They think it's all over (2)

And for some, it is.

HCB said that once he'd pressed the shutter, that was the end of it as far as he was concerned (though the plethora of books of his photographs might indicate otherwise). What about you? Is the shutter going clunk only the beginning? Of course many photographers process their own digital images. But do you yearn to see the image used, preferably somewhere public? Best even on a giant billboard somewhere? Or on the cover of a magazine? Or is that it for you?

Pull up a sandbag.... I used to love printing my own negs, though only in b&w. It was in the darkroom that I felt a 'real' photographer, or at least a complete one. I don't get the same experience from sitting in front of Photoshop, but this isn't "I wish we were back in the old days" daydream, because I adore digital photography too.

It seems that photographers (I hate the slang togs) fall into two broad Camps: those that belong to the one where the taking of the picture is the final act, and the other where it is only the beginning. Actually, I think there's a third Camp that just want to talk about the kit, and sod the actual act of photography, but let's disregard them here.

If I shoot for a client, the end for me is really when the shutter trips, though I have an academic interest in seeing the published choice. I'd love to ask them why they didn't use my favourite frame if that's the case, but I know my place. Today I found out that a novelist I had photographed earlier in the year lobbied the editor of the magazine I was shooting for, begging for such and such a shot not to be used. He got his way.

All sorts of influences are at work in a final frame choice, that we as photographers are rarely privy to. I clearly remember discovering for the first time that the picture editor (picture commissioner in effect) who received my carefully crafted images did NOT make the final decision. That was left to a features editor. I couldn't believe it. I soon got over it, that's the publishing world. And why shouldn't the editor have the final say?

I used to fantasise of a an environment where the art director and photographer worked hand in hand to decide what should be shot, and which images used. It happened, infrequently, but the death knell seemed to be the reduction of easy access to the office, made more and more difficult with increased security measures (I'm thinking of newspapers in the early 1990s). And also the work load. Then, at least one had to turn up with the film, process it, and hand the edits to the picture editor in person. Now, it's sent by ftp. (Is there anyone from across the water who thinks ftp stands for something other than file transfer protocol?)
Is this a bad thing? Does it matter that art director and photographer seldom meet over the lightbox? I think it's a shame it doesn't happen, but most magazine staff will tell you that if they had the time for it they would spend more time collaborating. And do busy photographers have time for face to face photo editing either? If you photograph gardens how much interaction is there with the person writing about the garden? Are you both there on the same day? Did you know that they were going to write about the irises more than the grasses? (You did photograph the irises didn't you?) Bear in mind that this is the editorial world.

Just to round this up, I've thought of a Camp Four, those that love looking at photographs (their own and others) more than taking them, but who also take them for a living. And does one take a photograph or make one?

(Photo shows playwright John Patrick Shanley. Photographers choice of frame.)

Aisle or Window sir?

Thank you to the lovely KLM staff (and no doubt the good Doctor) for asking if, as a frequent flyer (news to me), I'd like a couple of seats to myself with spare legroom.

Scared (sacred?) Crows

Not a Guy Fawkes in sight as enterprising parents dream up ever more ways of keeping their children occupied during the summer holidays. What's wrong with a two week Scripture Union camp anyway?

This scarecrow competition produced some very creative figures, including no less than the Tiger Woods effigy, complete with legs sticking out of a golf bag.

Dear Bill,

Why do you and I photograph people? Or, why have we chosen to shoot people, over interiors, or gardens, or still life?

Most subjects seem to fall into two groups. One, with a story to tell (and they tell it) , and the other without (or they aren't sharing the tale). I'm reminded of it having met Ted Simon, who famously motorbiked around the world in the 1970s and wrote Jupiter's Travels as a result. Quite a story to tell, and well worth reading the account. The bit I liked best is when he's endlessly asked why he's making the journey; to which he replies:

"to find out why I'm making the journey".

Doesn't that remind you about Gary Winogrand who was asked why he photographed things, to which he replied:

"I photograph to see what the world looks like in photographs."

And isn't that true? Nail on head stuff.

I was reminded again when I arrived to photograph a well known writer, in her South London flat recently. I had barely introduced myself before I was blasted with a diatribe about how useless photographers were, how absurd it was that her publisher had dared to send me to shoot her, and how I was bound to fail at my task. How is one meant to respond to a subject who seems determined to thwart one's best efforts? Anyone sensible might be inclined to say well sod it then, with that attitude you're right, and I won't waste time trying..... But there's another (higher) consideration, and that is the publisher is expecting to get a lovely portrait; so one swallows hard, and unpacks the gear. Actually William, I expect you're like me and enjoy a challenge, even when the challenge looks as if it has reversed through a hedge backwards in the last five minutes and has an attitude to rival Naomi's.

I've only once been seriously close to walking out on a shoot, but the subject beat me to it. Without doubt the most unpleasant person I've had to photograph, and it put me off celebrity chefs for a long time. A shame, because I photographed Richard Corrigan last year who was utterly charming and affable.

