Interview with Chris Woo March 2006

by Helen Barrass (for the Riddler; see original here)

San Diego-based photographer Chris Woo has photographed artists including The Locust, Hot Snakes and Year Future, and has designed various album art and tour posters for Sleeping People, The Peppermints and Kill Me Tomorrow.

1. How did you get started in your photography?
I started taking photos in high school when I was on the yearbook staff and then continued in that tradition working for my college newspaper at the University of San Diego. It wasn't something that I actively sought out. They just needed photos to go along with articles so I would try to make them somewhat creative and interesting. They let me do what I wanted because I had a good eye for composition and was actually somewhat critical of myself. At my college paper, I did everything from Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief to Writer, Photographer, Classifieds and Distribution. I really wanted to learn every facet of the publishing industry and become well rounded. I have always considered myself to be more of a publisher or printed media guru than simply a photographer. Some of my earliest concert photography dates back to 1993, but I didn't start doing it on a regular basis until around 2000 when I finally broke down and bought a 35mm single lens reflex camera.

2. Where did the name “Titanium Exposure” come from?
Fresh out of college, I got a job working as a graphic artist/pre-press specialist for a large, corporate, daily newspaper. I enjoyed it at first, but after a couple years I realised that my personality was much better suited toward smaller, more personable work environments. I had been moonlighting as a freelance rock critic and eventually made that my main focus. Unfortunately, it was next to impossible to make a living this way, so I took my retirement money that I had been saving up with the corporate job and used it to start my own independent music magazine. I called it Titanium Exposé after the Sonic Youth song. Sonic Youth embodied the artistic and counter-culture ethic that I wanted to proliferate in my magazine. They were the second band that made me realise that underground music exists (Nirvana was the first). To me, a “Titanium Exposé” was the practice of immaculate journalism. This was ironic because I rarely if ever thought that I was a great or gifted writer. But I did have decent grammar skills and was passionate about the music so, in a way, it was perfect. Friends contributed, but I still wrote about 80 to 90 percent of the articles and reviews and did all the layout, advertising sales and distribution work. Sometimes I would print stand-alone photos of a band if I had great photos but a lousy, or no interview to coincide. These were the first remnants of what I would start calling Titanium Exposure. To me, the word "Titanium" implies futurism, like the lightweight yet strong alloy metal. "Exposure" refers to the camera's shutter release. Also, I later learned about Forced Exposure magazine, which I now hold in high esteem. For a short while, I also published a giveaway digest version of the magazine that I called Titanium Express. I never really put much from the magazine online, but there is a website called titaniumexpose.com that I like but have nothing to do with. It works out because now I can use titaniumexposure.com as my domain name.

3. How do you come-up photo shoot ideas? You've worked with many artists including The Locust, Sleeping People etc. How much input do the band have?
The band has as much or as little input as they want to have. It would be nice to be able to abide by that old Esperanto Records slogan: “The artists alone decide what you will hear on their ESP Disk,” which basically means that the artists will be portrayed exactly as they present themselves. But that doesn't always produce the most interesting results. I see my photo shoots as a collaboration. I understand that it’s a purely consensual process. I’m not going to rape them of their identity the way someone like Annie Leibovitz often does. I'm not going to necessarily try to project my own statement of womanhood or manhood by making them get naked or put some kind of ridiculous, perceived symbolism and turn them into some kind of unapproachable idol. I always want to hear their ideas before I start pitching my own ideas because some bands have a very specific way they want to be portrayed and I am careful not to tarnish their already established reputation. Usually my approach is to take their ideas and fine-tune them with my own. The Locust is great because they’re a band that already has their image figured out, and it’s a striking image from the very first glance. The photo shoot with them lasted about as long as one of their songs (read: minutes, if even that) and was done inside of a girl’s restroom at an all-ages venue in San Diego. They of course wore their black and white entomology outfits and stood against a white wall. They were covered mostly in white, and it was hard to tell who was who. It looked as if they were wearing military fatigues on their heads so I thought it would be cool to make them melt into the wall. It all worked out better than expected and they were pleased to add them to their collection of great press photos.

