© Thann Clark

My father got me started in photography when he gave me my first 35mm camera. It was a Pentax K1000. We took it down to Happy Hollow Park in West Layfayette, Indiana, and I took a picture of him—a picture that is still one of my favorite portraits. That first roll of Tri-X film got me started. It was the first time that I felt the magic of creation, and I realized then that some photos are better than others. It started me wondering what makes a good photograph.

My father gave me some great advice on photography. He thought photography was like poetry, and that the key to both was “Isolating an image”. I am not sure that this is the key to poetry, but it helped me start to think about photography.

In college I studied English and philosophy, although I spent more time in the darkroom then applying myself to my studies. I became addicted to the smell of the darkroom, but being a photographer didn’t seem like a possibility. It was a dream job that few could ever have. I ended up leaving school and I stopped shooting.


Getting Back on Course at Brooks Institute

© Thann Clark

A few years later I had started shooting again, built a darkroom in my bathroom, but my life wasn’t going anywhere. I decided to go back to school and study photography, and the Brooks Institute of Photography seemed the logical choice.

To get through Brooks, I had to work harder than I had ever worked before. And I am grateful to all of my professors, whose brutal honesty helped me grow as a photographer. Upon graduation, I earned the departmental award for excellence in commercial advertising photography.

After I left Brooks, I got a few jobs, mostly retouching, but very little client work. So I was happy to land a job assisting a commercial-advertising photographer. It was there that I got to do some retouching for some top clients.


Building a Career

A few months later, I got a call from Dean Collins asking me to come to San Diego to interview. Dean had been one of my idols, so I was a little nervous. The interview lasted for three hours. The only part of it I remember was when he asked me if I had heard of Camera Raw, which was brand new at the time. I said, No. Then Dean asked, “Are you sure that you are in this industry?” That question struck fear in my heart. I figured I had blown it.

© Thann Clark

But a few days later Dean Collins offered me a job at Software Cinema. I quit my assisting job because as others have said, “When Dean calls you, you go.”

My experience working for Dean and Software Cinema has had a great impact on my life. I have gotten to see some incredible places and meet and work with amazing people. Even though Dean is not with us anymore, he is still my mentor. He challenged me to be better than I was, and now he challenges me to do it all with out him.

I have had my book out to stock agencies, and advertising firms, and the reaction is positive, but I don’t think they know how to use me. It’s understandable because some of my work disturbs people. I like that, because photography isn’t always about making pretty pictures.

I always wanted to make photographs that spoke to my sensibilities, images that I wanted to see. So in that sense I am very happy with how my “career” is progressing.

© Thann Clark

My work takes me all over the world. I recently got back from a trip to Europe. I loved Helsinki. I walked around for hours at night just amazed at the beauty of the city. Stockholm was another eye opener for me--a wonderful city of cobblestones and alleyways. I spent three weeks in Europe and came back with maybe six shots that I can use, although I have countless beautiful “postcard” shots. When I’m not traveling, my favorite places to shoot are amusement parks and wax museums, anywhere where the freaky things are.


Shooting My Version of the Truth

For me, at this point in my career, I stay motivated because photography is an addiction. I shoot because this is my way of shouting to the world. It’s a process for me, and I have to get ready in my mind to shoot. For me taking a photograph is like making love, I know when I am ready to do it, I love the process, but I can’t do it all the time.

A photographer is simply one who photographs. You take one shot and you are a photographer. And if we see ourselves as recorders of events, then it follows that we should not alter our images and whatever is in front of the lens should be left as is.

	Click here to see a gallery of Thann's images.

But photography is not reality. We don’t naturally see in wide angles. We make decisions about film type, lens types, apertures, developers, and papers. Although we make a lot of decisions that alter the image, people still think that the traditional techniques somehow have more truth than images processed in Photoshop. I hear some photographers talk about using Photoshop only to mimic traditional techniques, as if that makes their images more pure and more honest.

But, I recently read a quote of Picasso, “Art is the lie that tells the truth”, and that feels right to me. I am a liar, and I have no qualms about changing anything in my images in anyway that I can. I will lie to you, but I will try not to bore you. I will try to show you something you haven’t seen before, my version of the truth.


What’s in the Gearbag

I am shooting mostly digital, some Polaroid, no film. I shoot with a Canon 20D, and the Tamron XR Di 28-75mm is my main lens. I also carry a Canon 18-55mm (a lens that came with the camera), and a Canon 75-300. I am looking to pick up the new Tamron 11-18mm when I can.

I also have been using a Lensbaby, and have been having a blast with it. I also carry five one-gig cards. Of course, Photoshop and my Wacom Intuos 3 tablet are essential to my work.


Choosing Favorite Pictures

When people ask me what my favorite shot is, it’s usually the last one that I have taken. Each photograph means something different and I wouldn’t know how to begin to rate them against each other.

© Thann Clark

One recent shot had a little extra meaning to me though. I was in Sarajevo, Bosnia. I wanted to photograph a beautiful apartment complex that had been destroyed by shelling during the war. It was in a place called “Sniper’s Alley”. That should have been a warning. I happened to find a hole in the fence that surrounded the building, so I went in and looked about.

© Thann Clark

The inside was filled with garbage, clothing, shoes, and other things that people left behind. I found a stuffed animal that had an odd stain on it. It looked like it had been shot in the back. I thought about what might have happened to the child that owned it and why it was it left behind. It made the war real to me. I took the shot, and then went back to the car.

My driver was glad to see me return. She told me that she was afraid that I wouldn’t come back. When I asked why, she told me that the area had not yet been cleared of land mines. I was taken aback, and then I felt really stupid. I had let my curiosity take over my common sense. I would never willingly put my life in danger for a photograph. I hope that this is the last time that it happens.

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