Ever stood on the roof of a building and wondered what it would be like to jump? Well Kiell is the kind of bloke that not only jumps but takes his camera with him when he does so we don't have to wonder any more. And the results are a beautiful poetry of motion combining man, gravity and mass in some remarkable imagery. We clambered up on the roof and pinned him down - for his own good you understand...

Steal-Life - So where does the name Kiell come from?

Kiell - A slightly embarrassing story, to be honest! Back when I was thirteen or fourteen, I was trying to pick a username for my AOL account - my first experience of the internet. I was flicking through books and came across a sci-fi novel that I'd read as a kid; The Last Legionary by Douglas Hill. His main character was Keill Randor. I swapped the I and the E around to create Kiell. It's a name I used for internet forums for a couple of years and when I first contacted the parkour community in the UK, I used it to sign up to various message boards. Because of the way that parkour is built around its online community, a lot of the original guys are known by these internet nicknames as opposed to their real names.

SL - People would be surprised that when you first photographed a Parkour event you barely knew which end of the camera was which. Did you surprise yourself at your natural ability?

Kiell - I don't really attribute it to natural ability! More to luck. My photos back then weren't any different from many of the young guys starting out taking parkour photographs today. I just learnt quickly and really enjoyed taking the shots and seeing people's response to them. I was also in a very privileged position as no one else at the time was really taking any decent photos.

SL - You do a bit of PK yourself, does it help more with the photography or your ability to interact with the traceurs?

Kiell - Definitely. In every aspect of it; knowing how a person is going to move, being able to move around myself in order to get into position, knowing when people are going to get tired or bored. Plus, for me photographing the guys is a social thing and training is also very much a part of that.

SL - Although skateboard snappers are rife, there are fewer photographers able to capture the interaction of man & architecture when there isn't a plank of wood with wheels in between them. Why do you think that is?

Kiell - There will be in time, I think. Parkour is still in its infancy and it remains to be seen if it is to grow beyond what is has become so far. If it does, there will be a ton of other photographers capturing action and using a massive variety of architecture and no doubt getting some good results.

SL - You have a great eye for composition but you don't ask the runners to do take after take, do you get into a good position and wait for them to enter the space or follow them around with your finger constantly on the shutter?

Kiell - Sometimes it's possible to get multiple takes if I'm not sure that I've got something quite as I want it. Otherwise it's a case of being confident that what I'm about to snap is going to work. Sometimes it's possible to follow the guys around but most of the time we talk about what they're going to do, what's possible within certain spaces, how many times they think they can do it before getting tired.

SL - People will always want to see the most daring jumps but Parkour is more about the perfection of movement and efficiency - how do you feel you strike a balance?

Kiell - Hopefully my balance comes from being just as interested in the architecture as I am in the parkour, if not more so. As a result, I care more about how the person is creating movement in relation to the building, not about what the move is or how big the jump is. I try to explain this to younger guys when they ask me how I get the shots that I get - it's the streets and buildings that are just as important as what the athlete is doing, something that's easily forgotten.

SL - Do you prefer digital with its endless ability to review and delete or the quality of film but a 3 day wait back from the chemists before you find out the lens cap was on?

Kiell - I never thought I'd love digital as much as I do, but nothing beats film. I wish I had more time, money, patience and opportunity to shoot on film but it doesn't happen very often these days, unfortunately. I'll never get rid of my old film gear, and I still have 24 rolls of Fuji sat in the fridge, waiting to be used, even though they've been there for almost a year now! There's also something very satisfying about the permanence of film - having a physical object that contains the image feels much more like I'm contributing something significant, not just taking snaps. I'm pleased that all my early work is on film as I'm hoping that one day it will have archival value.

SL - A part of your work involves traceurs performing leaps high above the concrete. Are you ever conscious that you might be capturing the last moments of someone's life?

Kiell - Occasionally I think about it but you just have to shut it out, in the same way that you shut it out when you're training yourself. If you let fear creep in, it can be a distraction. It's probably not healthy to forget about it completely, however, which is lucky cos it never entirely goes away.

SL - Was it something David Belle said that made everyone stop talking to him or is it just because he's a typical Frenchman and therefore annoying?

Kiell - Heh. I think it's more the other way around. He's quite a private person and clearly spends more time training than responding to emails, posting on forums, running websites, etc. I'm told that his English isn't particularly good so I think that's also been a contributing factor. Parkour has done some amazing things for a lot of incredible people, but unfortunately it has also ended a number of very close friendships on both sides of the Channel.

SL - You studied your Master's in American Literature & Film, are you a frustrated director and do you see yourself moving more that way in the future?

Kiell - No, I leave all filming to my colleague and good friend, Julie Angel! (www.julieangel.com) My Master's (which unfortunately I never completed) was more theoretical than practical, and I focused mainly on literature. I do the odd bit of camera work and sit in on the occasional edit but learning the techniques and developing the skills is not something I have time for any more, sadly!

SL - Finally, Parkour is both an urban and a rural sport, do you plan to capture some tree to tree action any time soon?

Kiell - No immediate plans, but I wouldn't rule it out. I'd love to get the opportunity to travel and cover all sorts of locations and environments. Just need someone to give me a vast amount of money to make it happen…

Kiell - www.kiell.com

www.parkourcoaching.com

www.julieangel.com

www.buildering.net