I don't mind listening to the story either. We should relish the opportunity. After all, the shoot is about the subject, we're mere spectators with a job to record the teller. Rarely has a tale been dull, even when it was the same as the last time I heard it. At The Telegraph, the same subjects used to come round every five years or so, sometimes more frequently. Everyones story is worth listening to, an invitation to look through the looking glass.

The most interesting story I've heard? I'll let you know soon. (Remind me, it's the Hitler youth story.)

And lastly, aren't you bored of zoom lenses? So irritating the way they suck dust into the camera. I have a love hate relationship with the blasted things, and much prefer fixed focal length lenses, but then you need to carry endless numbers of cameras around with you. Or get an assistant to carry them. What's the answer?

African Reportage

I couldn't resist a rare invitation to produce some reportage which found me shooting in rural Kenya, well away from the usual tourist trail.

KEMRI (Kenyan Medical Research Institute) was researching rural health centres, and we spent the day photographing day to day life in a range of small health clinics. Some had only one health worker and a handful of patients, others had a full and hectic workload.

Patients sometimes had a round trip of 20 kms to attend a clinic from their home, with no transport available; bad enough when you’re fit and well, quite awful when you are unwell. In the west, we are forever being made aware of the problems of HIV/Aids in sub-Saharan Africa, though the ‘old’ problems of TB and malaria are still a major health threat.

In each location, we were welcomed with much generosity, and good humour. When I told people I had come from England, almost all them brought up the name of Wayne Rooney. That is what ‘England’ means to many in the country, where English football is followed closely. These schoolboys were appalled that I didn't know which club he played for.

For those attending health centres much of the time is spent waiting, and waiting and waiting.

Churches, wriggly tin and a Peugeot 504SR

Enough to keep a smile on my face for days on end. For some, a trip to the East Africa can't happen often enough. The last time I ventured south, furry paper was still being used. Now, the mobile phone coverage is enough to shame many parts of the UK. Safaricom would knock the pants off most UK phone operators. Ok, so a bit of 'tin' nostalgia and old cars still rolling is food for the visual soul, but other aspects of life in Kenya have evolved way beyond my recognition.
More to follow later on the reason for the trip.

Paris in the Spring, Mark 1.

Oh dear. Good in one sense, to see that motorcyclists in France suffer from White Van Man idiots just as we do here. But the way the French scooter riders ride! They make our chaps look a tad tame in comparison.

Paris in the Spring. Mark 2.

Should you photograph a garden from a ladder? I'm not convinced. By doing so, you present a view that mere mortals would never see.
What if it looks better from a ladder? A garden is designed for people to work rest and play in. There's little to say that gardens are best enjoyed from the top of a ladder. There's even less evidence to show that garden owners are forever popping to the top of their ladders to enjoy their gardens.

Everything in photography is 'manipulated' to some extent, from what the photographer includes/crops out, to the light (often artificial), to the choice of lens and so on. But let's get some semblance of honesty here. Why not shoot the garden as a person (or child) would see it; from ground level? At least that would reduce the "it doesn't look like that in the brochure" comments. Some idiot once said that the photograph never lies. Just for the record, here's a shot of me, on a ladder, photographing a garden. It's a self portrait, honest!

Jardin Jardins

Champagne house Laurent Perrier sent me to photograph Jinny Blom's sculpture which was exhibited at the French Garden Show Jardins Jardins. Inspired by seeds (no doubt hugely influenced by my seed photography) these large pods dominated the location in the Tuileries Garden in central Paris. The work was in great company too, as one had to pass Henry Moore's reclining figure (1951) to reach the Laurent Perrier stand.
This was the first time I had worked for this company in France. Zut alors! They looked after us like no other client has got near to. There's a serious point here. Many Continental Europeans have a very healthy attitude (along with a lot of Americans) towards photography, and by association, photographers. If we went even half way towards where these others are, our profession would be a far jollier place to work in.

Vests

I was always made to wear one as a child at school, no doubt they were compulsory "in those days". But at some stage of growing up, they became deeply uncool for me. They still persist, though the sight of a string vest on a building site is indeed rare, no doubt because it's covered up by a high visibility vest. So, there's progress, string vests usurped by high vis versions. Why not bet me a date by when we all have to wear high vis vests, just to venture out side.......

Summer Days

Mean some early starts to get on location for sunrise. For once, the roads are clear, and travel times shorten to something sensible. I know of at least one photographer who camps in his camper van next to the shoot, in order to arrive promptly for photography. Maybe that's the way to do it....










It's also a chance to stand alone in the countryside, listening to just the animals and birds, without the intrusion of human generated noise. I really don't miss the emergency sirens that endlessly surround us here in South London.

Richard Whitehead

Thanks again for a brief, to shoot on film, from Nick Dixon.
So what's the big deal about film? Maybe photographers shouldn't try to write about how photographing someone 'feels', but using film is a different experience from digital, not least because it makes one stop, and slow down. Using large format does this even more, with a pause between each frame. This isn't always a 'good thing' but I benefit from it, and I like the results.

