ndarwin

I get a lot of students contacting me with questions and interview requests for their courses etc. I did a little email questionaire for a student called Krystille from Hawaii today, I thought I would post it here for interested parties to read:



Q_ Define Photography.

I assume you want some definition that goes a little beyond that found in the dictionary, something a bit more personal. Photography is a way of editing and storing time, a photograph is cut from the stream of possible images passing all of us everyday, the photographer is an editor and what makes his/her pictures interesting is the criteria he/she uses to select one moment over another.
The photograph is a record of those criteria and decisions......in many ways every photograph regardless of the subject matter is, to some degree, a portrait of the photographer.

Q_ Are you familiar with Candid/Street Photography? If so, can I have some advice with that?


Yes, Street photography has always been my passion, I have always been attracted to using a single small camera with no fancy lenses or filters and shooting in public places, street photography is like what sketching is to fine art painting, it is the basis of all photography in a way. I would recommend using a small unobtrusive camera and going to places where there are a lot of people in order to give yourself the greatest number of opportunities to see things, then just look very carefully at the things that are happening around you, the people, what they are doing, concentrate on the details, get close to people and choose your moment carefully, think about the decisions you are making, the framing of the shot and the time you make it. Take many pictures, even of a single scene.


Q_ What was your inspiration to become a photographer?


I think probably Elliot Erwitt's photographs appealed to me, I loved how the photograph could be clever and witty not just aesthetic...also I was a painter and started to use photography to collect references for my work.



Q_ Why is it so hard to capture great shots?


I guess because great happenings are rare and to be there at the right time and the right place with a camera in your hand is rare, you can develop an instinct for these things however.



Q_ Candid/Street Photography may not be hard at all, because anyone can take a great picture, but, with you being a photographer, what do you do differently?

We do live in a time where modern cameras do everything for you, they are, however, just tools and street photography more than any other kind of photography reveals the photographers abilities, you can't hide behind technical tricks, you simply have to have a good eye. Street Photography requires wit and intelligence you make pictures with your mind first and take them with the camera secondly, every image is an 'idea' first and then subsequently a composition or beautifully lit etc.

Q_ What's something important about a camera?


I'm not sure exactly what you are asking here this could be a technical question or a philosophical one.

Technically a camera should be simple, it should be an extension of you, it should feel good in the hand and be responsive when used....such as the Leica rangefinders traditionally used by us street photographers.

Philosophically a camera is just a tool, a recording device capable of showing us something that is fleeting and passing for longer inspection, as time passes. There is no other way of doing this, film and video is a stream of under edited frames.


Q_ What is the importance of photography?

Photography has the power to show us our world, to hold up a mirror to society in which we may see the results of the decisions that we have made, photographs show us our consumption and materialism our respect for young and old or the environments we live in and even the lack of respect we often have for ourselves. Through photographs we can find and observe our own positions in society, who we are where we fit in. I often say that as a street photographer I travel to the busiest most crowded places to find out the most personal and intimate truths about my self.

Q_ What do you enjoy about being a photographer? What do you not?

I love making things everyday, experimenting with the sign system that photography is. Commercially I enjoy the travel, the meeting new people, the problem solving. The hard part is making a living from your passion, earning money but maintaining your love for the medium....that is the balance that I am constantly trying to make.




Was that interesting? probably not.
In other news....I am going back to London this week, leaving early tomorrow and looking forward to shooting some new 'Youth' portraits if the weather is OK.

So things that have caught my eye this week are John Smedley One knitwear range, these are knited items created in one piece rather than three peices and sewn together which means they have no seems and a smooth profile........ have a look....John Smedley



I am enjoying the work of Greg Stimac at the moment, especially his 'Recoil' project....As a European I am fascinated by the relationship between Americans and their guns....




And in stark contrast I like these still lifes by Laura Letinsky, so reminiscent of Dutch still life Paintings...





Beautiful Huh!


Have a creative week now......






Ignore this link, I'm having an argument with an online store here in France who sent me faulty goods three months ago and still haven't refunded my credit card...by adding this link to my blog, it will be picked up by google robots quicker than submitting it because SG is so popular.

http://www.laboutiquedunet.org/