The Thrill and Anticipation of Street Photography: Interview with Ola Billmont in Stockholm

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Eric’s Note: Ola Billmont is a street photographer based in Stockholm, Sweden. He is also one of the co-founders of CUP (Contemporary Urban Photography). Learn more about the founding of CUP (Contemporary Urban Photography in Stockholm), his work in film and digital, and how he approaches strangers on the street. 

How did you first get interested in photography?

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I’ve always been interested in photography. I actually had my own darkroom when I was 15 in my parents basement, developing both my film and making copies. But that lasted a few months only because the result sucked…hahaha.

First I had a Pentax MX which was stolen when I was Interrailing and then a Contax 139 Quartz which I forgot on a train.

Then there was a long gap and when the Nikon D200 came out I bought it with an ambition to use it a lot. But I took only 200 shoots because I hated this big heavy camera.

Another time gap and when the small cropped cameras became better I thought it was time again. So I bought a Olympus E-P3 at Christmas 2012 and that’s when I started shooting for real the first time.

Who were some of your role models when you started taking photos?

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To be honest there wasn’t any specific photographers that got me going, I kind of had it in me. I always liked portraits, both shooting and looking at but I’m drawn towards conceptual photography.

I got three books from Paul Stuart, a fetish photographer who (often) combines his shoots into a “street” environment or candid style. It’s as he bumped into all these semi nude women by accident, weird but nice.

But rather answer who is my inspiration right now I have to say that even though I like color it’s in bw, strong contrasts. I think my darkroom mentor Joakim (Anders Petersen’s copyist) has inspired my on that level at least.

So my answer will be in books:

You shoot a lot of street photography with a flash on your medium-format on your Mamiya 7II (as well as other cameras). Also on a technical note– why do you shoot with flash, and what about medium-format appeals to you?

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I’ve been through a lot of cameras and the Mamiya 7II will never leave me. However recently I fell in love with a Nikon SLR so right now I’n snapping away 35mm film in a Nikon.

But for the usage of flash the answer is the same for both types of cameras. It started because we got quite a long dark fall/winter season here in Sweden and the speed of film doesn’t make it if you want to catch people on the move.

But what you learn after using a flash a little bit is that you add a layer of effect and if you (as I do) use and off camera flash on a cord or remote controlled you can steer the light, compose with it.

A sunny day you can add light in the shades and in the dark simply light it up. It’s just amazing. These days I can barely snap without a flash in my hand.

Medium format, well with the amazing lenses Mamiya has to the 7-series you’ll get a depth in the shots that is mind blowing. I don’t refer to depth of field but rather like an 3D feeling to them even at 5.6 or f8. The shots become very “clean” in a sense but with the flash you mess them up just so they don’t look so damn neat. If you get what I mean. I want my bw shots to look a little bit dirty.

Related to the previous question, why film?

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The anticipation of finding out what I just did :). It’s the greatest thrill there is. Knowing or rather hoping it turned out as you thought. When I’m developing it’s like Christmas every time.

But as I also love to work in the darkroom, doing everything you do in Lightroom with my hands, small pieces of cardboard, dodging & burning, building up the image, improving it gradually….good times.

I just swapped from T-Max to Ilford FP4 (125 ASA) and I love that film. Fine grains that will make solid black colors when you develop it to the max. As I shoot with flash (85% of the time) I don’t need 400 or faster film.

I’m a member of an art collective in Stockholm and we got an a fantastic darkroom with 7 or 8 enlargers up to large format, 8×10 inches.

Can you share a little more about the “CUP” exhibition in Stockholm? How the event was created, your experiences, and the street photography scene there in Stockholm?

Mirror

CUP (Contemporary Urban Photography) is not this event only.

CUP was formed to promote and organize photography exhibitions with a focus to street photography. We (me, Brian Sparks and Mattias Läppeniemi) love street photography, but there is so much great photography out there and we didn’t want to end up in a discussion about genres, so that’s why there isn’t any “street” in the name. Our next show might be something different, I said might…

The collaboration with In-Public came about as Brian and Mattias became friends with David Gibson when they helped him do a workshop here last summer.

They had prepared a complete exhibition including all members which was on show in Bangkok at the time. It was relatively easy to transfer it to Stockholm.

Apart from IP we are five Stockholm based photographers exhibiting at the same event. So the whole exhibition contains around 100 photos.

You work in black and white and color. When do you decide to use each medium?

Please

Good question. I guess just a gut feeling, or the mood I’m in. Can’t really give a good answer to that.

BUT, I quit doing color film. I was developing all color film my self (even slide) but now I will shoot digital when, of if, I need colors.

I just got a D800 and all lenses are manual focus, old Ais lenses that I can use on my SLR bodies.

How do you generally work in the streets? How much do you shoot candidly versus interacting with people? When you do interact with people- how do you connect with them and make them feel more comfortable around you?

Big eyes

I think we are kind of the same personality you and me Eric, ants-in-my-pants type…hahaha. I can’t stand still really, moving a lot but I’m moving less. Have slowed down a lot. Not to the extend that I stand still but moving within a small space.

Well I guess 80% of my shots are flash-in-face so that’s not very candid but sometimes I try. It’s kind of hard for me being 6 foot 5inches (196 cm) but I know guys who does it perfectly so I shouldn’t complain or excuse me because of that.

I’ve learned that you can flash someone and just keep walking and 99 times out of 100 that’s it. Sometimes people interact with either a curiosity or anger. My usual comment is to give them a positive compliment even though it’s not always the case it works well.

Sometimes I throw my big hand up in the air to high-five them as a “Thank you” for a good shot and that will put most people in a what the hell just happened mode.

What are some projects you are currently working on?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Good timing for this question as I haven’t had any projects before until just now. I’ve been shooting for just a little bit more than a year and it’s been most about experimenting with different cameras, film, digital, exposures, flash, double exposures etc.

I got two thingies going right now. Both on 35mm bw film. One is shooting at our amusement park here in Stockholm, Gröna Lund. Been there ~10 times so far but I’m already getting a decent body for something. I’m trying to get the most shots here close, very close with flash and sometimes with the subjects approval.

Then I started last year to shot a an annual horse racing event here in Stockholm and it was great. So many odd characters. I didn’t know it was a project until this year so I will come back and shoot there every year for a few years.

Who are some contemporary street photographers who you recommend people check out?

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Let’s just hope there wont be a “what is streetphotography” discussion but I will throw in a couple of greeks, Anton Damolis and my friend Dimitris Makrygiannakis (and I thought Finnish names were difficult to spell).

But there are so many, Peter De Krom is great, Maciej Dakowicz and I love what Nick Turpin is doing taking street using it for advertising. That’s what I want to do.

What advice do you wish you got when you started street photography?

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Shoot, shoot and shoot only. Don’t get lost in gear, it doesn’t make ANY difference, really. If you only got a $10 Minolta Hi-Matic, just go!

Any last things you would like to mention?

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If you want to start shooting people in the street, don’t be afraid. If you end up having problems from doing that, tell them to call me :)

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