The Magic of Possibility: Samana and the Simple Use Camera

UK-based photographer and musician Rebecca Harris of band Samana has a keen eye for beautiful aesthetics and is a regular film shooter. We sent her a few Simple Use Cameras to test out on a tour around Europe.

Tell us about yourself?

I am a photographer, poet and musician from the band Samana; a musical formation that was born on the road, formed of me and my partner Franklin. We live in an emerald valley of Wales and record all of our music in our rural analogue studio The Road Records. Last year we released our first album Ascension - a body of work woven from the tapestry of the subconscious, the perception of death, the ancient philosophy of dreaming, and the alchemy of transformative experience.

It is very important for us to bridge the gap between music and fine-art, in an attempt to create an all-encompassing world that creates an entirely idiosyncratic experience. For Ascension, we made a limestone obelisk and erected it atop a secret mountainous location in Wales. 100 exclusive maps lead the listeners to its location, being but a passage to this world. With each release, we look to explore the boundaries of a concept, to step beyond its peripheries, question and then venture further again.

What is the appeal of film photography?

The magic of possibility. A moment stored in darkness until a chemical transformation reveals a piece of time anew. The ability to see and feel again, the past, through the alchemy of light.

Tell us about these photos, what did you shoot?

My partner and I took photographs during our Ascension European Tour in November. We took two cameras to capture the transient moments in-between shows and countries. We were documenting the quiet hours, fragments of exhaustion, backstage interludes, and the nature of moving in-between places summoning a sense of transience and togetherness.

How did you get on with the Simple Use Camera?

Easy as pie, after all, it's in the title. I normally shoot with a range of different old medium format, and 35mm cameras, so having a couple of cameras that one could be heavy-handed with, to just point and shoot on tour was a complete blessing. The colour filters are a nice addition to play around with, to give that pop depending on the mood of the moment at hand.

What's coming up in 2020?

Big, beautiful, exciting things! We're kicking off the beginning of the year with a couple of shows in France and then in the spring, we are disappearing off to the deep forests in the mountains of the Midi-Pyrénées for six weeks to record new material we have been composing for a while. There will be the production of new poetry, new photographs, new exhibitions and hopefully the new and permanent build of The Road Records studio in Wales.

To see more of Rebecca's work, visit her website

2020-02-12 #london #uk #simple-use-camera #rebecca-harris