call me Flyn

Portraits

2012-01-15T15:24:00.001Z

Some faces you may or may not recognise...

(Agnes Deyn)

(Pixie Geldof)

(Alice Dellal)

(The xx)

(FOE)

(David Lynch)

Soon

2011-12-29T13:54:00.001Z

Some ideas I'm playing with.

(Amy Winehouse)

(Bat for Lashes)

(Pixie Geldof)

(Romy xx)

(An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump)

Surface

2011-11-15T14:19:00.003Z

Old styles, new approaches.

Coffee, Milk, and Sugar

2011-10-30T19:55:00.002Z

Apart from a camera and a mobile phone torch, that's all I used to make these images. 34 minutes. Towards a Poorer Photography.

News

2011-10-27T20:15:00.001+01:00

This month I've been featured in Zeitgest Magazine for my Sentimental Journey (farewell to St. Martins) series and interviewed by the Young Director Award blog for some of my video work with Manflu. Thank you to those who wrote nice words about me and my work. It always means a lot to me.

http://www.zeitgeistmagazine.com/#/flyn-vibert/4556037254

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Here at Zeitgeist we get inundated with more emails from photographers asking to work with us than any other type of creative. There's no denying that there's a lot of incredibly talented photographers out there, but very few have immediately stood out to the extent that Flyn Vibert did.

Instead of embracing all of the technology a modern day photographer has at his disposal, Flyn, who has both an MA in fashion photography and a BA in photography, works towards what he refers to as "poorer photography". This means "no Photoshop, no retouching, no darkroom manipulation, just photography" to create his images, which look more like works of multimedia art.

Every image he creates is incredibly unique. For his recent series shot across a three day period in late June 2011 as "a kind of goodbye" to St Martins Charing Cross site, that closed that same month, Flyn set about using methods that very few professional photographers would ever use. "The sun was going down and I had no proper lighting equipment, but I knew I had to keep going. In my left hand I held my phone, I lit near every image with my Nokia's built-in torch, directing the light as desired, and in my right I shot with my camera". Despite these amateurish, unorthodox techniques, the images show that Flyn is anything but.

He describes the use of these techniques as adding a level or performance to what is traditionally a very static art. This performance aspect allows him to pour everything into his work; anger, passion, hate, love, to push the image further.

While the photographic world is pushing in one direction Flyn Vibert is veering off on a totally different tangent. We very much look forward to seeing where it takes him next.
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http://youngdirectoraward.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/sign-me-up-flyn-vibert/

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So you’ve just graduated – where from and what was your degree?

Yes, I studied at the London College of Fashion for about 18 months – MA Fashion Photography. My whole background was in the arts, but I was looking for new inspiration. I needed that change. I don’t tell many people this, but I’d stopped shooting for a period of time. Things just felt a little stale. So I wanted to do something that would take me completely out of my comfort zone. And it did. It pushed me so much further than I could’ve imagined. Both practically and (just as crucially) on a personal level. I still have a bit of a love-hate relationship with fashion, but then I also have that with the arts. And I do love conflict.

We love your filming of Manflu – can you tell us how that came about and about the shoot please?

It was more of a subconscious drive than anything carefully planned out. I’d actually never filmed Manflu before that night. I’d seen them play several times before and each time they drew me that little bit further in. They had something about them that I knew I had to capture on film. I was going to see them that night anyway, so I brought my camera along as always. I never quite feel complete without it on me. The shoot itself was all about feeling. I was reacting to what I was experiencing. Somewhere between intensity, passion, fire and even brutality. I had to be strong that night, I had to hold my ground, compete for space, force angles. It was a hell of a rush.

What camera did you use and did you use any additional lighting other than what the band was using?

I used the same camera I shoot all my photography with now, a Canon powershot G10. I’ve never been much into larger formats I prefer to be as agile and nimble as possible when I shoot. It’s pretty limited, but it fits my practice. In everything I do, I’m working towards what I call a ‘poorer photography’ – a rejection of professional means in producing the image. In limiting my tools, I believe that I push myself further creatively.

