Luke Henery, master film photographer, talks to ALTER/ANALOG
Luke Henery is fearless in his experimentation. He pushes the bounds of what photography can do and creates images like none other. He loves trying new things and the results are phenomenal. He's shot rare expired instant film, created tintypes, done emulsion lifts, double exposures, shot specialty films … the list goes on and on. Hailing from Mansfield, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia, he has been shooting film since he was 12.
Music and musicians inform many of Luke's images. He is the bass player of the massive selling punk rock band Violent Soho. Through all his musical success, he has also grown and evolved as a photographer and inspired and helped so many other photographers and we are incredibly honored that he shared his work with ALTER/ANALOG!
Luke is on instagam at @luke_henery and his website is www.lukehenery.com
1. You are absolutely fearless when it comes to experimenting with film. It seems like you have tried, and mastered, every alternative process. Is there any process you haven't tried yet that you'd like to learn?
Hahaha I don't think I've mastered any process, definitely tried a few. I just love alternative image making. I just love experimenting, I guess I've been trying to find a process that I really love and could just apply myself to. I'm not sure I have found that yet. I think I just ended up falling in love with cameras and their history.
I recently had the opportunity to do a Tintype workshop with photographer Craig Tuffin. Working with large format cameras is definitely something I would like to pursue more. If only i had the budget to work on 8x10 and have massive lighting setups like Gregory Crewdson.
2. Your rooftop series was on display in your hometown of Brisbane and the proceeds went to charity. Can you tell us a bit about the charity and how we can contribute to it?
The charity was Micah Projects, they house at risk and homeless people. They also provide services for families at risk of losing their kids or housing. They do great work and have an awesome setup to help the people who need it without judging them.
3. Who, or what, has been your biggest inspiration regarding photography?
There have been a number of big inspirations for me. In the beginning, Australian photographer Tracey Moffat really got me interested in portrait photography. Her series "Something more" helped me see how creative you can be with photography while saying something important.
My good friend and amazing artist Alex Gillies gave me a Book of Walker Evans work which really inspired me. I drew a lot of inspiration from that book for my "Everybody Deserves a Home" series. I just loved the way he photographed buildings. So flat and consistent but so strong.
Eugene Richards has recently been really inspiring me, I picked up a copy of his "Dorchester Days" book and that is probably all the inspiration anyone needs.
4. Ok fess up, how many cameras do you own?
Hahaha well I started out trying to find the right film camera for my style but I ended up just falling in love with cameras. I definitely got carried away. Give me a second to count them. Um I'm not sure but its more than 20 hahaha.