subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 5 October 2019 33
them first to get to know them.
‘I explain what I do. I’ll often take
a copy of National Geographic or
something like that, to show them.
That makes it much easier. These
women are sharp; they haven’t had
much education but they are really
hungry to learn as much as they can,
so they were quite happy to see me.
‘They understand why they’re
being photographed – these are
smart, intelligent women who
understand the value of publicity
and also believe in what they’re
doing. They’re happy to see
somebody pay attention to them.’
Many of the images featured in
World Press Photo, and indeed
throughout Brent’s career, are
distressing by their very nature.
In this case, however, Akashinga
represents something positive,
uplifting and empowering.
Brent agrees, ‘It’s nice for me
to photograph this because I’ve
photographed a lot of bad things- especially of women in Africa.
I’ve worked on bush wives, sex
slaves, and all sorts of stuff that is
quite harrowing. So to see strong,
empowered African women, that’s
great. I’ve had enough of African
men treating women badly – it’s not
all men, of course not - but I have
met my fair share of abused women
across the continent.
‘The women in this community
are a force to be reckoned with,
and the women in the rest of the
community are proud to have them
as role models. All of a sudden, they
don’t feel downtrodden and others
feel like “maybe there’s some
potential for me”, too.’
Brent uses the Canon EOS 5DSR more
than any other camera because he likes
a very high-resolution camera (it has a
50.6-million-pixel CMOS sensor). He also
sometimes uses a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. As
for lenses, ‘I use a 28mm and a 35mm most of
the time – that’s me, I’m very simple,’ he says.
‘Occasionally, if I need longer, I use a
70-200mm and my 400mm f/2.8’.BRENT’S KIT
You can see more images
from Brent Stirton’s
Akashinga series
at his website:
brentstirton.com.
For more winning
images from World
Press Photo 2019, see
worldpressphoto.org.