4. Any hints/tips for people keen to start out in music photography? How did you get your first break?
One tip would be to not get into music photography for the money. Paparazzi photographers are exceptions to this rule but they have little or no artistic credibility. Most rock bands don't have money, or if they do then they'd prefer to spend it on drugs or hookers before they spend it on some photographer. My response to that is that doing a photo shoot and getting a cool image of your band out there will get you more drugs and hookers, or whatever you want. As for breaks… I feel that every time a band personally calls me and asks me to take their press photo it is a huge break. This means that they are already motivated to publicise their image and they're less likely to act like little, immature rock star brats, which is more likely when a magazine sets up the photo session for an article. I suppose my first break was when Kill Me Tomorrow asked me to do their press photos.

5. Who / what has been the biggest influence on your career?
Funny thing is, I've never been that into studying photographers. There are a few I have grown to like, though. Jim Marshall is flat out amazing. He's the one who took that photo of Johnny Cash with his middle finger extended. Everyone puts that image on bootleg T-shirts and then he sues their pants off! Glen E. Friedman is a true visionary and a hard worker to back it up. Robert Mapplethorpe photos of Patti Smith taught me that photography can be art. Cynthia Connelly has a great postcard series depicting ice machines that has stayed with me, let wonderful photos from the DC hardcore and Dischord Records milieu. I like skater Ed Templeton's photo book on teenage smokers. Come to think of it, my Mom's watercolour paintings of the Pop 'n' Fresh man were a pretty big influence.

6. A lot of the bands you photograph are San Diego-based (Sleeping People, The Locust, KMT)… bands you have a personal relationship with. How do you think that personal relationship is reflected in the photos?
Well, that’s a pretty interesting thought. Even during the driest seasons, I’ve always thought that San Diego has had a fairly healthy and unique music climate. Moreover, San Diego-based record labels like Gravity, Three One G, Goldenrod, Swami, The Way Out Sound, Negative, Accretions, Flapping Jet, Silver Girl, Cargo/Headhunter, and Vinyl Communications have all fostered their own aesthetic sub-cultures that I have long admired, if not been a part of. I think bands and labels appreciate that I’ve not just shown a presence, but also a genuine interest in what they do and why they do it. Because of this, they tend to trust me more than some famous fashion photographer who just moved here. Trust is a really important part of being a photographer. You can have the most expensive equipment in the world, but if you don’t have a mutual trust and respect then the picture is ruined before you even take it.

7. What do you prefer studio or live photography?
Studio photography. For the longest time—with live photography—I felt like I was doing so much to compensate for bands that had a boring stage presence. It's an interesting paradox—making bands look better than they sound live. I would do long exposures and streak light all over the place, or use an extreme vantage point, or capture motion with a double exposure, or throw bottles, confetti and other projectiles, or use other trickery to make it seem like you're having the time of your life. You wish that more singers would have the balls to rip open their shirts and slice open their chests with a broken bottle like Iggy Pop, or blow sparks into the audience by cutting metal with a circular saw like Einstürzende Neubauten, or light a dismembered car muffler on fire and play it like an instrument like Witchy Poo, but it just doesn't happen very often. Occasionally I'll see a band that dresses up in Halloween costumes or plushing outfits. Although those bands usually sound like shit because their wardrobe interferes with their ability to play their instruments, they can be fun, and at the very least they are more photogenic. I taught myself how to use the darkness of venues to my advantage and create something out of nothing a long time ago, so I've simply grown a little jaded toward it. I feel that if I'm going to manufacture a band's image as such, I might as well put them in a more controlled environment with diffused lighting and a clean backdrop and make it look really professional, even if they're still just doing stupid dog tricks.

