Black_White_Photography_-_Winter_2014

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B+W

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Y

ou need to get to know your

subject as intimately as you can,

find its pulse and work out what

makes it tick. Every place is unique

because the combination of factors that

have shaped it through time – climate,

location, race, religion, money, warfare,

natural disaster – are always different. Let

your own feelings guide the photographs

you take. If you feel happy and upbeat, the

things you photograph and the way you

photograph them will reflect this, but if you

feel sad or lonely or afraid, the images will

have a totally different feel to them.

Wherever I travel in the world, I try to

immerse myself in local life and spend as

much time as possible exploring the streets

on foot so I’m there, in the moment. You have

to be out there, feeling the heat and humidity

(or cold), hearing the chitchat, smelling the

smells (not always pleasant!), eating the food,

talking to the people, listening to the music,

dodging the traffic, allowing everything to

soak in and guide you creatively.

Being a photographer is different to

being a tourist because you have a natural

curiosity that makes you want to delve

deeper, both literally and metaphorically.

Your primary goal is to produce great

images, but the search for those images

reveals so much more than you’d otherwise

see and that makes the experience of being

there so much more fulfilling and complete.

I often go back to the same places time

and time again – an interesting street

LA GUARIDA, HAVANA, CUBA Pre-revolution, Cuba was a wealthy place and

evidence of the grandeur is everywhere – only now it looks a bit worn.

Canon EOS 5D MkIII with 14mm lens, ISO 100, 3.2secs at f/8

HAVANA, CUBA Using the same post-production techniques on all the

images in the series will give them a unified feel.

Canon EOS 5D MkIII with 24-70mm lens, ISO 400, 1/60sec at f/9

HAVANA, CUBA Old American cars are an unavoidable symbol of Cuban life.

Canon EOS 5D MkIII with 24-70mm lens, ISO 200, 1/60sec at f/2.8

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