Manflu use a strobe on their final song, so I was conscious of making use of that. Lighting is very important to me, it’s always played a big part in my photography work and that continues through to my use of video. I think it was (Federico) Fellini who said “Light is everything ……light is life”.

Did you change it to b&w in the edit? Did you edit it yourself?

Yes, I shot it in colour initially, as I like to always leave the option there. In this case, I think black & white fitted the experience. I wanted to further emphasise those clashes between darkness and light.

I used a long take here, so the edit is pretty minimal.

How do you think your stills photography informed your film?

Framing is an under-rated skill, I think. It’s always been very important to my photography. I love disecting lines, creating angles, and closing the frame right down. So when I film, I’m faced with the challenge of holding a good frame continuously and I find that amazingly exciting.

Are there any other films you’d like to show us – please tell us about those too.

I’m still working with Manflu. I shot with them again a few weeks back, experimenting with some new ideas, holding more intimate frames. I think the results are interesting. Though it’s all a bit work in progress at this stage. I’d like to share it with you though.

When did you first pick up a camera and realise images were something you wanted to be involved in?

I was 16 and I wasn’t sure where I was going. My whole family are creatives, so I was drawn to that side. I loved music, but I couldn’t sing or play. I loved art, but I couldn’t paint. So I took up photography. There was no real reasoning behind it. I had no idea whether I’d actually be any good at it, but something drew me to it. My father gave me his camera, taught me the basics and my love affair began there. I’d spend hours on the streets, sneaking into building sites, creeping through fences, searching for unseen (ugly) beauty, shooting til every last drop of energy was sapped from me. And then I’d do it all again the next day. I felt so completely alive. And that feeling has never left me.

What’s your five year plan?

To look back and have no regrets.

Sentimental Journey - part 2

2011-09-28T22:47:00.000+01:00

“Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a fucking sharp knife to it.” Banksy

Sentimental Journey

2011-08-26T15:42:00.004+01:00

Shot across 3 days in late June. This is a kind of goodbye to St Martins' Charing Cross site, which closed forever at the end of that month.

So I moved around the edges of the building, sneaking into various rooms, using the unseen (ugly) beauties, the real history of the college - dirty sinks, exposed electricity boxes, paint encrusted surfaces - and making these a part of my own practice. It felt dangerous, I knew I wasn't meant to be there, and I was thriving on that feeling. It became a kind of performance for me.

Something borrowed - part 2

2011-07-27T20:03:00.001+01:00

And the second half -

Taster 2

2011-07-11T20:21:00.004+01:00

In progress...

Something borrowed - part 1

2011-07-04T21:43:00.001+01:00

I'm not so much in the mood for words this evening, just photos, the last of a series that needs to be put together properly (rather than virtually), one day in the not too distant future...

Taster

2011-06-07T17:41:00.015+01:00

A few things I'm working on -

Continuation

2011-05-23T14:03:00.001+01:00

I remember times of feelng so frustrated at college, wanting to be able to pursue my own projects without having to jump through their hoops. But then you find yourself in the open and you start to miss those guidelines. You can do anything now, the skie's the limit...but where does it all end, how do stop your work from losing direction. My work's been a little scattered of late. So this is a continuation, a project in which I'm going to work to some restrictions.

Movement

2011-04-26T16:10:00.011+01:00

I'm sure I could edit these down a littleantic and better and I may well come back to this post to do so in the near future, but for now I'll leave it as is. This is a different approach for me, less brutal, at times even a little rom playful. Well, there's still a dark edge there, I'll never lose that.