8. You have done cover artwork and band promos for Sleeping People and the Peppermints… How did you make the selection process of what final images to use? Was it difficult?
In most professional business relationships, the client has the final word. They pay for that right. I can make recommendations of what I think is the best photo to use for artwork, but ultimately it is their choice. The Peppermints brought "The Last Supper" idea to the table and I just directed the food fight and drunken debauchery so we could stage each shot at the right moment. Sleeping People wanted to take photos of pots and pans because Rob Crow told them it would be a good album cover. For their press photos, I had an old television set that I wanted Sleeping People to destroy. The first thing that pops into my mind when I think of the name Sleeping People is an image of people sleeping in front of a television with a waving American flag and the national anthem playing right before the picture goes to snow. I also thought of Buddhist enlightenment mores. I thought that destroying a T.V. with a sledgehammer would be a good way to represent spiritual awakening. Their bassist Kenseth Thibideau had another idea that he had dreamt about. He wanted to put each member of the band crouched over one another with their pawing arms hanging out in terror—like the way Eddie the Head was crouched over the devil on the cover of Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast long player. I thought it was a great idea and I fleshed it out by electronically putting that image on the television set and taking another photo of guitarist Kasey Boekholt holding the actual television unit in silhouette mode. It was a long, patient process more than a difficult one, as was co-ordinating all the people in the Peppermints shoot, but both were a tremendous amount of fun.

9. Ever been in a situation where you wish you'd had a camera with you but didn't?
Of Course, but I find it rather annoying when people feel like they need to document every moment of everything. Besides, some things are better remembered through myth and folklore. Then, after hearing (or telling) a few stories from friends, you meet someone who has taken photos of that band and it's like the icing on the cake. Most of the time, you're absolutely floored!

10. As your website states, the sonic photography project grew out of your music fanzine Titanium Exposé published in the late '90s. How did you first get involved in writing reviews and fanzines?
I started doing a show at KCR, San Diego State’s college radio station around 1996. Me and a few other deejays would write and publish a program schedule zine called Dead Air with features and interviews with bands and reviews. Zines were more prominent in the US in the ‘80s and ‘90s and it was a big way that people got their information about underground music before the Internet became so omnipresent. My parents are all artists and designers so I would often see them make an art book or do some kind of letterpress or unique bookbinding. Zines utilised these old craft techniques and therefore had a more personalised edge over slick glossies like Spin and Rolling Stone. Furthermore, they weren't afraid to take brazen chances with content or layout and would oftentimes be the only coverage some bands would ever get. Basically, I just identified with the format and the culture’s “do-it-yourself” ethic gave me license to write as poorly as any other hack. Of course, usually, I was striving for the contrary.

11. When did your photographs first hit the galleries, and how did it all start out?
I started showing my work in 2003 because I had accumulated a large amount of good photographs of bands and I wanted to let people know that I existed as a photographer. That show mainly revolved around a couple photos of Lightning Bolt and Arab On Radar that I was particularly proud of. I suppose that it all just came naturally to me because I was a studio art minor in college and was used to seeing things on walls and not just filed away in cyberspace somewhere. I had a couple bands play the opening and the turnout was fantastic and joyous. After that show ended, others were more aware of what I could do with a camera and proceeded to include me in their own shows.

12. Tell us about your current project THIS IS NOT A PHOTOGRAPH: The Sound and Fury of San Diego Sonic Photography that you founded and curate…
Well, since I have long enjoyed and been part of San Diego's music scene, I naturally wanted to find out more about it. One way of doing this was to curate a photo show collecting as much band photography that had been shot within the limits of San Diego County. This was a tremendous effort that took months and months of planning and cold calling people that I had never met before and trying to get them to send me rare and expensive prints of his or her work. Not an easy process by far, especially since some of the photographers who I wanted to include had since moved away to places like San Francisco, New York, or elsewhere. A lot of it was done on a verbal agreement and accordingly I worked very hard to ensure the safety of contributors' photographs. The show had no sponsorship and no actual gallery space, but that didn't stop me because once I have a vision, I am usually determined to make it a reality. I had been frequenting a lot of concerts and events at the Voltaire Street Space in Ocean Beach and thought that I'd give it a go there. The collective group approved of my request and I soon joined their group and shared rent. I publicised the event with flyers and ads in local newsweeklies and asked for a modest donation of $1 to $2 to pay for my expenses although essentially the show was free. I've done it for two years now without any sponsorship whatsoever and still hundreds of people have shown up. I'm not completely against the idea of sponsorship, it just hasn't been at the top of my priority list and therefore I have had to work twice as hard to compensate. Overall, I feel as though it has been a successful adventure and well worth the time and effort. I met a lot of new and old people and learned their techniques, as they did mine. I'm not sure if it will continue at this point, but if it does, I’m going to want to make it bigger and even more fantastic than the last two combined.

