up a small village. Whereas my studio lighting sits in my garage gathering dust.

Do you think your photography has a style? How would you define it?

Someone once said to me my style of work is “Crunchy Drama” and I think that sums it  up perfectly. Dramatic, gritty with a light homage to ’90’s grunge music.

Would you prefer to work with an inexperienced model who has lots of enthusiasm, or an experienced model who is less than motivated?

Inexperienced and enthusiastic every time! Of course the ideal would be an experienced and enthusiastic model, to me photography is about capturing the essence of that person in front of the camera, if they are not enthusiastic or passionate about the shoot, then I see this in the work afterwards. I’ve shot with well known models and I look at the photos and they are cold and lack personality. Whereas I’ve shot with people who have never modelled before, and produced some of my best work, simply because they are enthusiastic and excited about the shoot, so this reflects through in the final work.

How much editing do you typically do on an image?

It can vary from shoot to shoot. I always try to avoid overly airbrushed work. In fact most of the time I rarely do airbrushing as I think it detracts from the model, makes them look less real. Of course if it is a paying client and they want plastic-looking skin with no blemishes then who am I to argue? But for my personal work, I would say it is more stylised than edited. As a lot of my work is more gritty and dramatic (Crunchy Drama!) I tend to mostly edit in Lightroom and use set presets I have created to adjust the colours and tones of an image to give it that ‘punch’ that a lot of my work has which is almost impossible to capture straight on camera. With that said I always strive to get everything right on camera first to minimise the amount of post-production afterwards as I usually have an idea in my head of how I want it to look initially so I work everything out first and then quickly edit afterwards to add my visual style and flare.

Over the years I’ve known you (albeit through Facebook) you’ve often seem prone to bouts of self-doubt and angst over your work. Do you see yourself as a tortured artist or is that just a part of your personality?

Oh to be known as a Tortured artist! But I would say a mix of both. I am a dramatic person naturally so this comes across with my online personality too. But yes, I do suffer a lot from self doubt and confidence issues which is the real me, thankfully I have a lot of people who do support me when I head into my downward spirals who drag me back out kicking and screaming. I am slowly building up a lot more confidence in myself and my work recently and I think it has reflected in my recent work too. With that said, every shoot I do, I always give it my all, no matter who or what I am photographing.

What is your ambition as a photographer? Do you want to be seen as an artist or are you aiming for commercial success?

Ideally a mix of both, but I am a realist, to be a commercial success in today’s competitive industry is very difficult to achieve. I do not earn a lot from photography and whilst I would like to earn much much more, I am content with balancing my personal work which I do for fun as well as commercial and paid work, as well as juggling my family life around too as I am also a full-time dad looking after two children. Once they have grown up and flown the coop then who knows, I may push more into doing it full time, but then would photography become a chore working 9-5 each day, would I lose my enthusiasm and motivation and in turn diminish my own style? So at the moment I am happy doing what I do. Although I do have a long term goal of moving into teaching so I am taking the next step by heading into higher education later this year to gain qualifications to enable me to do this as a career, passing my knowledge on to others.

You’ve just celebrated your fifth year anniversary as Darkslide Photography. What would you say your finest moment has been in those 5 years?

There have been so many amazing moments over the past 5 years. Without trying to big myself up, I have won awards, hosted exhibitions, given a speech to a room full of 200 people at a charity event where I helped to raise £10,000 with my photography work on a Pin-up Calendar. I’ve been published in Vogue (my first ever published piece) as well as stacks of magazines and newspapers. But if I am totally honest with myself, none of those matter. Yes, they are recognition for my work which is great. But I think the proudest thing I have achieved over the last 5 years is simply that. That I have carried on doing what I enjoy for that amount of time. That I have my wife, my kids, my family and friends who have supported me over this time. That is more important to me that anything else.

So I shall leave it with this. My finest moment has yet to pass.

You can see more of Andy’s work at his website: Darkslide Photography, or on his Facebook page. You can also follow his Twitter feed!