FREAK OF THE WEEK
Photography by: Dane Singleton
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Right from the beginning of Freak of the Week, when the idea first popped into our heads, I knew the photographer we needed. We live in a small town so rarely does anything or anyone go unnoticed. I had met Dane socially and always found his calm poised manner and unique style refreshing. A freshly pressed shirt, black slacks and shoes with their own personality made for a pleasant change to the usual surf rat attire that I adorn and seems to come with the postcode.
When Dane’s photography began to surface here and there I was immediately taken by his ability to capture the look in someone’s eye that no one else could. He can reveal the truth in a person or scene that to me, is quite Tarantino. Honest, quiet, yet boldly suggestive… but always plenty of room for the viewer's own interpretation.
Meet Dane Singleton... Our legendary photographer that leapt on board to join our team so quickly I am still pinching myself. His dedication and ability to document a person in a still frame is truly a beautiful thing and we couldn’t help but ask him to turn the lens on himself.
So camera down and sleeves rolled it’s Dane’s turn to get close and personal with Chester the Chair and spill the beans of a photographer's journey on the South Coast.
The Deadly South: Nice to see you in the hot seat Dane, I bet this feels strange?
Dane: Yeah it does, but it’s good.
So as all our interviews begin… if you’re not at home and I desperately need a photographer, where can I find you hiding? If you need some time away from it all to clear your head, where do you go? Where is your happy place?
Probably heading down to where I grew up in Lake Tabourie, just going surfing. To get away from the computer and work, surfing or hanging by the ocean.
Tabourie is quite chilled... it’s pretty quiet I feel still compared to everywhere else around here.
Yeah, there is a really nice island and beach. It's quite underrated. I probably shouldn’t say that because I don’t want too many people to go there. It does get really busy in summer though, so people have obviously caught on.
So you grew up here in Ulladulla but I was wondering if you could tell me about any stints you have had away?
I was born in Milton and then lived here all through school. Then I lived in Wollongong and Marrickville up in Sydney. Spent months in Bali Indonesia. If I added up all the months over there together, it would probably be a year all up in Bali. I was in Longbeach in L.A, California and all around there for a couple of months too.
For work or fun?
A little bit of shooting and then I just wanted to check it out. I flew to Hawaii to shoot for about five days and then flew back and hung out in LA for 6-7 weeks. It was pretty cool. Oh actually we did a quick trip to New York for a few days for a change of scenery. I wouldn’t mind going back to New York. Actually just driving all around America would be pretty sick.
Yeah America is pretty big and different. I mean I have never been but I am sure you can see from New York to California the difference in people and landscape?
Yeah I would love to do that whole drive and go to Texas too. Just to have heaps of time to drive through the middle of America would
be perfect.
That leads me to my next question. I was reading an interview you did and it spoke about how travel is a big part of your life. Obviously, with the last two years, we haven’t been able to travel and I wanted to know if you have found any silver linings about being forced to stay in
one place?
Just before COVID happened I had moved in with two of my good mates in Mollymook. It was pretty lucky timing cos everything went straight into lock-down and we were in paradise. Yeah, I do love travelling and checking out new places but this is definitely one of the best places in the world for sure. It’s always good to come back here. It was good to base myself here and know I wasn’t really going to go anywhere. So I just made the most of being around here. There are really good waves around so I shot a bunch of surf stuff as well as surfed myself. It was really good to make the most of it. When I make films or anything creative I’m able to work with the environment I have... it’s pretty nice.
Especially with what you do as well, like you're very versatile from what I have seen. Do you feel like that, like wherever you go, you can work and make a career for yourself?
Yeah! Because I do photography and video, it's great having the option of both. Most people do one or the other. Film compared to photography is a whole different thing. You can take a really good photograph but a single captured moment is so different to a continuous moving amount of time. There are so many aspects to it.
And putting it all together as well, not only capturing it all perfectly but how you put it in perspective to make it flow and make sense.
Yeah, like on a film set you can have hundreds of people working on it, but everyone has their own job just for that one moving image. Yeah sure, you can still have more than one person working on a photo but generally people that work in film stay in film whereas I love to do both. A lot of the jobs I get are that way too. People want me to do both.
Well it must be an asset to have one man that can do both tasks.
