Amateur Photographer - UK (2021-03-06)

What’s driving Mr Dazy?

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk 29

Above left:

Delphine,

Vancouver, Winter

2018, Nikon F2,

Portra 400, soft

focus filter

Top: Marissa,

Vancouver,

Autumn 2018,

Nikon F2, Lomo

400, light leak

reason unknown

Above: Bec,

Melbourne, Spring

2016, Nikon F2,

CineStill 800

What’s driving Mr Dazy?

the result produced and from then

tried to make a double exposure on

every roll he shot – until it became

almost all he did.

‘A double exposure involves taking

two moments and putting them

together to show as one,’ Louis

explains. ‘That’s what attracted me

at the start. I can tell two different

stories at the same time, which gives

me a sort of cinematic way to

express what is in my head. The

viewer gets to see the portrait first

and then they can dive into the

second exposure to pick up the

environment and the mood. Pictures

that are shot in this way hold my

attention for much longer than a

single frame ever can.’

Doubling up

‘I don’t have much technique

in my photography so all of

environment while appreciating a

sense of the time over which the

sequence spans.

Operating somewhere in that area

between the still image and a movie

is French photographer Louis Dazy,

who specialises in producing images

that represent an atmosphere, a

feeling and an extended sense of

time by showing us two moments

simultaneously. Double exposures

are nothing new, of course, but the

way Louis uses them is particularly

striking and emotive.

Modern digital cameras make

creating double exposures very

straightforward, but Louis isn’t one

for the easier, softer way. He prefers

to shoot on film and to make his

double exposures in-camera, often

using multiple cameras and

recording where the subject is on

each frame so he can accurately

align the second exposure later. As

you can see though, the effort pays

off. His pictures are stunning.

Accidents happen

Like all good film photographers,

Louis discovered multiple exposures

by accident. Shooting a friend’s band

in his early days of photography he

accidentally pressed the wind-on

crank release on the base of his

Nikon F2. When he pulled the

winder over for the next shot the

film remained where it was and he

exposed a second image over the

first. Fortunately he liked the effects