The Hunger

2011-02-09T21:44:00.009Z

I'm not quite at full flow yet, but I like this work. It's some of the happiest I've been with for a long time. Remembering my roots, not overcomplicating the frame, following my instincts, never holding back, embracing mistakes, enjoying the moment, and always looking forward. Anders (Petersen) puts my feelings towards photography so well:

“Really, I want every image to be a self-portrait. If I take a picture of that apple on the table, it can be a self-portrait” How? “By using whatever is necessary to be true to myself: the light, the darkness, the hunger I have and the innocence. By not thinking. By being as primitive as possible, as raw as possible, as horrible as possible. Using my nerve and my heart and my gut. Then, only after shooting, I will use my brain to select and edit. This is the beautiful and fantastic thing about photography.”

Remix

2010-12-19T18:37:00.002Z

Not forgotten. I've been shooting quite continuously over the last couple of months actually. And they'll be more to come soon enough. This is just a quick shoot though. A remix of some older work, a kind of renewal. It's interesting to see how I've changed, how I approach photography now, how my eye is drawn to different things. These are experiments too, new ideas and new ways of working. So it's all a little incomplete. Will I ever feel that complete though.

Alternating Currents

2010-08-31T19:52:00.003+01:00

"...what is most characteristic of the great movements in art is their radicalism, their continual surpassing of their own limits, their effort to approach the absolute, to go beyond the outermost boundaries of art. When that furthest limit has been reached, another painter (see photographer) arrives on the scene, makes the crucial leap, discovers yet another free space beyond, and once again is stopped short by a wall - a wall that he must leap over in order to reach the open spaces beyond. Retreat is impossible." Octavio Paz.

And I've felt a little like this lately. It's always the way when you finish a big project. There's nothing negative here though - it's about moving on, moving forward, embracing change. Those who fight it are left behind. There's a lot happening in my little world right now. And I'm sure I'll get to tell you about it someday soon. For now, I'm going to post a series of images that I'm not quite sure how I feel about. I like them, in a way, but I'm not sure this is really me. It's a strange feeling:

But rest assured, no wall will ever stop me.

Karen O: Was it really worth it?

2010-07-01T21:20:00.003+01:00

No more games.

Playing games

2010-06-11T09:34:00.006+01:00

I've been playing a lot of games lately, shooting because I love to shoot, but not pushing myself in any particular direction. Maybe you need that sometimes, I'm not sure. I suppose there is a sense that I needed that time to feel out where I would go next. To gather my strength. I forget what I say here, but that last project really took me to the brink. And that's the way I like it. It shouldn't be easy. But yeah...only now am I really recovering that spark and energy. I wasn't quite myself for awhile.

I feel close to being fully restored now though, again with that restless desire to get 'something' out of my head. A something that needs to be communicated or else my brain just might hemorrhage. A tad extreme perhaps, but in a way it does hurt not to put an idea out. Anyway...games, this the last of them for awhile. A warm up, if you like, for what's to come:

Mischief

2010-05-13T10:33:00.003+01:00

Some little off-shots for an album cover I'm working on:

Something new

2010-03-10T22:29:00.004Z

Exactly as the title says. This is something else, away from the project that has consumed me over this last year or more. You could call it an escape. I love this project, the bands, the images, the collaborations, the outcome, it's continuation. But...at some level, my mind is aching to move into other territory. Shackles around my ankles. Holding back on this desire to move on. Too much energy.

So, this is my outlet. The first 6 shot back at the end of November during a difficult period of work for me:

And similarly, these just days ago:

Breaking out

2010-02-25T20:00:00.014Z

I didn't like this post at all, so I've started again. Too many words, not enough actual thought behind them or even action.

There were some pictures here attempting to show you what I'd done at my final show and how I'd put all this work together, but it was all pointless. The whole installation was designed to work for that one night only, interacting and clashing against the space. A perfect white wall gallery set against this idea 'Tearing at the Walls'. I really hated that space, I almost tore my hair out working my way around it, holding back on that desire to literally tear down those walls and set the floor alight. But, in the end I'm happy with how it came together. It wasn't perfect and I'm quite sure any pure fashion people would've found the whole thing confusing, but what's important to me is that the people I care about, came that night and enjoyed it.

It was a good night, but this was only the first stage for Tearing at the Walls. More then just an album...