Yeah and you can always get assistants or another cinematographer or a photographer to work with you. It’s the editing that is often a huge part of the job. I love editing my own stuff because you get to go over it all again and put it together exactly how you want.
Do you get much creative reign over the editing that you do?
Yeah definitely. Generally, people will book you because they have seen the finished product of your previous works and they want that overall kind of look or aesthetic that you are renowned for. Sometimes I will shoot with other people and they edit. Often it’s good to be in a team when working on a bigger project. There is someone for each part and that’s what I enjoy about bigger projects is that you get your own little task. I love to do the filming and then sit in with a professional editor, like the guys that work on feature films that really know what they are doing and watch them in action. Then the colourist comes in and does their bit and the whole thing comes together.
Wow I didn’t realise there were so many roles within the one industry! Do you find the industry competitive?
Yes it can be, but there is a lot of work out there. If you really want it and are prepared to learn there are plenty of opportunities. Learning should come naturally, you don’t force yourself to want to learn. I remember when I first started I would be up all night editing these movies I had shot and it didn’t feel like work or like I was subconsciously learning things as I was too busy enjoying it. It’s like anything I guess, like learning an instrument, surfing or skating. When I was a kid I remember being in the garage on my skateboard for hours practising how to ollie and you don’t stop until you get it. You don’t even realise you’re working so hard on something. It’s definitely a natural balance though, you don’t want to burn yourself out and you have to stay motivated. If you find yourself stopping or not staying focused you know it’s not for you. You can go through different stages with it too I guess, but overall you still love it. I am lucky too as I love all areas of what I do. Taking photographs, videos and editing which means I enjoy every job I do, it never gets boring.
Speaking of learning, did you have any mentors along the way? Or mostly self-exploration and motivation?
Not any one person as such. Growing up I watched so many movies and the selection was endless. When it comes to being on shoot you are always working with different people. I love it when I am doing a shoot for a popular band or something and end up working with someone that’s really good at what they do and has been in the industry for 10 or 20 years longer than what I have. Its such a great feeling, I really love it when I get those opportunities. Working with someone that is really talented and successful is great because it pushes you and allows you to see what is possible... what you can actually achieve.
Talented people, in general, are another reason I loved getting into videoing. Surfing is awesome to film and I have done a heap of that. It’s not just sports and those sort of people, I love documenting anyone that’s really talented, you get to see them excel no matter what it is. Whether it's shooting someone playing the violin or creating something. Its just so interesting documenting people being so good no matter what it is.
Definitely! ... and in their element.
Yeah exactly like that. It’s epic to watch people in their element. I prefer to shoot with a more candid approach, relaxed and casual. Of course, I will do the more posed, studio type approach if asked but I really enjoy the natural look into how someone is. It’s all those natural moments in between the planned moments that always make up a lot of the best shots.
It’s a terrific skill. As you know, most people freeze up when you put a camera on them.
Yeah that’s why I don’t like really directing a shoot where it’s... “stand here”... “do this or that”... I find the best way to get good shots is to just hang out with them and document them doing whatever it is they are doing as we go. Just chat to them - about anything - the conversation is really important in getting a person to feel comfortable. The good thing with film too is you can always do another take.
Like if I am shooting on film for a song, you can go again and again until someone feels comfortable, but I find often that the first take is
the best.
Did you know you were always going to do this professionally? Was there anything else ever really on the cards?
Um... I guess I started out with it just for fun. I just loved shooting photos and making videos, with music too, all that kind of stuff! I also loved fashion and reading magazines. So I looked into fashion design and graphic design, but a lot of the skill sets crossed over anyway, like when I am editing etc that visual/graphic side comes out. Then I found shooting fashion exciting, and most of all the people within fashion and music, so that’s how it all kinda happened. So, by putting it all together I get the best of both worlds.
It would be great to design some clothing pieces someday, even jewellery, and then be able to shoot it as well.
I read that you’re a director, cinematographer and photographer. Is directing something you have always been interested in? Or is it something that just happened naturally through experience?
