Tim Fite

I shot Laneway Festival 2009 for Drum Media, with one instruction from the editor, Mark. 'Make sure you get Time Fite, we hear he is something else on stage.' His show was quite remarkable. Nothing I had ever seen before. Tim and his brother Greg



After the show we chatted, and I thought it would be great to do a shoot with him. He has the charisma and presence that is a photographer's dream. I sent through some reference shots of the infamous 1930s photographer, Weegee. Tim wrote back, saying he loved Weegee, and I knew this was going to be a great collaboration.



I studied Weegee for my HSC in art, and the above shot has stuck with me ever since. Below is a photo of the quirky New Yorker.



I spent a day or so sourcing props, getting over-sized suits and shirts from op-shops, fake blood and 'wound putty,' and some amazing specs from my friends at Eye Candy Optics on Oxford St. The wonderful Felicia Yong came on board for hair and make-up, and my friend Will Reichelt put his hand up to assist. When Justin and I did tests with the blood splatter down at Glebe Point we had a few funny looks. We also tested the lighting method; I wanted to stick as close to the 'Weegee look' as possible.

Anyway, here is the final result. We started off in the studio, then wandered the alleys of Camperdown. The 'whodunnit' lighting in the studio was achieved using a Fresnel light.



Tim and Pushkin striking a pose







In the first street set-up I staged Tim as Weegee, Greg as the faceless victim.

Weegee would always show up to crime scenes before the cops, flashing away. For a while he was suspected as the killer! The idea of this shot was a play on the idea of a photographer shooting people. Bang bang your dead. Sometimes when I race around, firing away, staring through the lens, ready to fire as soon as the shot comes into focus, it can feel like a hunt of sorts. I wanted Tim/Weegee to look as though he had been busted.




I shot with my D3, and synced my Nikon flash with another Nikon flash which was placed on the Mamiya Press 6x7 which Tim is holding. This meant that my flash would light Tim's face (I used a soft box on my flash) and Tim's flash fired in unison, illuminating the dead Greg in a harsh glare





The second street setup was more of a traditional take on Weegee; voyeuristic documentary. Using a similar light (on camera flash with a reflector dish to emulate a bulb flash). Tim went above and beyond, smearing his bloodied face into the gravel, swallowing a questionable amount of the fake blood, bending his limbs into unfathomable positions.








Since the shoot the images have been featured on Antirecords blog and LA Eyeworks

Oh, and Tim has since got free glasses for his modeling