79

B+W

All images © Tim Clinch

Bound. Well knock me down

with a feather, it all makes so

much sense, especially in our

photography-related sphere.

Please don’t take this as

negative. It’s important that we

are excited and have ideas, but

maybe we should try to be a little

more realistic. Think a little

closer to home. For example,

recently I’ve been photographing

my neighbours and the people

who live in my village. I see them

every day as they go about their

daily lives. It’s a great experience

and, more importantly, I can see

an end to it.

O

ver the last

few weeks,

slowly,

almost

without my

noticing, I

have a project. It’s specific (the

people of Mindya, Bulgaria),

Measurable (people I know and

who live near me), Achievable

(I just have to roll out of bed

and there they all are), Realistic

(I can do it almost whenever I

want, on my way to the village

shop) and Time-bound (after

a good edit, I have around 30

to 35 lovely portraits that I’m

pleased with).

The pictures have slowly,

almost without me noticing,

come together. Without me

having ridiculously grand ideas

they have become a whole. In

other words – SMART!

It’s all well and good having

ideas. We all like to think

we’re creative, but never

underestimate the creativity

of organisation. Without

organisation, the creativity

we all hold so dear in our

photography simply disappears.

Without organisational skills

our creativity can fall by the

wayside almost instantly. Maybe

real creativity can only be the

result of an ordered mind.

Never stop having your ideas.

Never stop your wildest flights

of fancy. Never stop believing in

yourself, but make sure that you

give yourself the tools to achieve

something. Get organised, or

you may end up like me with a

PhD in photography (Projects

Half Done).

WHAT TIM

DID THIS

MONTH

Following on from last month’s

comments about consistency, the

pictures I’ve chosen this month

are all from an amazing weekend

I’ve just spent in the mountains

behind Seville in Spain. I attended a

matanza, which is still a ritual in the

winter in southern Spain. It is how

a pig becomes food. Vegetarians

need not apply (obviously), but it’s

always a fascinating and thought-

provoking experience.

I wanted to shoot some portraits

of the people there. We were a

fairly disparate bunch – some local

villagers, some English and Scottish

people, and a bunch of food writers

and producers from Ireland.

To make the portraits hang

together I did something I urge you

to try: I used a background. Hung

against a door in beautiful, flat

light, I simply asked people to come

and stand in front of it. It is a great

leveller and makes for good strong

portraits. Give it a go.

If you want to see some more of

the results, check them out here:

behance.net/gallery/22844829/

MATANZA

The photographer I’ve chosen

this month is David Hagerman.

David is a travel photographer

based between Penang and Turkey.

His work is really interesting. He

shoots a lot of street food on his

travels and really shows how wide

a subject travel photography can be.

But the thing that’s really exciting

me at the moment is his project

about breakfasts. Fascinating stuff

that makes me want to travel – and

makes me hungry!

davidhagerman.photoshelter.com

instagram.com/davehagerman

Started work on my really

exciting new project about...oh,

hang on...make that, seriously

considered finishing off one of the

many projects I already have on

the go.

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