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me to think over every single shot before
I take it. That means the whole setting,
the model, the light, the exposure time.
And it’s always such a joy to be working
with a very simple camera and beautiful
antique handmade lenses.
JS: With your storytelling photographs,
where do your ideas come from, and how
do you develop them?
AT: That’s always the most difficult thing to
explain. There are two possibilities: the first
one is when I see something that inspires me.
For example, with The Kite Runner, it was
enough for me just to see a kite in the sky.
Then my brain starts painting the picture
I would like to make. That part of the
process can take weeks or even months, and
if the idea isn’t fully formed I put it aside
and start on another one. Mostly it’s the
final details that take the longest time.
JS: So a lot of the work is thinking about
the image?
AT: I am a real daydreamer, as some
members of my family will tell you. But when
I finally make the picture I know exactly
what I want, there is hardly any room for
experimenting; it needs to be exactly what
I have in my mind.
JS: And what’s the second possibility?
AT: Sometimes I come across a beautiful
location that I’d like to use in a story.
With The Rain Maker there was an old
greenhouse that was being restored and,
during the work, a lot of rain fell so that
it became flooded and the water acted
like a huge mirror. At this point the whole
Above To The End Of Nowhere Opposite The Kite Runner
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