http://www.digitalcameraworld.com MARCH 2021 DIGITAL CAMERA^109
have made this topic more mainstream.
People are now understanding that
this is not just an animal story, but
has so much to do with our society,
in so many aspects, that we need
to talk about these topics.
Hidden includes your black-and-
white photos about aquaculture.
Is choosing black-and-white
a decision that you take before
or after the shoot?
Well, my teachers would say it’s
something you should decide before,
but with that story the decision came
later, because when I think black-and-
white, I think of noir movies. Before
that shoot, I did not know what to
expect visually, and when I looked
at the images all together, it gave
me that vibe, like a noir movie.
Also, that project was shot in
different places, so I was looking
for a way to get the pictures to
communicate better with each other,
and to emphasise the brutality and the
graphic impact of what I was seeing.
I imagine you travel light. What
camera gear do you take with you?
I usually travel with one backpack.
I have one camera body, the Olympus
OM-D E-M1 Mk II, and three lenses,
which are not very light!
That depends on the lenses!
Which ones do you mean?
One is an M.Zuiko 12-45mm, another is
a 150mm f/2, and the last is an M.Zuiko
12-100mm f/4. I have at least one flash
light, which is very small, and one small
tripod with bendy legs, because when
you’re walking into a dark barn or on
a boat, you cannot handle a proper
tripod. These bendy ones are more
practical, because they can be attached
to higher places or bars. To complete
the essential gear, I have one LED light
and carry an extra battery pack.Do you have a back-up camera?
Well, there is a trick I like a lot. I don’t
hang it around my neck, but I have
this wristband that is attached to the
camera. I could drop it, but the camera
would still hang from my wrist. It has
proved itself very useful many times!Another assignment you’ve
undertaken concerns the health
issues of communities living next
to factory farms. How did you
come up with that story?
The story was a collaboration with
Greenpeace, and was published in
The Guardian two years ago. We
covered Italy, Denmark, Spain and
France. It was really interesting to find
out about their daily life and struggles:the inability to spend time outside,
because when the wind turns, all
the smells and chemicals are blown
towards your house; so you have to stop
whatever you’re doing and go inside, or
struggle breathing, or start vomiting.
We found higher rates of certain
health conditions in these places that
were next to factory farms. People
developed gastric and stomach
problems, nausea and sickness,
breathing problems; in one place
there were high rates of cancer cases.Do you still divide your time
between London and Berlin?
That was the plan. I love spending time
in London, but I haven’t been back for a
year because of the pandemic, so now
I spend most of my time in Berlin.
I’m looking forward to
coming back when the
situation improves.Hidden: Animals in
the Anthropocene
is £55 from We
Animals Media.
weanimalsmedia.
org/our-work/hiddenAbove: Selene Magnolia’s behind-the-scenes
shots of factory farming are among the images
in Hidden, a new book on animal rights.