Fifteen years ago Simon Larbalastier was part of a boundary-breaking graphics and photography duo. Now living in Thailand, he talks to Ailsa McWhinnie about the parallels between his old and new work.

Girl at Angkor Wat, Cambodia 2002. 'Cambodia, especially the Angkor at temple complex and its nearby town Siam Reap, is a huge project for me' Mamiya 711 with 80mm lens, orange filter, Ilford HP5 Plus, selenium toned lith print

BACK IN THE DAY, when I was a fresh-faced, keen student of photography, there were certain names among my peer group that were uttered in the sort of hushed, reverential tones usually saved for the likes of the Dalai Lama. Top of that list among those students whose inclinations were towards a more - for want of a better word - 'arty' approach were the names (always mentioned in tandem) Simon Larbalestier and Vaughan Oliver.

Anyone who had even the slightest interest in popular music in the late 1980s and early 1990s would have been hard pressed to miss out on the phenomenon of American band, The Pixies. Signed to the 4AD record label, nearly all their single and album covers were designed and photographed by Oliver and Larbalestier, breaking new ground in the use of typography, and its combination with images. 'None of us realised that it would have such a big influence on graphics and typography,' Larbalestier says. 'And even though The Pixies split up in the early 1990s somehow there's a massive resurgence of interest in this type of work.' A statement that is underlined by the success of his recent exhibition in Barcelona.

Spike, 1989 used for the cover of the EP, Here Comes Your Man, by The Pixies. 'The shots I took for The Pixies in the late 1980s have their own peculiar legacy' Rolliflex SL66 with 80mm lens, Agfapan 100 processed in Rodinal, selenium toned lith print		Monkey Gone to Heaven, 1988 used for The Pixies single of the same name. A different version was also used for the album, Doolittle. 'A rare opportunity for a commercial collaboration in which I, as photographer, didn't have to compromise my creative vision' Rolliflex SL66 with 80mm lens, Agfapan 100 processed in Rodinal, selenium toned lith film made on cold cathode DeVere 504

Although it comes as no surprise to learn that Larbalestier enjoyed commercial success at that time ('I was very busy for six or seven years'), he was never commissioned to produce work in the same style. 'I was doing collages and getting a lot of work from New Scientist magazine and publishers like Secker & Warburg, but what we did for The Pixies was almost like a self-contained vacuum. I think everyone thought we were either incredibly rich and successful and weren't interested in doing anything for anyone else, or we were unapproachable.'

While the ensuing commercial work included a lot of advertising, commissions for design agencies, annual reports and similar, increasingly Larbalestier found that his personal work was becoming further and further removed from this world. 'I began to spend a lot of time in Italy, where I did all sorts of empty, bleak landscapes in weird places,' he recalls. 'And I guess I came to the point where the more work I was doing in advertising, the more I realised I was drifting away in my own work, which was becoming more abstract.'

Following his stint in Tuscany, he then went to Australia, 'and did a whole set of work that was all about emptiness.' This, he felt at the time, was an antidote to much of the photography he had seen of that vast country, which tended to be large format, in vibrant colour, but, he felt, soulless, despite their obvious beauty.

As you talk to Simon, it becomes clear that his photography has been a lifelong search, but for what even he seems unclear right now. But he's quite happy for it to be that way, because this quest has now taken him to southeast Asia, and a new home in Bangkok.

While this has brought with it plenty of new visual inspiration, it isn't without its technical difficulties for the photographer. 'I can't keep my negs in Thailand because the humidity is incredible,' he explains. 'I did have them over there for a couple of months, but I had to send them back. And if I did ship my darkroom over there the whole lot would probably last a month.' He points to a pile of contact sheets on the coffee table in front of us. 'Last time I came back I had a year's worth of film to process'.

Village towards Banteay Samre, Cambodia 2003 'With my work in Cambodia, People have become a major focal point. I still photograph the trees entwining the temple ruins, but now I tend to look for the Khmers who inhabit the surrounding area. Cambodia always leaves me with a strong sense of hope - optimism' Holgo 120S with Delta 400 processed in PMK pyro, selenium toned lith print made on cold cathode DeVere 504		Tuol Sleng, 'S-21' interrogation room, Cambodia 'The Noctilux f/1.0 lens has a remarkable ability to record images in poor light' Leica M6 with 50mm Noctilux shot at f/1.0, Ilford FP4 in PMK pyro

It's a remarkable way of working, and one that certainly wouldn't suit many photographers. However, Larbalestier puts his ability to wait down to the fact that he knows exactly when he's nailed an image, thanks to the rangefinder cameras he uses. 'Everything I'm seeing is in the viewfinder,' he says, by way of explanation of how he can tolerate such an unconventional method. 'I'm doing that classic previsualisation thing, which is why the rangefinder (he sold his Leicas and bought a Nikon S3) is so ideal for me. You have a vision, and you know what it's going to look like wide open at f/2.8, but I think the rangefinder allows you to do that much more successfully than the SLR.'