Crippling back pain

2010-02-09T22:03:00.007Z

So...my final show at the LCF only days away. You should take a look, all the info is here. It's strange because although I'll put all of myself into this, pushing everything to the limit to get something that might even vaguely satisfy me, deep down I know this is only the beginning. There is so much more beyond this. This project has come a long way since it was dragged out into the open, and here it's finally realised, but it's still far from over.

Here is a picture of a table, I found him lying around St Martins and had to have him. Full of such charcter. Technically it was theft, so maybe this is why God sent back ache to me.

This is his new home - for now.

The end, or the beginning...

2010-01-01T14:49:00.004Z

I've not been on for awhile, and for that I must apologise. My work is my obsession, it is everything, it is all about passion, fire and intensity. I'm a very thoughtful person though, and so there must be a balance here. It's difficult for me to explain these things....words probably aren't quite enough. Needles to say, I became consumed and I had to disappear.

Now, the project almost over, I move onto this next stage. It is time for the onslaught, the push forward, from idea to material piece. Word of mouth is important, so please visit some of these pages and begin to spread the word:

2010 - Tearing at the Walls - Making way for the new

http://www.facebook.com/tearingatthewalls
http://www.myspace.com/tearingatthewalls
http://twitter.com/TearingAtWalls

Apologies for the expletives, but

2009-11-06T16:11:00.005Z

...I'm fucking happy. It's been a tough day or so for me, with many things to sort out hitting me all at once. And then a difficult decision to make that I agonised over initially, but once it was made I knew it was the right decision for me and the project. Relief is what I felt, and the return of my usual calm nature. Others things have been going on today that are putting the 'fuck' into my already general happiness. Not least some amazing tracks being supplied for my release.

Anyway, this is just another quick update to share some work in progress with you, which has been shot as an extra little gift to Le Corps Mince De Françoise. I usually wouldn't show unfinished work, so I must be in a good mood:

Heavily influenced by cubism, of course, and maybe a hint of Constructivism. Not there yet, for me, but I'll get it right in time.

p.s. I've excahnged a few images in my previous posts that I was holding back. I do that too much for my own good.

Still 'hurting'.

2009-10-28T23:04:00.009Z

I've probably been working on this project for more then a year now, so I guess I'm tiring somewhat. And as I approach my deadlines, it's getting harder for me to write here. Not necessarily for lack of time, more so in not wanting to put anything here that would seem half-hearted. Each post reflects an important part of the project, and my time with a certain musician / band / photograher. The process of writing and thinking, taking myself back through those experiences again.

Anyway, I've been so busy this evening that I haven't even had my dinner yet, but I'll promise to be back very soon with some more images. Perhaps on a Sunday, my favoured day of reflection.

To keep you going, here's a teaser:

If you're not hurting, you're not working hard enough.

2009-09-20T17:21:00.007+01:00

I particularly like Sundays - most of my posts seem to fall on this day. There's something creative about them for me, not in an intense manner, a more relaxed calm. I've tended to shoot over weekends throughout this project, so on the most part Sunday has become my editing day. The storm over, my mind still crawling with ideas, my body pulsating, the come down. I guess I sound like I've been on something. And in a sense, creativity is a kind of drug to me. Though, unless you want to count sleep deprivation, a fairly harmless one.

Anyway, we're now onto the final few shoots of the project and (for me) that turns the heat up. As a perfectionist, with each passing shoot I'm intent on creating something fresh when held up against the rest of the project. The truth is, though, I'm starting to feel the strain of shooting for an entire summer with no real time off. Which is why I put a two week gap between this shoot and my previous one. I needed that time to recover a part of myself, and I'm glad I did:

My Toys Like Me are a band that mean a lot to me - I feel very close to them. I guess there is a certain underlying connection there. And while I do like how they record, it was their live shows that really captured me. Aluna (the lead singer) is a real performer*, I can kind of see a switch flick on as she goes on stage, within moments magnetising her audience. Gus, on the other hand, seems always the dreamer to me. A scientist to his craft. Reminding me of another side of myself. I wanted to convey those feelings through these images. The dreamer and the performer, both full of complexity.

