Page 183 - Bedeseme Magazine Issue 56C
P. 183

How would you describe yourself                         What do you prefer: taking many photos or a few
       I am somewhat of an obsessive; whatever I un-           and spending more time on each one?
       dertake, it really consumes me.  I like to complete     When I started I spent time taking lots and lots of
       tasks and am never satisfied until I feel I have so-    images, and hoping that there were gems in there.
       mething mastered.                                       These days I have a clearer idea of where a shoot
                                                               is headed, so once I feel we have nailed a shot I
       Why a photographer?                                     like to move on.  So nowadays I probably manage
       There is always something new to learn in photo-        to tackle more looks, yet take less images in a
       graphy, a new technique, a concept to develop.          session.
       Every day has its own challenges to be mastered.
                                                               What is your definition of beauty?
       Is the world ready for your photos?                     Enhanced reality, elegant sensuousness
       Some of them…hopefully I have new techniques
       and ideas to amuse, amaze or disappoint still to        What is more important today: mastering the ca-
       show.                                                   mera or Photoshop?
                                                               They complement one another and are equally
       What did you study.                                     important. Every day I learn something new about
       I studied optometry, which is the science of how        one or the other.
       light behaves and vision.
                                                               What equipment do you use? Why?
       What is your favourite theme?                           In the studio I use Nikon cameras and lenses, and
       I love crossover themes, such as mixing latex with      Bowens/Westcott lighting.
       fetish, pinup or beauty
                                                               At this point it would be too costly to start over,
       Do you believe photography is underestimated            and keeping to Nikon has allowed me to upgrade
       and considered a minor art?                             over time as needed. If money were no object I’d
       Almost certainly it is under appreciated. Everyone      probably upgrade to newer lights that would allow
       with a phone or camera is a photographer. There         remote control of power.
       are millions and millions of people on Instagram,
       putting out work that ranges from the banal to ge-      In this digital era, can anyone be a photographer?
       nius level. When you study images it is clear so        Of course; indeed everyone already is. As discus-
       see that the smallest of minorities produce ex-         sed earlier, the standard of photography can vary
       ceptional work, and an even smaller number of           greatly. An iphone user with a keen eye will inva-
       people produce work of a consistently high stan-        riably  produce  more  interesting  work  than  an
       dard.                                                   equipment fanatic who is more concerned with
                                                               pixel count than the end result.
       Was it difficult to gain the confidence of models?
       Certainly in the early days, when I was finding my      How important are wardrobe and makeup in the
       feet it was quite hard as I had little confidence in    final result?
       my abilities. However with repeated practice I ac-      Makeup and styling is tremendously important –
       quired more confidence which made it easier to          it takes a photoshoot to another level.
       relate to models, and them to me. I generally know
       early in a shoot whether I am going to have to          Any person you specially would like to have in
       work hard to develop an empathy or if it is present     front of your camera?
       from the outset.                                        Pretty much any performer

       What makes you different from other photogra-           Anyone you would not like to take portraits of at
       phers?                                                  all?
       This is a difficult one to answer. Whether we like      There have only been a couple of ‘divas’ over all
       it or not, we each develop a certain style. I have      the years I have been shooting, and aside from
       had several models mention that they can always         them I can’t think of anyone else.
       identify one of my images, even if it is not signed.
       For a time I made a conscious effort to change my       B&W or full colour pictures? Why?
       style and realised it was not happening, so al-         Over time I have grown to love monochrome more
       though my work slowly evolves I have been less          and more. It simplifies tones, putting the empha-
       concerned to completely change it.                      sis more on the subject .

                                                                                                                    183
   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188