I guess it depended on the scale of the project. If it’s a big project directing becomes more of a specific role. A lot of the jobs I work on it's just me so I will direct them out of necessity not just because I enjoy it. On a big project you will have your main director and they direct the actors and the dialogue. Then there is the DOP (director of photography) and someone for each of the other components. I mean the director has a say in how everything looks but you can have a 100 people working on set of a feature film and everyone has their own individual roles. The producer is super important as it’s their job to control everyone within their roles but the director focuses on the story, how that looks and comes across. In saying that, the story still needs everyone in their own individual roles and it’s when you blend them all into one that it really comes together. It’s really important that people stick to their roles too and not tell each other what should happen. Listening and working together is key otherwise everything unravels. For example its only up to the director to talk to the actors and work with them to help get them into character. But with the stuff I usually work on they are only small sets like a documentary, say with me and one other camera person and between you, work on everything together depending on the nature of the job of course.
Also in this industry you can’t set out to “just” be a director or a “cinematographer” you have to be diverse. Not saying I won’t ever do just one thing, I have before and will again in the future. But you have to be prepared to it all yourself too, as you never know what the job is going to require. If there is a job going that is advertising for an editor or cameraman or whatever, it’s like anything, you’re not going to go for it saying you do everything. You will have to put your hand up for that particular role and push that side of your skillset to get the job. Once people have seen your work they generally know what you are capable of anyway.
If you could document anyone on film, dead or alive. Who would you choose and why?
I was thinking about this a bit earlier. Obviously, there is a heap of famous people or people that I have got inspiration from over the years, but I would love to do my grandparents. It would be cool to have been able to document them from when they were younger and throughout their lives. Growing up in a different era... and they were together for such a long time, imagining them when they were 25. Or even younger, when they were kids. My grandma used to sew and make clothing, she would make boardshorts for my dad when he surfed and awesome things like that. Growing up I remember she had this pool room that was filled with all kinds of gear. There were rolls and rolls of all kinds of fabric and industrial sewing machines and she would sew all sorts of things for my Dad and my Uncles. But mostly, she was famous for her boardshorts. Eventually, people caught onto her skills and she started selling them!
She even made my mums wedding dress!
Wow how incredible, is she still sewing?
No, she past away over a year ago now but she lived a great life, always taking an interest in my work and what I had been shooting or working on. She was so creative and I guess creativity has always interested me. It would have been great if I had the chance again, to get in there with her. I would love to have had the opportunity to use some of those machines and learn from her how to make things.
I wonder if there are still some things she made floating around locally? It would be incredible to check them out.
Yeah it would! But this was all up in Sydney. Pretty sure Dad used to catch the train with his board to go surfing. So she used to spend the week sewing up a storm and then do the weekend markets to sell her stuff. That was pretty much her job. There was no internet shopping back then ha! Life was so different and I love that. Looking at the old black and white photos of them and of famous people back in the day is so cool, I would have loved the chance to film that era. People doing stuff backstage, the stories of their lives behind the scenes of how they lived. Just beautiful and candid, so good looking back through old photos. Not just theirs... anyones. I love black and white photography in general, there is something timeless about it in a way.
Do you think you got your love of fashion from your grandma?
I don’t really know. I have always been fascinated by what people wear. I don’t just have one style of clothing I like specifically. I might wear certain things but when it's someone else I appreciate them for what they are wearing. People will say they don’t give a shit about what they are wearing but you are putting it on yourself every day you may as well take pride in it. I’m like that with everything I do. It doesn’t have to be extreme like a tie or anything. Whether it’s just a pair of pants and a t-shirt you can still be nice and neat. I guess in my head I am never just thinking I am in this small town so I will dress a certain way. I am always aware of how big the world is and how limitless fashion and everything is.
If you could wake up tomorrow with no responsibilities, no covid, no bills, you are just free to do whatever you want to do...
what would you do?
I need to have a purpose. Yeah that scenario is something everyone says they want but I need more than that. I love going on vacations or a trip somewhere, but I need to have a purpose while I am doing it. Every trip I have been on I have done some kind of work, whether it’s a shoot or film or something involved in it. Sometimes you go on vacation and start stuffing around with the camera and a project comes from that. I am shooting documentaries with mates a lot of the time when I am off travelling. So I guess I would do exactly what I plan to do anyway. I love home, I love it down here which is beautiful but I would like to do a few trips each year within Australia or overseas.
More learning and more experimenting.
Freak of The Week is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.