*Towards the start of this project, I began to realise that my own creative process was much closer to that of a live musician than the archetypal photographer. As performer, the raw energy of that one moment taking a hold. The 'creative moment'.

Cats vs Humans

2009-09-17T15:07:00.011+01:00

Back already. I've been behind on my updates of late, so I'm giving you another one this week and perhaps one more over the weekend.

Cats...there's just something magical about these little creatures. And I've lived with some wonderful ones since childhood. Of course, humans have their qualities too. So what am I trying to say, and why should I discuss cats in the beginnings of a post addressing my next project shoot...

Well, if we move onto my seventh shoot then I can make things a little clearer. During the initial direction in the shooting of this musician - Sissi - a determined cat entered the frame. Looking for attention, I imagine. Soon becoming a little troublesome, as she peered into the camera I recall asking the photographer to photograph her. I don't why, but I always like to trust my gut instincts and that's what they were telling me. Of course, we also resumed in shooting the musician. The true focus of the shoot.

In editing this imagery, it was the cat that really drew me in initially. So I began to re-work these images first of all. Perhaps my mind was becoming restless, as I was now a long way into a heavily constructed project. And although I'm personally very happy with the outcome, it just didn't make sense for the project. They are an interesting aside that helped me focus on the real subject at hand...the human. And so the cat will not play a part in my final images for the project.

And over to Switzerland

2009-09-14T15:54:00.010+01:00

Time seems to be running all too fast, with another week passing me by without really noticing. Not that I'm sitting dormant of course, in fact it's been quite the opposite, I barely have time to breathe as I now approach the final months of my MA.

Onto my sixth shoot now, and one that required a somewhat different approach. The appropriated material here wasn't shot under my direction, as the band were forced to send me their own promotional shots due to time constraints. So my feeling towards this imagery was perhaps very different to that of previous shoots. Maybe a deeper connection was missing. Still, I had worked in this way in past projects and this didn't faze me. One might even argue that this enabled my concentration to rest solely on imaging the band and their music.

Taking an idea forward that was first explored (tentatively) on my previous shoot, the outcome:

So here we are with Must Have Been Tokyo, a band who took quite a bit of persuading to get on board with the project, with the air miles between us a slight stumbling block. However, they were well worth my effort. Their sound and sheer confidence in themselves, a certain swagger, reminds me so much of Sonic Youth - a band I rarely dare compare others with. Musically I find them superb. A classic indie band, from a time before that word got splurged and mis-used all over the music press.

A darker tone

2009-09-05T03:51:00.006+01:00

About time I got myself back here, I've been shooting faster then I can update of late.

Unlike many of my previous shoots, I went into this one with a clear idea on what I wanted to achieve. Actually, let me re-phrase that. It's more often the case that I have a guidline of sorts to begin with, but as some moment of serendipity hits me, I go off on a completely new tangent. And this is what I love about the way I work. Too often for me, art is based on a fixed idea that allows little or no room for the act of creativity. This creative act is everything to me, it even becomes a kind of performance. I don't know what's going to happen, nor do I want to know. Of course, there are ideas behind my work, but they needn't be shoved down your throat as soon as you approach it. In fact, it's upto you whether you choose to consider them at all. But I diverge. It's a subject that fires me up, a whole other discussion that deserves it's own post sometime in the future.

Initially, inspired by the surrealism I felt in Shock Defeat!'s sound, I had planned to 'kill' each member of the band through the act of collage and re-photography. However, the shoot took on a much darker overtone then I had originally intended:

Although I'm happy with the shots above on a personal level, I don't feel they fit well for the band. There was one shot that stuck out though. Posessing a surreal edge with a touch of humour, the image below represents everything I wanted from this shoot. And so I've decided that this one image will stand alone for Shock Defeat!.

