Photographer Lou Bever Uses His Soccer Kit Collection to Reimagine Classic Art – PRINT Magazine
“It’s just a JPEG,” London-based Lou Bever shared with me recently about his photographic philosophy. This sentiment is indicative of the blunt and humble Bever, who mainly shoots portraits of friends and friends of friends at his flat. “It’s incredibly DIY,” he said. That might be so, but there’s nothing that comes across as rag-tag or ill-considered about Bever’s work. Quite the opposite, in fact! Bever’s football (soccer) kit collection serves as the aesthetic center point of his vision, in which he takes existing paintings and other artworks from throughout history and reimagines them with people wearing his jerseys.
Retro sports design and anything inspired by a robust soccer kit collection are going to catch my eye, so I reached out to learn more. Bever’s responses to my questions are below (lightly edited for length and clarity).
I was initially drawn to your work because I am an avid football fan and player with an affinity for retro soccer aesthetics. What’s your own personal relationship with football? Why are you compelled to blend football aesthetics into your portraiture work?
I grew up playing and watching football. My dad is in the army, and we moved around a lot. Football was a way to make friends, even if I couldn’t speak the language. You don’t need to share fluency in a language to play a game of football.
My dad is a huge football fan, and my mum is massively into her art. Over time, I have seen aspects of football and art in my pictures. Their influence has become more and more evident in portraits. I didn’t realize it until friends and family pointed it out in pictures I took years ago.
When you hit your 20s, nostalgia usually becomes a big influence on your work; it’s lovely to incorporate what made you happy as a child into your work. Football and art are happy reminders from my childhood; it could be a specific football shirt or painting, and it always makes me smile.
If you choose to shoot things that you are genuinely interested in, you’ll naturally spend all your time doing so. My work hasn’t felt like work; I’ve just been showing off my football shirt collection! I’ve been taking one to three people’s portraits for years. It’s a way to relax.
Where did your initial idea to recreate classic contemporary artworks as football-inspired portraits come from? How did you develop that concept?
I’ve always loved taking portraits, but wasn’t completely satisfied with them. Selfishly, I decided to show off my football shirt collection within my portraits. I then never knew how to compose people properly, so I thought that making subjects mirror compositions would be fun. From there, it all became a game where I would try and match shirts, subjects, and paintings. Sometimes, I hit the jackpot, and an artist has painted a singular subject numerous times, and that subject matches the person I’m shooting. That makes my life much easier.
I couldn’t think of anything worse than taking pictures of things that I’m not interested in.
But again, my dad likes football, and my mum likes art. My dad taking my brother and me to football games and my mum taking us to galleries, ended up rubbing off on me. I’m also incredibly stubborn, so I couldn’t think of anything worse than taking pictures of things that I’m not interested in. Following trends can be great temporarily, but in the long run, you’ve just spent your career copying other people’s passions.
Can you share more about your portraiture process? Where do you typically find the source images that you recreate with your own photographs? How do you then conceive of your recreations?
I get influence from a fair few places. Art accounts on various social media platforms are a big one. I buy galleries and art books from charity shops that are filled with paintings. They’re cheaper than going to exhibitions, and I don’t have to leave my flat to look at paintings.
I’m sure many hipster photographers will spend hours discussing how their identity and emotions affect how they take pictures; however, I just think, ‘That looks nice.’ Then I take the photo.
I trust my belly a lot and try various things, as long as I like them and get a good belly feeling out of them. I’m sure many hipster photographers will spend hours discussing how their identity and emotions affect how they take pictures; however, I just think, “That looks nice.” Then I take the photo. I wouldn’t overthink it; you’ll hurt your brain.
I see that you’re taking most of your portraits at your flat in London. What’s your studio set-up like? Technically speaking, what sort of cameras and types of film are you using?
It’s incredibly DIY— I shoot in the corner of my bedroom. I buy all my backdrops cheaply; I use one big light and a Mamiya RZ67. I’ve been shooting portraits on the same camera for ten years. I always have Radio 2 on, as there’s nothing worse than shooting someone in silence. Then, I only take one shot per shirt. That way I am never spending hours deciding which picture is better.
I never understand why people will shoot four to five rolls for the sake of two pictures. It’s just a JPEG.
I couldn’t think of anything worse than renting out a studio, having a million cameras, and having a million people at the studio churning through rolls and rolls of film. That’s just bonkers from a financial point of view. I never understand why people will shoot four to five rolls for the sake of two pictures. It’s just a JPEG.
What does your typical portrait session entail? Who are you photographing? What sort of instruction do you give them?
It’s a variety of people: friends, friends of friends, people from model agencies, and even family members. Couples can be from all walks of life. As long as they aren’t picky about wearing various shirts, I’m game if they’re easy to get on with. That’s why friends of friends are great; I know I won’t feel like chucking them out of the flat after one photo.
With instructions, I organize everything beforehand so that when they arrive, there isn’t any faffing around. I take one picture per shirt and copy the painting’s composition. I don’t enjoy wasting people’s time.
I also tell people to blink a lot before taking the picture, as if their eyes are open for too long; it makes them look like they’re crying in the photo. Having your portrait taken by me is not that emotional.
Source: https://www.printmag.com/photography-and-design/lou-bever-photographer/
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