Simon is almost as passionate about perfecting his camera and printing technique (nearly all his prints are lith) as he is about the images themselves. For him, the success of one isn't possible without the other. Until he moved to Thailand, Ilford HP5 Plus, developed in pyro, was his combination of choice. However, he has recently discovered that he actually prefers the results from Delta 400 - which he only started using because it was all he could buy in his new home country. 'I love the Delta - it has fine grain but an acutance and edge that works well with lith in my enlarger,' he explains. 'It's all about the combination. I've got a very old cold cathode head with a Zone VI compensating timer. Then I have a Leica lens, so the combination of that, with the cold light, and film developed in pyro seems for me to get the quality I want in a lith print.'

Wilderness Series, Sandstorm 2001, Victoria, Australia 'This was a crazy moment when I decided to shoot in the middle of a sandstorm in Victoria's Wilson's Promontory, Australia' Plaubel Makina 67 with orange filter, Ilford FP4 developed in PMK pyro

City of temples

Despite the fact that Simon now lives in Thailand, and has a number of ideas for photography projects there, the major part of his work takes place in Cambodia, a country that has come to fascinate him in recent years. The landscape, people and history have come together to have an interesting effect on his work, because for the first time in his career he has found himself turning his camera on people. His current project focuses on the incredible temples of Angkor Wat and the nature of how the area will change with the ever-increasing number of tourists who are now making their way there. 'What began to fascinate me was the transient nature of the visitors,' he reveals. 'They come in droves, but totally ignore or get irritated by the people who actually live within the temples. And there's no infrastructure to deal with these numbers, because the tiny town next to the temples now has to house huge hotels. They are being built closer and closer, and are grotesque. So more and more I'm trying to understand the relationship between the people and the temples - and the people and the tourists.'

One result of Pol Pot's genocide in Cambodia is the almost unbelievable statistic that 45% of the country's population is under 14, many of whom have no family. And the influence that Western culture and tourism will inevitably have on these young people means that change will probably occur in this country more quickly than it would elsewhere. 'These kids have hardened faces,' Simon describes. 'You can see the huge sense of sorrow and loss. They've been denied a childhood that allows them to develop as individuals. When you photograph them you just have to go somewhere and wait. And if someone asks about 50 times if you want to buy something and then realise you're not going to, they drop their guard. The moment they do that is incredible, but it doesn't last long.'

What's fascinating about Simon's work in Cambodia is that, despite its more classical documentary style, he feels strongly that there are parallels between this and his earlier work. 'They're not happy pictures at all,' he explains. 'It's extremely difficult for me to make pictures that make people feel good about something. My current images still have that beauty within melancholy - it's almost like a celebration of loss.'

Not only that, but in this tiny country in southeast Asia, with its ravaged history, he has found realities that match the constructed sets he used to make. 'It's almost like I've found the world I was trying to create before,' he says. And you can see in his face that there is plenty more to come.

Boys in the Rain, Angkor Wat, Cambodia 2002 'There is a sadness, a poignancy, a sharp transition from childhood to adulthood which I feel compelled to record' Leica M6 with 50mm Noctilux shot at f1.0, Ilford FP4 processed in PMK pyro, selenium toned lith print made on Leitz Focomat 1c		Wat Mahathat, Ayutthaya, Thailand 2003 'Legend has it that thieves were disturbed stealing the Buddha head and dropped it as they fled. In time, a Buddha tree grew around it as if to protect it' Mamiya 6MF with 75mm lens, yellow filter, Ilford Delta 400 processed in PMK pyro, selenium toned lith print

* This article is © Copyright Guild of Master Craftsman Publications Ltd 2004. All images are © Copyright Simon Larbalestier 1988-2004. No material contained in this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of The Guild of Master Craftsman Publications Ltd. Copies of the issue can be purchased by calling 01273 488005, or visit www.thegmcgroup.com/publications/