INTERVIEW: DAVID GARCERÁN

FFO: LOVEABLE RAW + GRITTY, BLACK AND WHITE 35MM IMAGES OF THE BARCELONA PUNK SCENE (+ FURTHER AFIELD) 

Who are you?

My name is D. Garcerán, I’m 22, and I’m a software developer. I also play in bands and take pictures of other bands.

Where are you currently based?

I live in a city very near to Barcelona, Spain, but I use to spend all my time in the downtown.

What is your current photographic work about?

My current work is mainly about punk scene of Barcelona and of different places of Europe and the US, where I went on tour with my bands. I basically take pictures at shows and carry my camera everywhere I go. It’s not like a real project, but maybe I’ll do that too, sooner rather than later.

What attracted you to photographing Barcelona’s punk scene?

I’ve been going to shows in Barcelona for a few years. I go to every show I like and it was natural for me to go there and take pictures.

What’s the main similarities/differences (if any at all) you noticed when photographing the punk scene in various cities in Europe and the US, in comparison to photographing the punk scene of your hometown of Barcelona?

I haven’t felt there are many differences, but maybe in the US it’s a bit harder to shoot because shows are way more crowded, or in smaller spaces (houses or basements), or people get crazier, but that’s cool! In Barcelona, most of the shows are not too crowded, so it’s easy to get in front of a singer and take a picture. There [America] you have to adjust to the context of the show. I take pictures with MF and 50mm, so if there’s no light it would take a few seconds for me to get a good focus (I don’t even have that light that helps you to focus before the flash), and if there’s too many people dancing or jumping it can be nearly impossible.

What got you interested into photography and taking images?

I have always been taking pictures on digital cameras, but my interest has been completely different the last three years. I used to be into skate culture and I liked to buy magazines about it. One of them, Kingpin, released some photography special issues where they interviewed photographers and I got super interested about using film, because some of these photographers talked about their cameras and the film they use, the way they process it, etc. The most interesting photographer to me was only into shooting in black and white, which was something I really used to like on digital but I never thought before that it would exist nowadays on film.

After that I started to look for a cheap camera and I realised I had a very bad one at home, so I grabbed a cheap roll of film and I asked my friends to let me take pictures of them next to the mountain in front of my house. It’s funny because after all this time, I only have two pictures of people skating: one in MACBA in Barcelona, and another one in Venice Beach, LA.

Who are you inspired by?

I’m inspired by classic photographers like the ones related to Magnum (Capa, Cartier-Bresson, Rodger, Davidson…), but I don’t think my work shows anything similar to them. I have been taking pictures for only three years, I don’t even consider myself a photographer, so that’s why my work is still so immature. I’ll try to follow their steps but it will take many years, maybe an entire lifetime to feel I’m really doing something interesting like them. I hope that at the end of that road my pictures won’t look like theirs because I don’t want to be a copy of anyone.

What are your future aspirations?

I’m modest, I just want to print my photos in a zine or a book at some point and maybe do an exhibition if my work gets some attention. Maybe these are things that are easy to do but I want them to be perfect for me, not just something to look ‘cool’, get attention on social networks or get money.

Got any future photography projects lined up? Would you ever go back to photographing people within skate culture? Or would you photograph something new to you?

I’m interested in capturing how people live in the suburbs of Barcelona. Everybody sees this city as a very nice place, a perfect tourist destination to enjoy the holidays with good food, good weather, etc. The reality in the cities around it is a bit different and I’d like to show it since it’s part of my life, but I still have to prepare and it will take a while as it’s very different to the things I’ve done before! Maybe I’ll never do it… but it’s something I’d like to do! I also want to work harder on taking more portraits, but that’s just practice.

I work very near MACBA, a classic skate spot in Barcelona. I could go there and take some pictures every day but I’d prefer to know a group of people and focus the work on them. Maybe someday I’ll do that because it’s something I’ve always liked.

Would you ever consider a formal career in photography? Or would you just prefer to continue to practice photography and take photos in your free time?

I don’t think the quality of my pictures is good enough to think about that. Of course I would like it, but as I said I don’t even consider myself a photographer.

What advice would you recommend to young photographers today?

Take pictures with a camera that doesn’t have zoom so you will learn to move. Take pictures with a camera that doesn’t need electricity so you’ll learn how your camera works. Take pictures on black and white so you’ll learn how light works. Take pictures on film so you’ll learn to take only the important pictures, which will be the good ones. It’s hard to learn if your camera does everything for you, isn’t it?

If you want to keep up with David’s work, follow the links below:

Website

Instagram

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