13. Who would you most like to photograph that you haven’t already?
Sonic Youth, Scott Walker, David Crosby, Richard Meltzer, Slim Moon, Boyd Rice, William T. Vollman, Dave Eggers, Chris Ware, Sammy Harkham, Mark Ryden, Suehiro Maruo, Jan Svankmajer, Werner Herzog, Harmony Korine, No Neck Blues Band, La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela, Miranda July, Petra Haden, Sissy Spacek. Locally I'd like to take photos of Crash Worship and Harry Partch, but the former is broken up and the latter is dead.

14. What has been your most eventful studio shoot- and with which band?
The shoot with Hot Snakes was pretty eventful. I had just sold off a large portion of my record collection to buy some expensive, yet much needed studio lighting equipment and so it was actually my first studio shoot with a band. I was only allotted a couple hours to do the shoot with no time for second chances since guitarist/vocalist Rick Froberg lives in New York and had just arrived in San Diego and the band was leaving for a world tour that same night, and had to have them done immediately to promote the tour (no pressure, heh!). I brought almost every piece of equipment I had accumulated over the years because I was paranoid that something would malfunction and I wouldn't get a good shot. I kind of overcompensated by bringing a gigantic Ansel Adams-ish large format 4"x5" camera that I had borrowed. That was a big mistake. After one photo, I gave up on using it because it took too long to load and I felt that I needed to be quick to capture the band in action (by the way, that one shot was still pretty cool, although it has yet to be published). The location was at bassist Gar Wood's house because guitarist John Reis and I had agreed to put the band in front of a wallpaper mural of palm trees on the beaches of the Balinese Islands. Everyone was kind of stiff because they were not used to doing photo shoots. In fact, this was the first (and only) photo shoot Hot Snakes had ever done. I asked if there was any music to put everyone "in the mood." Gar threw on David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust record and everyone started playing dress up with anything in the vicinity. John found a mannequin head and stuck it in his pants, making the head pop out of his fly. Rick kept acting like a tourist by chewing on the end of his glasses and sporting a duffle bag full of guitar cords. Gar put on a blond wig and grabbed a cymbal that said "DIE!" on it. Drummer Mario Rubalcaba provided the horseplay by sucker-punching Gar. I had brought a large fan to simulate a sea breeze and blow their hair all wavy like in shampoo commercials but decided against it because John is very concerned about his pompadour-ish hair and I didn't want to fuck it up. Since I always like to have a number of backgrounds and scenes to choose from, I also brought a vinyl-coated reptilian pattern textile to use as an alternate background. It had this plastic wrap coating that we peeled off and Rick wrapped himself in it. Everyone got a kick out of that. While all this was happening, the most dreaded thing happened. One of my cameras was malfunctioned and wasn't communicating properly with my lighting equipment, so I had to manually override it by taking my shoes off to push a button on my strobe control unit with my big toe and attempt to synchronise it to the shutter release button on my camera. This was incredibly difficult, not to mention painful. Fortunately I had brought a back up camera that did work. After the shoot was over, we walked outside and witnessed a horrendous car accident.

check out Chris Woo's photography and art at www.titaniumexposure.com