One shot interview with David Gibson

What made you push the shutter button to capture this image?

I had to take it, he was just leaning back in the bright sunlight outside North Hollywood Metro station. I’d taken the Metro somewhat randomly to just get away from the centre of Los Angeles — I had led a workshop there — and had a few free days to really explore the city and take some photos. Taken in February this year, it was my first visit to LA.

I walked past the man the first time thinking shall I, shan’t I take a photo? How aware of me is he, etc? He seemed in his own world, a cool guy leaning back. The colours, the shadows everything was there. And crucially the shadow right upon him, I wanted him hidden. I took a handful of shots, edging slightly closer each time and then walked away feeling relieved that I’d got it.

Is this image part of a wider project, if so what is the projects focus?

Not really part of any project, just another street photo.

Why is this image special to you?

Because I got what I saw. Maybe it’s not typical of my style but then I’m not in North Hollywood very often.

Is there any photography books that inspired you to capture this image?

Not specifically but I was thinking that this is a bit Alex Webb. I could mention David Alan Harvey too...I have many photo books, perhaps more feature black and white photographs but I love colour. This is my photo though, I always go looking for ‘my photos’.

What camera are you currently using?

Fuji x100t

Please tell us about yourself

I have taken photographs on the street for over thirty years, it’s a struggle sometimes and I have bursts of energy. But I started 2020 on a sort of roll, a real burst of energy with a trip to Hanoi, then Lisbon and then finally Los Angeles. Completely different places but the momentum was with me when I took this.

https://www.instagram.com/davidgibsonstreetphotography/

one shot interview with Paul Treacy

Limo To Lourdes

What made you push the shutter button to capture this image?

I was struck by the strangeness of the scene and immediately made a photograph. This is the first frame I made and I continued to work it for several minutes but as is so often the case, when it came time to edit the negatives, I thought the first frame was the best. William Eggleston only ever makes a single image of a scene, apparently. If there’s time and the situation allows, I will work it but often end up using the first image. 

Is this image part of a wider project, if so what is the projects focus?

No it is not part of a specific project but it is part of a body of work on the streets of New York City during my various stays there between 1994 and 2008. 

Why is this image special to you?

This image is special and important to me for a multitude of reasons. There are many images that are special to me, such as portraits of my wife from our early days together and of our sons and that kind of thing. But this image goes beyond all that because photography is my life. It is my way of going at life, of appreciating and trying to understand it. 

I was studying at ICP (International Center of Photography) when I made this image. A gang of us had just left a late evening class and were heading out for some food and drinks when we happened upon this strange scene. Two of us noticed it but I was the only one with a camera so I lingered and worked the scene. When I finished I noticed everyone had left and I tried to find them but couldn’t so I went home. But I knew I had a cracker. 

This picture was made in December 1999 on a Konica Hexar, a superb camera. I had been struggling a little on my assignments and workshops up to this point because I had been a news photographer at the Press Association in London before attending ICP and I couldn’t quite break free of the news photographer conventions. Seeing and making this picture broke the mould for me. It’s loosened me up and freed me. 

There are certain techniques and standards that news photographers have to use to satisfy their editors. And I also thought that a photograph was not important or any good unless it was news worthy or of historic significance. Making this picture was a turning point because from then on, I was only really interested in mundanity. I started to appreciate the mundane, the everyday, the ordinary moments between significant events. And to this day these are the things that matter to me photographically. 

Is there any photography books that inspired you to capture this image?

I think making this image inspired me to seek out photography books that revelled in the mundanity, exuberance and humour of life on the streets. My interest in photography books really kicked off after making this photograph. I do, however, have favourite photographers that I revisit all the time - Sylvia Plachy, Jeff Jacobson, Miguel Rio Branco and Harry Gruyaert. 

What camera are you currently using?

I have two cameras I use, both Fujifilm at the moment. An X100T and an XE3. The XE3 with 16-50 zoom is my go to these days. The sensor is superb and I can stretch the images for large prints  a ways beyond what the X100T can achieve. 

