Joker faces

Steve Fairclough talks to stand-up comedian and photographer Steve Best about his upcoming photo book Comedians

- Steve Fairclough

Steve Best

Steve Best (aka The Clowntographer) is a stand-up comedian and photographer who is known for his informal headshot portraits and his work photographing comedians, both onstage and backstage. He has been a stand-up comedian for over 20 years and has performed in Europe, Africa, Asia, and even the Falkland Islands. He has been photographing fellow comedians since 2006 and has published the books Comedy Snapshot and Poker Face. His latest book, Comedians, is out in October. Visit stevebest.com

For a man who tells jokes for a living, Steve Best is deadly serious about his photography. His relationship with photography dates back to his teenage years, when he shot pictures on holidays, and later extended to buying a Canon EOS-1 film camera. He explains, 'I did a darkroom course at Battersea Arts Centre, which I really loved. When I started gigging, my flatmate was working for Victim Support, so I did a [photo] gig for her. I was kind of keeping my fingers in, but never as professional. I was a stand-up and then it's suddenly twisted over to the other way round now.'

His camera journey continued with a Ricoh GR1 film camera, which he says, 'had a fantastic lens that was tiny, so I used to take that on the road and get some great shots with it. Then I bought the digital version of it when that came out, which was my first digital camera.'

Best believes that his background outside of photography has actually helped him to produce good work. 'Coming from the comedy world, I wasn't immersed in the photography world. There are a lot of people who study photography and are really into it. I think that's a great way to learn but sometimes coming from a different artistic angle is an interesting way as well.' He only name-checks the late US photographer Galen Rowell as any kind of photographic inspiration and is 'definitely self-taught'.