Bryan Adams Visual Gallery- Photokina Interview
Q: You started to photograph and document a long time ago and so your work at the studios and on your tours. Did your approach to the photography as a creative activity change since your beginning? Did the choice of your reasons change?
Adams: Yes, certainly. First I did some photos because I wanted to archive in any format. Because no one else didn´t care about this documentation, I took my cam – and honestly I wished I took some more photos. This kind of work has inspired me a lot because I´ve seen/ I see a lot 
of places I´ve never been before and I get to know a lot of fascinating people which otherwise I never had met. What can you want more?
Q: Which kind of cameras do you use? Is the equipment depending on basic conditions or on your mood/ideas?
Adams: Wherever I go I´d rather have the same equipment with me. Some cameras I have a long time like my Rolleiflex and my Polaroid cameras. Sometimes I grub out my old 10 x 8 Deardoff but most of the time I use a Mamya RZ and different 35 mm cameras like my Leica M6 and my Contax T2 on which I can count on too.
Q: Can you imagine yourself working with a digital camera?
Adams: Yes, I´ve worked with that a few times. That’s really completely different from a film in a camera. It works best when I collaborate with a good lab which catches on a lot from “colourmanagement” during picture editing.
Q: Do you work more conceptual or more spontaneous?
Adams: Every day I have something different in my head and most of the time I try it out and work on this idea. I would say that in this thing I am very spontaneous. On the other hand, I like to work together with a good team and this can be worked with details. This combination, for example, is a combination from pictures which I took with any cam I had with me right then or it is something about pictures which were taken in a studio and for that I had a whole team in use off the stage.
Q: How do you appreciate the international scene of photographers – how do you appreciate the german scene of photographers?
Adams: It is going to be more and more interesting. All the things we were excited yesterday is norm today. All the things that were norm yesterday we get them as absorbing. Our feeling of art has changed into the opposite. Artists like Andres Serrano,for example, did religious themes reinterpretations while Stephen Shore and Thomas Struth did reinterpretations about landscapes
Q: Did you refresh your sightings which you choose for your magazine “Zoo” – predominantly the sighting to give german photographers a new platform?
Adams: “Zoo” has become more “international” than we had thought and had planned. The level board was disposed high when Steven Klein wrote a story for us. From that point on, we really had the claim to get the best contributions into this magazine – not only contributions from a particular place or country.
Q:Your serial photo about Mickey Rourke is going to be a highlight during the photokina 2006 in Cologne. What does it mean to you to be represented on this “world exhibition”?
Adams: Well – its complimentary to be asked if you would do an exhibition – regardless of which reason. Leicas are most absorbing for me for years and predominantly I am here at the photokina for these cameras.
Q: How did you manage to get Mickey Rourke for this serial photo?
Adams: We have a collective friend who we both like very much. The problem is: We both cannot come closer to her – she´s a lesbian. She brought me together with Mickey as he stayed in London last year. He was very “cool” – thought “Zoo” as a good magazine and wanted to join in – whilst keeping on his clobber.
Q: Was it stressful to work with him? Sometimes he is described as a “not really companionable”
Adams: We got along very well. It was like we´ve known each other for a very long time. And then we´ve found out that we met 20 years ago in Los Angeles when we did a bike tour around LA. I remembered that when a friend showed me some pictures of that time.
Q: Your work as a songwriter, singer and photographer is combined with big social engagement – particularly for cancer research. How did it come to that?
Adams: I didn´t fell good with my achievement. To make up fot that I spent a lot of time with other things. Thereby I did awareness training regarding cancer and collected contributions for cancer research and some other things. And I spent my time on some other things – for example photography. It’s a big hobby for me – not only seen on the creative side but also in charitable aspects.
Q: Have you planned new projects?
Adams: I have planed a few songs for a movie – I have some ideas for books in my head – and then there is my never ending world touring – hope to see you there…Source: http://www.prophoto-online.de
Posted in: General News
2 Comments
October 17th, 2006 at 11:51 pm
i love you. will you marry me?
March 31st, 2010 at 11:40 am
[...] (1987) Similar difficulties arise with respect to the portrait photographs of Thomas Struth. …bryan adams.org Bryan Adams Visual Gallery- Photokina InterviewArtists like Andres Serrano,for example, did religious themes reinterpretations while Stephen Shore [...]