All Stop all Go

I like the way tastes change from year to year. Flower shows are not immune, as Chelsea Flower Show demonstrates yearly.
More and more though, I find myself heading not towards but away from the show gardens;















despite their ability to inspire beautiful garden photography. So thanks in part to Andy Sturgeon for his show stopping garden , but also thanks to Medwyn Williams for drawing me into the tent yet again to marvel at his vegetables.









And thanks too for those who don't take the whole thing too ludicrously seriously.










This is a photo of a photographer wearing a vest. They must be worn for health and safety reasons, as in "Heavy Plant Crossing" I suppose, and cost the photographer a tenner for the pleasure.

And just in case you thought you were looking at real gardens, don't forget that nothing is real at these affairs.

Hugo Platt, printer, photographer.

Hugo Platt is back in town. You may remember him, as the brilliant b&w printer, based in Havelock Terrace South London. He has a show of his fabulous b&w landscapes at The Gallery, Cork Street, London, all taken on his 10x8, and printed by himself.
You can see some of the photographs here and on his website
Hugo, good to see you and your work.

House and Garden Magazine.

House and Garden, May issue, is out now.
My first published garden feature, given a lovely eight pages, leads with this dps of sheep in a field in this stunning English rural idyll. It's so refreshing to see landscape photography used boldly in magazines. Very exciting.

You thought it was all over...

So did I, but isn't that the great thing about the English weather?
This is last weekend, during Easter, somewhere near Great Langdale.
Not that I'm complaining. There's little to beat the sound of snow, whether it's being swooshed over on skis, or being crunched under walking boots. And at last I revisited the Striding Edge, one of the approaches to Helvellyn. My Mother took me down this route off Helvellyn when I was nine years old. We both wore wellies, and carried nothing else. These days, everyone seems kitted out for an ascent on Everest. Probably wisely too.

To Direct or Not?

Why not? It's a mini performance, and the photographer may be shooting to a brief.
Here's an example of one received recently:

"She should appear confident, aware and intelligent, challenging, authentic, engaging, innovative, dynamic, distinguished, knowledgeable, esteemed and entrepreneurial in spirit".

It doesn't refer to the shoot with Omid Djalili, shown below, where the brief was, well, brief. "Get some nice shots of 'im."

This wasn't directed, and I'd very rarely ask anyone to put a hand to their face, but sometimes there's no harm with going with the flow.

To young and inexperienced photographers, directing a 'star' can seem a bit overwhelming. But plough on I say, it's your shoot, you'll be judged on the pictures, and sometimes your subject needs a bit of direction.

How Many?

"You're bound to get at least one good one, if you shoot that many frames." Some of us have heard this once, and some of us have heard it more than once. During a photoshoot with a British airline chief recently, he asked why on earth I took so many frames of him. I could have said because you don't look like Brad Pitt (which would have been honest and true, if not a little unkind). No doubt he would have taken it on the chin.



But it is true, and it informs us about something of the nature of being photogenic. Brad Pitt looks great in photographs, and you don't need to take many frames to end up with a great set of shots of him. The same is true of many people, but actors are especially adept at looking good in photographs. So they should be, given that they use their faces to express their work. They know what works well on camera. They probably know what works well with the lighting set up being used. If you've ever sat way up in the gods, and not been able to make out an actor's expressions, then you are missing a whole chunk of the performance.



Combine this professional use of the face with what is often 'good looks' and you have a winning combination in front of the camera. Take someone who may not be so good looking, and who hasn't learnt to exploit their faces to their full potential, and you will soon see that more frames equals a better chance of getting a good shot. Combine that with the vast number of muscles in the human face, with their multiple permutations, and you'll discover that variations in expressions are limitless. The challenge is often to try and get something unexpected from the professional, and something great from the non professional. Much fun can be had in doing both, regardless of success. It was Brian Dennehy I saw (or who I didn't really see) from the gods in Death of a Salesman. A wasted opportunity if ever there was one.

Mark Rylance

Last night, Mark Rylance won Best Actor (Olivier Awards) for his role in Jerusalem. Jez Butterworth's play, not short at a hefty three hours, is on in London's west end. Also starring is Mackenzie Crook. The play is set in woodland; Crook owns a wood himself, so was well cast for the role.






Many people struggle with theatre productions, but most consider this is a must see performance by Rylance. Much is made of the strongly "Middle English" audience, who sympathise with the main character's disdain for the little englander bureaucratic administration prevalent here.
Hooray! At last someone is shining the spotlight on some of the ghastly officious people annoying us all to distraction with their approach to our green and pleasant land.

Goodbye Winter

Hopefully not tempting fate to say farewell to this gorgeous winter. The highlight for me has to be Katrina and PW's wedding in Battersea Park. Half way through a guest even demanded that the cup cakes should immediately be photographed (what special occasion would be without cup cakes these days?). What's a photographer to do other than jump to it? So here's Battersea Park, KJP & PW, and the cakes.