However, I continue to crave a Leica M and will do whatever I can to get a good one. For too long I could not justify the expense but I am 50 years old and have decided that I want the very best tool for the remainder of my career. A good Leica M, well maintained, could see me through to the final tape. I just need to figure out how to afford one. But I will get one. 

Please tell us about yourself

I’m an Irishman in London. I have been married since 1999 and we have two teenage sons. I was a stay at home dad for a number of years and this too was a major influence on my photography. I spent three years in art school in the late 80s studying graphic design and this, in combination with my time at ICP, fuels my interest in making handmade photobooks. I am currently developing a sort of hybrid approach to publishing which I would like to teach about and apply to my future books and projects. More on this soon. 

I have a bravery medal and citation from the Irish Government's Deeds of Bravery Council for a winter river rescue in 1990. 

I was born in Dublin but never lived there. I was adopted within weeks. I grew up in Ireland, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. I have a half sister that grew up here in England. I met her when I was 40.

I came to England to study in 1991 and met my wife here in 1993. We have lived in south east London since 2008. 

My work has been represented by Millennium Images in London since 2003. 

I’m a better photographer than I am a business man and freelancing has been a struggle. Learning of my dyslexia late in life has helped enormously though. I worked as a corporate staff photographer for a while and enjoyed the steady income but it took a toll on my health and I left in November 2019. I plan to make a sustained success of self employment when this pandemic situation eventually ends, combining assignment work, personal projects, book publishing, print sales and teaching.

Links to your social media and website

www.paultreacy.com

www.instagram.com/photohumourist/

www.facebook.com/photohumourist

twitter.com/photohumourist

one shot interview with Stephen Leslie
 

What made you push the shutter button to capture this image?

I was walking through the cemetery with my dog. The corona virus lockdown had not yet been put in place but it was obviously coming. I was walking with another dog owner that I occasionally bump into and his Huskie. We were talking about plagues and the problems of sanitation and burial in big cities, subjects that he seemed worryingly knowledgeable about. It was a nice, sunny day, probably the first in quite some time but it was still cold, I suppose you could describe it as bracing. As we walked up the path I noticed what I initially thought was a dead body, remember we were in a cemetery. I may have joked that he was an early victim of the virus. Then I realised he was just sun bathing by a tombstone, lying cruciform on the grass. I asked the other dog walker if he would please hold my dog for a moment and I walked over cautiously to take the photograph. I was simultaneously hoping that a.) He wasn’t in fact dead and b.) That he wouldn’t wake up. I got as close as I dared and took the shot. As I walked back to my dog I was angry with myself for not getting slightly closer. Later on, I went back but the bloke had gone. I took this to confirm that he hadn’t actually been dead.   

Is this image part of a wider project, if so what is the projects focus?

Not really, it might become part of a very long term project on the cemetery as I walk through there a lot. Although they have closed it off now, which is annoying. I do have many, many photos of people asleep in public but this is just an easy obsession rather than a focused, deliberate project.

Why is this image special to you?

Because it’s unusual. You don’t often see people sunbathing with their tops off in graveyards. Or at least, I’ve never seen it before.  

Is there any photography books that inspired you to capture this image?

No, like I mention above, taking photos of sleeping people is a pretty standard photographic pursuit. I’m just following in a long line....

What camera are you currently using?

I still shoot on film, this was taken with my almost broken but just hanging in there Contax T3

Please tell us about yourself

I’m a writer and photographer. I write screenplays that rarely get made so I’m hoping to publish some books that people can actually buy and read in the near future. 

I have one book currently available called SPARKS which is a combination of my street photography and original stories inspired by the images. I also have 3 zines

recently published by Bump Books. The Schleppers, People Holding Dogs and Where Did You Get That Hat? Each title should be fairly self descriptive.

Links to your social media and website

www.stephenleslie.co.uk

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/step_hen_les_lie/?hl=en