Simon Fidler
Born in 1959, Simon Fidler first became interested in photography during a pre-university road trip through France. Whilst packing, Simon discovered that his trusty Kodak Instamatic had seized up solid, so an unwanted and complicated looking camera was borrowed from his Dad. It had shutter speed and f stop dials and this strange looking exposure meter thingy which nobody in the family could quite remember how to use, but they thought it could take good pictures. Luckily they were right. After pestering his road companion and keen wildlife photographer friend over multiple bottles of the local “vin raw”, Simon became enthralled by the creative possibilities that this technical marvel could achieve; and that was it, every street, sky, wall, beer bottle and smiling girl became a photographic opportunity.
Of course, there were many dark, blurred and whitewashed images that appeared on those first reels of film, but the ones that worked were sheer magic. “ Its that instant rush that sends a shockwave down your spine, when you see that a picture has worked, that the essence and energy which you wanted to capture has been successfully translated onto film and its there in front of your eyes”.
The photography bug had bitten, and Simon was hooked for life. Like so many others before and after him, reality intervened. An honours Law degree led to a career in electronic engineering (logically) with the added bonus of world travel, which allowed the photography to flourish both at work and at play. The rewards of hard work meant that money could be saved for such delights as darkroom printing equipment, and many pungent hours were spent with the spare room turned into a big boys chemistry set. Miles of black & white film were shot roaming around Dartmoor and the beautiful Tamar valley. “The thrill of shooting, developing and then printing your own images added a new dimension to the art and provided an immediacy which at the time was unrivalled. You could climb a hill at dawn, shoot some film, then be hanging the prints to dry at lunchtime. To achieve the same quality in digital, thats only become a reality within the last 2 years”. Simon still has a full time job in the real world, but spends more and more of his spare time pursuing his passion for photography and selling his landscape and natural abstract images, such is the demand.
