Simon Taylor Davies, guitarist in the now world-famous Klaxons, is renowned for being the quiet, more sensible one of the London-based foursome. Bred in Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon, Davies fled the mock Tudor facades and themed pubs for Nottingham to study art at the city’s namesake university. No sooner had Simon graduated, than he found himself in London playing guitar for one of England’s brightest young bands. The glare of the world’s media soon followed, snapping the weary band wherever they went (not to mention having a field day with Davies’ recent engagement to CSS' Lovefoxx).

An extremely fast ascent to fame is enough to drive anyone mad, but, for Davies, it seems to have instead turned him into a budding photographer. With his Yashica T4, Davies has built up a collection of photography – one that highlights his affection for the strange and un-worldly. Here, Davies discusses his camera of choice, his first photograph and dissolving bodies:

Why do you use the Yashica T4 over any other camera?
I started with film, then digital, then film, then came across the Yashica. It has a really nice grain. The colors seem to constitute some kind of reality. Everything seems to look “real” in some sense of the word. And, it’s a simple point-and-shoot. I have a nice digital as well, but I always enjoy the wait of film. It’s no moral nik-nak about the digital age; I just enjoy the one-hour wait.

How did you find out about this particular model?
My girlfriend got one first and I copied her. I've seen loads of people that use it after searching. My camera knowledge is word-of-mouth.

How long have you had it?
About 7 months.

How much did you pay for it?
I think about £30 on eBay, although you can pick them up for less…

If money were no object, what camera would you buy?
Probably a really nice medium-format camera.

Do you remember the first camera you owned?
It was a disposable camera, I think from a chain in Britain called Boots. I got it to document a school trip to the Isle of White when I was about 11. There was this guy in my class, he took about 50 disposable cameras with him and just took photos every second. He had some idea about stop-frame animation and making a movie. He was only 11 and probably the most next-level mind I’d ever seen. You could say he was the root of all inspirations.

What was the first picture you ever took?
It was a Polaroid of my next-door neighbor's son with a party hat on and chocolate cake. I think we were both about 5. I kept it in on my window for about 10 years and it cracked and faded along with a picture of me on my dad’s shoulders from the zoo. Both our bodies dissolved.

When you studied art at Nottingham did it open any doors leading to inspirations for your photography now?
I was primarily based in film. I’ve always preferred the kinetic. I was really into experimental films by Nam June Paik and Stan Brakhage, and mixing it with fictional documentary stuff like Mika Taanila and ripping off ideas from Ray Bradbury… historical documentaries about the future. That’s still where my mind sits, and it's a place someday to be revisited.

Was the resurgence of your art and photography a gradual thing or a sudden reaction to the things you saw on tour?
Most of the photos I take are normally viewed as being tools for something else – fragments for artworks or ideas. Although, from the second our footprints took a shuffle across the globe, I just started snapping at things that I found slightly awkward or just bizarre – prisms and shapes out of context. I just wanted to document everything like a tourist.

Your pictures and the Klaxons' own artwork contain elements of the surreal. Has this always been an interest of yours, and, if so, where does it stem from?
I suppose it just stems from finding the awkward interesting – from a young age being interested in places like Centre Parcs, and the fact that even the bins there were part of a collective theme. I suppose it’s trying to find faults with attention to detail.

~Kevin Soar


First photo by Photo Rod Le-Hiboo
All other photos by Simon Taylor-Davies with Yashica T4