MPB Meets: Multimedia Artist Hayden Clay

Since the start of the digital age, the lines demarcating art have become increasingly blurred—allowing artists the possibility of creating work using various mediums. Hayden Clay uses traditional methods of capture via analogue means and alters them with software to create dreamlike scenes. Let’s hear from Hayden about his work, process and inspirations.

MPB: How did you get into photography?

HC: I started photography as a late teen, initially trying to take surreal and humorous panoramas with my phone camera. At some point after that, I got a cheap DSLR and learned the basics of the craft. I shot digital for a couple of years and had a great time shooting, but I felt a little limited and unsatisfied with my work. What helped me break these limitations was reversing the clock a bit and shooting with film. It was during a climbing trip in college when I noticed a friend shooting with an old film camera—this made me curious. But when I discovered you could shoot multiple exposures with film, I was immediately infatuated and inspired and fell headfirst into photography once again.

MPB: Your work seems to have elements of dream states—like a hazy memory of something impossible—what influenced you to begin creating in this way?

HC: There are two main reasons. The first one is simple: that just happens to be the visual palette I'm attracted to. It's tricky to dissociate and analyse my own tastes, but dreamy, surreal scenes have always appealed to me. My childhood was mostly spent exploring the woods, imagining some great, surreal adventure. I feel like my visual taste is an adult continuation of that desire to imagine and explore. Secondly, I feel like there is just so much that has already been done, and nearly everyone is a photographer these days. I desperately want to create something unique, something that has an obvious fingerprint. Frankly, I was having a hard time feeling satisfied when shooting ‘normal’ photos. What story could I tell that hadn't been told before?

MPB: Do you shoot with purpose and create something later, or is it less planned than that?

HC: I mostly shoot with a specific idea in mind. This idea can be something I mull over for a couple weeks or months, or can be pretty spontaneous and come to me when I'm out shooting. It's super rare for me to just randomly shoot and actually like the results I get.

MPB: It’s no secret you use Photoshop a lot to create your work—what initially drove you to start creating digital art?

HC: It's a pretty natural continuation of the above. I was feeling limited, and started having some ideas that I just couldn't feasibly create with a camera. The very first instance of this was an artwork of mine called Summer Games, featuring a tennis court flooded with water. Initially, I thought I could maybe recreate this in-camera by double-exposing a picture of water over a tennis court. Then, I started thinking in the practical sense—maybe I could buy a large amount of plexiglass, create a frame and literally flood an actual tennis court. Perhaps surprisingly, the reason I didn't pursue that was I couldn't find a tennis court I liked. I took this motivation and decided to learn a new art form: 3D art. I created an accurate 3D model of a tennis court and added digital water on top of that.

MPB: Would you still class some of your compositions as photography, or do they inhabit a different realm altogether?

HC: I think this answer might be both simpler and more complex than you expect. So, my work is spread across two different mediums: film photography and digital 3D art. And there is little overlap between the two. My digital art is definitively not photography—no camera is involved. Well, actually, it does consist of a scene with a 'digital camera' with aperture and focal length, but that's pushing the definition! On the other hand, my photography is definitely photography. What a bold claim. Many people assume that I Photoshop my images to get the surreal colours and multiple exposures. I don't, because I enjoy the challenge of creating these effects in camera. If I did, the point at which digital editing transforms a photograph into 'digital art' is very blurred, and I think is mainly determined by the artist's intentions.

MPB: Colour reigns supreme with your images, with pinks and blues being dominant in many of your images. Do you associate this colour palette with anything specific?

HC: Definitely. I very often feel a mild synesthesia with these tones. When looking at pastel and floral hues, I feel like I can almost smell the soft scent of a garden. Outside of senses,  images of bright blues conjure fond memories of carefree summer days. Relaxing in a garden on a summer day is absolutely my favourite thing about life, so I'm just trying to capture that feeling.

MPB: You recently collaborated on an album cover, can you tell us a bit about how that came about?

HC: Yeah! I recently had the opportunity to create artwork for SYML's new EP. They reached out to me after seeing my digital artwork and wanted to combine the themes from two specific pieces into a new one. The goal was to use the mountain over water from my Prismatic Earth piece, with the framing and dim glow of light from Deep Dreamliner. It was a different direction for me, as the scenes use pretty realistic colours. Overall, it was a fun challenge I enjoyed.

MPB: How important is your equipment to you?

HC: Honestly, I don't think expensive gear is that important. For photography, I mainly use a Canon AE-1 with the classic FD 50mm f/1.8 lens, and the Nikon F3 with the nifty fifty pancake—50mm f/1.8 E Series. On the medium-format side, I occasionally use the beastly Pentax 67ii with the 105mm 2.8 lens, but I'm always on the fence about selling that.

MPB: Is there anything you’d like to do that you haven't yet?

HC: There is absolutely so much I want to do. I wish I could just retire and dive into every artistic rabbit-hole I come across. There's a lot I still need to learn about digital 3D art: simulations, visual effects and such. I have a couple of series in mind that I'm excited to work on soon. As for photography, like nearly every photographer, I’m itching to get out and travel. I had a month-long trip to Japan cancelled, so I'd like to revive that when possible. For more medium hopping, I'm also planning on getting into pottery.

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