Phil Kneen

VNDL:  Describe your work/process –

PK:  I shoot film, almost exclusively, I have no real interest in digital photography. If I shoot digital, I look at the image on the back of the camera and then try and get a better shot, then a better shot…I don’t need that.
I constantly change formats and shoot 35mm, roll film and 4×5 inch, but I  change cameras and formats on a regular basis – cheap compacts, disposables, Holga, Lomo, Fuji Instax instant, 6×7, 6×6, pinhole, Hasselblad, Mamiya. I also use colour and black & white film in equal measures, I have no real preference.
Most of my commercial work is commissioned portraits and promotional shots for artists and musicians, but I’m equally at home shooting landscapes and fine art images.
What have you been up to recently? (trips, projects, work?) –

I started shooting a project based in and around Yellowknife, in the North West Territories of Canada, last september. Favorite Quote –

“Never rub another mans rhubarb” – Jack Nicholson playing The Joker in Batman (1989). Very good advice!
Advice to other creative’s/aspiring artists –

After family and friends, make photography the most important thing in your life.
What are you currently listening to/reading/ watching? –

Listening to the hugely eclectic playlist on my iPhone – Anything from Alison Krauss to ZZ Top. If I like it, I listen to it, any era, any genre.
Reading British Journal of Photography, the only photographically magazine I buy. I’m not a great reader of fiction.
Watching ‘Boardwalk Empire’, ‘Downton Abbey’ and the documentary channels. My favourite film is ‘Lost in Translation’
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? –

I’d like to start a long-term project in the next 2 or 3 years based around the Arctic Sea. The Arctic is changing rapidly, the ice is disappearing, which will make shorter shipping routes easier and more frequent. I believe that this will change communities around the Arctic Sea beyond recognition with the appearance of new ports, fuel terminals and all the infrastructure that comes with them. Even if this doesn’t happen in my lifetime (I’m 43), I’d like to document things before they change.

Who is or where does your inspiration come from? Any emerging artists to watch
out for? –

There are so many artists who inspire me, but at the moment, it’s Bryan Schutmaat, his work is AMAZING Bryan Schutmaat

Phil Kneen is a photographer living and working in Isle of Man, UK

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