Q&A with @mmutes

What’s the most unexpected thing happened to this project?

A week or so into the project @purerock28 sent me a short video of her scrolling through my photos paired with ones she had found in her archive — everything that has followed, the website, the tagging, the captions, the long conversations at bars discussing the photos and the words that follow has all been unexpected. A lonely attempt at a 365 photo project became 365x365.

Which pair of shoes do you wear the most on your photo walks?

A beaten-up, but well loved pair of NIKE Free Runs snapped up at a 40% off sale in mid 2017. The tag says they are made in Indonesia and are a Mens US size 13. The left side of the upper on the right foot has been worn out since a week or two of wearing them…I bought them before a trip last year and have worn them all over Brunswick East and Collingwood. 

If you could start over, what would you change? And what wouldn’t you do without?

I wouldn’t do it without @purerock28, I think I would be very lonely otherwise. I might figure out a more flexible way to edit photos. Everyday I need to make sure I’m home by 11pm so I can download, curate, edit and upload a photo before the next day...

What do you get out of this project and what do you lose?

I haven’t run in a while…

Tell us about your set-up and process.

I have a Canon 600d DSLR that I bought in 2012. I didn’t really use it until a month long trip to Japan in 2015 where I had my camera with me the whole time. I mostly use a Sigma 18–35mm Art lens. I was at a baseball game in Hiroshima with a bunch of folk from the hostel I was staying at struggling to take some photos when the quiet German guy next to me started giving me some advice. A short while later he took out a professional DSLR with the model badge covered in black tape to hide its value. He told me about the Sigma 18–35 Art lens and about Yodobashi camera where I could test the lens. I read a few articles and tried the lens in Yodobashi in Kyoto. The lens was cheaper to buy once i returned to Australia than it would have been in Japan. The lens is made in Japan. How does that work? The second lens I use when I’m thinking about portraits is a $100 50mm f1.8 canon lens. I have three batteries labeled 1,2,3, I’m not really sure what this achieves.

What kind of music do you listen to when editing photos?

I usually have some sort of cooking video playing in a small window open next to lightroom.
If music is on it’ll be something fairly relaxed like Khruangbin.

Use three words to describe how you are feeling about the project at the moment.

Habitual. Curious. Sleepy.

What are your happiest and shittest moments or scariest experience from this project?

On 10/365 I got to work early in the morning and noticed a tree’s shadow was cast onto the brick facade of the office. I took my camera out of my bag and took a snap. This was the first time I really realised the benefit of having a camera with me all the time. It was also a really exciting thing to capture in a photo. That was a good moment. I’ve had a few people yell nonsense at me but I just keep walking.

Is @purerock28 annoying for tagging along?

There would be no 365x365 project without @purerock28

Favourite place/suburb to take your photo walk so far? Where to next?

I think the point of the project was to realise how interesting things can be in your own backyard, without feeling like you need to go to some tourist location like the Effiel tower or what not to get a good photo. To think about what you really find interesting, what your own eye sees and what you can say about that. That’s why I really love Brunswick East and Collingwood. That said, NYC, the home of street photography (don’t quote me on that) would be a fun place to explore.

You’re such a foodie but we haven’t seen a lot of food porn photos on the project or just in general. Why?

I don’t want to be “that guy” standing over a plate of food at brunch.

If one day your camera got stolen or broken, what would you do?

Finish the project, I guess. On my phone, on a friend’s DSLR, on an old compact digital camera, on whatever. A Polaroid might be fun. I wonder if you would notice the difference.

Why art? Why photography?

Because I was always  restless as a kid until teachers started letting me draw in my notebooks.

I like memoirs, interviews, archives, libraries, documentaries, behind the scenes, music recordings, old notebooks and letters and cards written by people. I like the recorded world, the mundane and the documented and overlooked notes, thoughts and feelings that weren’t meant to be seen by anyone other than the maker. I think my grandkids will think I am strange when looking through all the photos of doors, fire hydrants, broken bricks, discarded chairs, and obscure situations I have taken. There’s a lot in that.

What are you inspired by?

My friends and their projects, thoughts and ideas. I like good food, buying rounds of beer, conversations and music.

Anything brewing for your next project yet?

I wonder. Maybe another photo project?

Did you discover something about yourself through this project that you didn’t know before?

I usually walk for at least an hour or so each day, before work, during lunch breaks, or after work. On weekends I can walk for hours, wandering around laneways and random side streets. This has made me very conscious of my health and thankful that my eyes are still good (enough), that I can walk and carry heavy camera equipment without any issues. It’s a weird thing to think about being young, but mobility is such an important thing in what I’m doing.