Q & A: Jim Hamann

I've known him as quigley_brown on Flickr. I loved his style of photography because it's very fun, and I always wondered about the story behind the subject in most of his photos. Plus, I love his fashion sense in his self portraits.

Back in October 17, 2010 (I'll never forget the date because it was Yna's birthday and we we were walking along the Carroll Creek after a hearty birthday lunch at Hinode), we saw a huge crowd of zombies on the bridge.

Zombies in downtown Frederick -  Beyond Comics TV Commercial

Then this person who was wearing a yellow sweater said hi to me. I looked up  and just smiled but I didn't really see the person's face because my mind was very inquisitive of why a flock of zombies were in Frederick. Then he said hi again and added , "I recognized your kids before I recognized you and your husband." (The kids are always in Jay and my Flickr photostream.) The first part I remembered and the last one was something to that effect. That was the first time I personally met him. It was followed with a couple of hellos in downtown during the First Saturday Celebrations.

First Saturday - March 2011

I truly admire his works and the wit in this photos. I consider his works as inspirations. I thought of featuring him in my Q&A since last year but I was kind of shy to ask him. Over three weeks ago, I gathered my courage, sent him a request through Flickr mail. I was so glad he said yes!

Dear readers, please meet ... my Flickr friend whom I was so excited to share this Q&A about for  weeks... Mr. Jim Hamann!

Hi Jim! Can you tell me a little about yourself?
I've always liked having a a camera in my hand ever since I was the yearbook photographer at my high school (i.e.: nerd). I still have the very first camera I ever bought....an old vintage Kodak. I really didn't decide to make photography my career until my last year in college when I was on an exchange program in London, England in the early 80s. I regularly scanned the newspaper to find out when the royal family would be making public appearances and go shoot them. One day I got a shot of Princess Diana that Associated Press liked and it ended up on page one of the London Times the next morning!

Princess Di - 1981

I was born and raised on a farm in Iowa and have worked at several small Iowa daily newspapers as their sole photographer. Somehow I ended up in Frederick about eleven years ago and shoot freelance.Along the way I got interested in vintage clothing from the 1940s and 50s and have been collecting and wearing it ever since....especially the neckties. At the moment I have well over a thousand of them ranging from the wild and wide ones of the 1940s to the thin ones of the 1960s. To entertain myself I like to take self-portraits wearing my vintage get-up. I guess I've always had a goofy attitude and you can see that a lot in many of my photographs. I live in downtown Frederick and love shooting the street life around here. Most of my photos have been shot within a five or six block radius of my home.

Baker Park Tower after a storm - December 2006

What inspired you to photograph?
What inspired me? Mmmmmm....
I grew up on an isolated farm out in Iowa. The attic was plum full of hundred year-old relics and possession of the original family who built the house. One huge old steamer trunk contained every single issue of National Geographic Magazine from 1913 to 1952. When I was a kid I'd spend hours up there looking through them and admiring the work of its photographers from all those exotic locations around the world. I think I decided then that that was what I wanted to do with my life.

around 1987 in Iowa

What camera do you favor the most?
I currently use a Canon 50D as my big one and a little pocket Canon PowerShot 300 as my 'carry around' one. I've always used Canon since day one....no particular reason, I just picked out a Canon as my first one and then kept upgrading along the way. In the 'old days' before autofocus lenses Canon focused clockwise and Nikon did counter clockwise. It was confusing to switch back and forth. I just hung on to Canon equipment.

What's your style of photography? Why do you like it?
I don't like to say I have a style, but I have years of newspaper experience so I still shoot pretty much the photojournalism way. I've always favored humor in my work rather than hard-core dramatic emotion. But it always seem that photos from tragic situations are the ones that win the Pulitizers. I just like shooting people in natural situations. I've always tended to use telephoto lenses so I'm not in the way, but more recently I've gone to wide-angle to get right up close with them. That's where the action is.

younger days in Iowa

If you have the choice, would you like to do photography as a major career?
Well, it was my major career once upon a time. Unfortunately, I started to develop seizures and had to quit driving. That put an end to that.

What is your most favorite photo(s) that you have taken? When? Where?
That's a pretty hard question to answer. I like too many. Some people have compared me to Norman Rockwell (I'm still blushing.) with my capturing the innocence of life. When I worked for some small daily papers back in Iowa I had to come up with a page one shot for each morning's edition. Many days I had no assignments and just drove around and around looking for something. That's how I've sort of mastered getting a picture of something that most people wouldn't have noticed. This one of the large man fishing with his dog that I took back in Iowa in the 1990s is one that never fails to make me laugh. I had no idea he didn't have his teeth in until after quite a few shots when he just chomped down. It actually won the state press award for best feature shot of that year. And I always remember his dog's name - Pepperoni.

Ottumwa, Iowa - early 90s

What do you aspire to do with photography? Are there any cameras that you hope to use in the future? Why?
I want to master Photoshop a bit more to create better photo art and illustrations. Right now I'm just sort of 'doodling' when trying to create something. Graphic art is probably where the money is. I can't seem to make a living just shooting photographs. I would also hope to have a real 'studio' for portraits. I love playing with my lighting equipment, but have only me to use as a model. I like the 1940s noir style and I think there's a market for it.

Tavern Cook

As for equipment, I don't need the 'top of the line' like most other professionals. I need to upgrade soon, though. Right now I have the Canon 50D, but I'd like to buy the new 60D. They are categorized as 'serious amateur' equipment....or is it 'not-so-serious professional?'

Who do you look up to as a photographer? Who would you like to meet?
I've never really thought about it.

Do you have anyone that you admire though?
I guess I'm having difficulty answering this one. I really have no particular photographer I look up to. On Flickr I've met many talented photographers that I've learned a thing or two from.
That's not much of an answer. I'm sorry.

What do you think is your most successful piece of work?
I'm not sure about successful...I've had one shot end up on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I've had another become a Ripley's Believe It or Not.

Really!? WOW! Can you share the photos in my blog? :)
Well, these are from my newspaper days back in Iowa....
The skeleton one somehow ended up on the Tonight Show. Someone clipped it from the paper and sent it in.

just before Halloween - early 90s

The cow/pig one somehow became a Ripley's. Again, someone clipped it from the paper and submitted it. I've long lost the actual Ripley's article.

Wapello Co., Iowa -early 90s

Thank you very much quigley_brown! Your photography continues to be an inspiration!

http://jwilliamhamann.com/
quigley_brown (Jim Hamann)'s photostream