Fables

2009-08-18T15:38:00.025+01:00

Okay, so this one has been a long time coming. My third shoot. I guess I've been holding back on it somewhat, as there is a lot of strong material here and it's not been easy to filter it. As opposed to my previous shoots, I worked through a number of stages, re-working what I'd previously re-worked, and taking the image much further than I might usually dare to. In fact, it's interesting to consider that all of this imagery is created via the basis of a single photograph. [As will be the case through much of this project].

Fables are a band I'm struggling to sum up in words. There's a lot I could say here, but simply not enough space. Besides, I often find less is more. They blew me away...both as individuals and with their music. Diversity and individuality at the heart of everything they do. A rich, complex and exciting mix.

Is it just me or is there something of the Pixies' raw power and insanity in their music.

Trip

2009-08-09T16:10:00.014+01:00

Admittedly, this is actually my fourth (re)shoot. My third was a complex one, and so requires some re-jigging before it goes up here. Oh and I'm also shooting for my fifth as we speak...confusing huh.

Trip was one of the first few to get on board with the project. I remember meeting him very well, going for a hot chocolate to talk ideas. He understood where I was coming from and he had a lot of faith in me. Of course, I always have faith in myself but it's important for me to enthuse others too. I strongly felt his passion and unswerving determination, and I reckon something similar showed in me. But I digress.

Momentum was important here, as I wanted to give an edge of originality to formal portraiture, and perhaps even create something iconic for Trip.

His music strikes a certain resonance with me. And believe me, this guy is going to affect many others soon enough.

Another side

2009-08-02T17:34:00.014+01:00

Le Corps Mince De Françoise...a name I can't help but love. Or if you can't quite get your tongue around that, just LCMDF.

After my first (re)shoot, I wanted to move onto a different kind of image altogether. And perhaps an image which I had less of an attachment to. Allowing me, in a sense, to let loose on the image and work into it further:

LCMDF are a band I fell in love with instantly, not just for their music, but most imprtantly their 'life'. The energy running through them, enthused me at the time and still even now. And so I put a lot into these images to match that feeling.

Needless to say, check out their music.

The beginning

2009-07-28T19:51:00.021+01:00

Though I doubt few others than those who know me well are reading this, it's worth noting that all posts from here on will be in response to my MA final project on which all my time is being spent. Please see the myspace for details.

So, after 6+ months shooting with these bands/musicians, I'm finally starting to re-work and re-shoot all this material. I suppose I'm a working cliché - locking myself away in my studio and quite probably going mad with my own company ...

My first results:

For The Good Natured, I saw more than a sweet young girl - a la Kate Nash. I see complexity in her, a certain depth and maturity, and I hope my images convey that.

Please check out The Good Natured's music (I recommend 'Warriors'), this girl is destined for big things.

2009-06-16T00:48:00.005+01:00

...part 2:

2009-06-16T00:21:00.002+01:00

Seems like only a few weeks have past, yet in reality I've been away from here for awhile. I've been busy though. Eveything's happening now, in a good way. Shoot after shoot, my MA project is really taking off. I've got no time to talk now, with yet another shoot set for tomorrow, so I'll have to come back another time. I don't like to say too much anyway.

F.

2009-04-30T01:11:00.007+01:00

Darker thoughts - part 1:

2009-04-04T20:37:00.005+01:00

Series 5 - the cut-up, part 2:

2009-04-04T17:09:00.001+01:00

Series 4 - care much for 'sewing':

2009-04-04T16:50:00.008+01:00

Two 'moments' that are very important to me:

Flatfile Galleries, Chicago, Sept. 7 - Oct. 26 2007

Thank you Susan.

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Du Magazine - February 2008

And thank you also Walter.

2009-04-04T11:07:00.001+01:00

Series 3 - the cut-up, part 1:

2009-04-04T01:16:00.007+01:00

Series 2 - 'tunnels':

2009-04-04T00:48:00.006+01:00

An aside, some new-old work that few have seen:

2009-04-02T20:19:00.011+01:00

Series 1 - a darker mood: