It was back in high school when Evan Cooper picked up his first camera. His English and Journalism teacher decided to set up an extracurricular group for students that might like to learn photography.
"In those days it was completely analogue so we learnt not only the basics of taking photos but also how to develop the film and print the images," Cooper recalls. "As someone that can be somewhat shy and content in my company, it became something I could do by myself while creating opportunities of being involved in certain activities like being the photographer at school events.
Fast forward to 2024 and Cooper's solo exhibition will be held as part of Midsumma Festival.Echoes and Whispers will be a multiple exposure photographic exploration of the male form. "I started experimenting with different photographic processes as a way of playing with the medium by pushing or pulling the film, blurring, and the effects of different shutter speeds. With multiple exposure I found results that interested me, and I wanted to see where I could take it," he explains.
"All of my multiple exposure work is captured in-camera and since I only see the one image when I take the photo I actually have to use my memory to plan how the image is possibly going to look when all three are taken. There is an element of serendipity with the final image, where some are better or worse than expected," he says. "Even though this work is shot digitally, I limit the editing of the images to what I would do in the dark room if I was developing film. So the things I edit are cropping, exposure, contrast etc. By limiting myself in this way I have to be more aware and present during the taking of the images, as I simply can't "fix it in post".