How do you become interested in photography?
First of all, my grandfather was always buying me little cameras. The Kodak 126, a small camera with a cassette which had the film in it, it was a simple point and shoot camera.
Then a neighbour of ours had a darkroom. We used to give him the cassette of photos to develop. Well, he saw me running around with my camera and he asked my mum and dad if I could come to the darkroom to see how you could develop photographs. Photography wasn’t his main job, he was an engineer, but he had a contract with a community group to produce a series of 500 pictures and he brought me over to his darkroom to show me how it was done.
I can remember him telling me to look into the tray and he put a piece of white paper into the tray and he asked me to tell him when a photograph emerged. I was eight years old and I was hooked on black and white photography.
You get hooked on photography at a very young age?
I was always looking at things, designing things, motorbikes, cars and I was always drawing. I was trying to work out how things were designed and thinking about how I might be able to design things. The visual aspect of life was always with me. I would carry my camera around with me every time I went out.
And, as I said, I could always get my photos developed in my neighbour’s darkroom. I still love going into the dark room, doing different forms of printing and I love teaching people how to develop photographs. I love it when Belfast Exposed runs a dark room course because I get to teach the workshops.
Did you live in Belfast at this time?
No, I am from Muckamore, near Aldergrove, and I still live in the house I was born in.
You had a lot of support at home?
My family always encouraged me. I would go with my dad to car rallies or car shows and I would take my camera with me. I loved that, just taking photos and always thinking about how I could do take better photographs.
I would go to motorbike races and I would try and take photos of the bikes and sometimes I wouldn’t get it just right and I would think through how I could get a better photo. The more you do it, the more you learn how to frame a photograph, how to prepare for picking the right moment and you start looking at lots of photographs, analysing them, and seeing how other photographers framed their best shots.
I was always being bought photography books, books of photos (and cameras) for presents, so looking through them helped to develop my skills.
Did you get support at school?
Yes, absolutely. My art teacher would let me into the dark room at school. We actually had a darkroom at school and the art teacher would give us notes to other teachers to say we were helping with developing photos and that he needed us to go and help him.
You grew up during “The Troubles”?
Yes, and that means that you are taking photographs of the things around you. Where I lived, there were always bomb scares and people would ask me to get a photograph of things that were happening.
When you are younger, you really don’t think much about the historical value of the photographs you are taking; it is only when you are older that it becomes clear how important some of those pictures you took when you were younger actually are.
Do you go to photography courses to develop your technique?
Not really. At that point in time there was a full recession here. I realised that there was no real avenue for my photography. I still did it as an amateur but there were no jobs for a professional photographer. I managed to get a placement in a bus company doing bodywork on buses, I always loved tinkering with cars, but that was only for a short period of time.
Then, I get a really good placement in Gordon Graham’s Photography studios in Antrim and I learnt a lot there; how to process colour film, how to develop colour photographs, and each time you get involved with the art, you are adding to what you already know. Your skills improve, both independently, through your own work, and being taught by others.
You are developing your skills. Do you get to put them to good use?
I was always searching for ways to develop my craft, to keep up with developments and to try to find work in photography, as a photographer. I even set up my own business for a little while, doing commercial photography. I got a grant of £1000 to do that from the Prince’s Trust.
See more about the work of Mervyn Smyth at the following link – www.belfastexposed.org