An interview with Salvatore Matarazzo
An Interview with Salvatore Matarazzo
Planning
copyright: Salvatore Matarazzo
RH: What attracted and inspired you to your current documentary project?
My current project "Ritratti dalla strada" or more simple "Portraits" is inspire from my old projects. I Had always job in street I started with street photography, but gradually I got more closer to people, now I feel the need to establish a brief informal contact with them, and photograph them with my vision.
RH: Can you talk us through the planning stage for your project?
I don't plan my projects in advance, simply when I am on the road I become receptive and in a completely spontaneous way I begin to feel if what I am doing is worthy of becoming a project. Then later, I start thinking and making plans and every plans is different, ther isn't a recipe.
RH: Is there anything you wish you had done differently?
Yes sure,I am never 100% satisfied, but I think this is good for me, I am always more committed to doing well.
Implementation and Completion
copyright: Salvatore Matarazzo
RH: How have you dealt with any challenges and difficulties within your project?
My biggest difficulty is being able to take my photos in Versilia, the area where I live, a beautiful place, but lately opportunities are running out due to the decline in tourism ... Sure I can take photography in another cities, but for me to photograph in my city is a mission and I am not discouraged rather I learned to exploit all these difficulties in my favor.
RH: How long do your projects tend to take from start to finish?
I believe that every project of mine is connected and that it is part of a single container, a single long-term project, with small variations and road accidents.
I can say that my project is long all my life.
Editing and Sequencing
copyright: Salvatore Matarazzo
RH: Do have several images to edit of one fleeting moment or do you have one well-constructed precise image that you have captured?
I never staged my photos, and I don't use actors, they are all fruit of the moment, I see a subject in the street that attracts me and I photograph him, using the flash I can't afford many shots so I try as much as possible to view the photo in the istants before the shot.
RH: Within the editing stages, have you felt the project has taken on a different narrative than first envisaged?
Not in this sense, I often felt that I could either remove or add something just to stay consistent with my initial ideas.
Tips and hints
copyright: Salvatore Matarazzo
RH: What would you recommend for people starting their own photographic project?
Well, every genre fotografico has its own "modus operandi" and its various techniques and approaches, difficult to give a unique tip.
The only thing that I really feel like saying is that it is also important to work on single shots at the beginning, these are the foundations for being able to understand yourself and what you want to tell. Once this is done, things get easier.
RH: Does the camera really matter?
No the camera is just a means of taking pictures, no matter what it is, the important thing is to be able to understand it and make the most of it.
RH: Any books you would recommend reading to get the creativity started?
I would not recommend photo books, but novels, I believe they can open their minds more effectively. Imagining what you read and succeeding in extracting imaginary images with your mind, is a very effective exercise, it makes you receptive.
RH: Would you recommend attending photography workshops?
Embarrassing question, I am busy all year as a teacher of workshops, it might seem that I am bringing water to my mill :) But anyway yes they are very useful, if you choose your teachers with the due attention.
Surely it is better to spend money on workshops and books than on expensive equipment and cameras.
copyright: Salvatore Matarazzo
copyright: Salvatore Matarazzo
copyright: Salvatore Matarazzo
copyright: Salvatore Matarazzo
copyright: Salvatore Matarazzo
copyright: Salvatore Matarazzo
copyright: Salvatore Matarazzo
copyright: Salvatore Matarazzo
copyright: Salvatore Matarazzo
copyright: Salvatore Matarazzo
copyright: Salvatore Matarazzo
An interview with Robert Law
An interview with Robert Law
Copyright Robert Law
RH: Who is Robert Law?
RL: Robert Law is a photographer based in Wales in the UK. He specialises in documentary photography, often with a minimalist slant.
He aims to maintain a cohesive style of observation and picture taking that provides the viewer with a fresh honesty and reality.
Robert is a contributor to the London photo agency, Millennium Images and has been shortlisted for the 2019 British Photography Awards and the ESPY Awards 2019. His work has been featured extensively, including Documenting Britain, Aint-Bad and Professional Photo magazine, amongst many others. Twice exhibited in the Reclaim Photography Festival, his work has also been shown at theprintspace Gallery and Safehouse1 in London, the Brighton Photo Fringe and the Elysium Gallery, Swansea.
Planning
Copyright Robert Law
RH: What attracted and inspired you to your current documentary project?
RL: My current project involves documenting the seaport town of Holyhead, Anglesey. It started off as a curious enquiry into a largely overlooked town 30 minutes away, but also quickly took on a political narrative due to the decision by local voters to leave the EU. This presented a paradox for a port that funnels the majority of goods between the UK and Republic of Ireland and has also been in receipt of generous EU funding for its local projects and infrastructure. Perhaps by honestly observing the town and its people, we can start to decode this paradox.
RH: Can you talk us through the planning stage for your project?
RL: The project has been organic in its execution. No deadline and no specific brief. I do this to challenge myself. Because it’s distant enough not to warrant daily visits, but still close enough to visit during breaks in regular work, wandering the town and looking afresh and recording has produced the content I always enjoy looking for. Opportunities to discover ‘the quirky’ and meet interesting people only come through time put in on the ground. There’s also a challenge in recording the banal, the ubiquitous, pebbledashed housing, for example, and I enjoy that.
RH: Is there anything you wish you had done differently?
RL: Given the amount of time I have and my flexible approach, I have no second thoughts at all. In fact, the further the project progresses, the more potential presents itself. Simple luck and serendipity play a part, especially when meeting people is concerned.
Implementation and Completion
Copyright Robert Law
RH: How have you dealt with any challenges and difficulties within your project?
RL: Portraiture is definitely an aspect that I’ve approached with a little trepidation. As a documentary photographer, I knew it was essential to include people in this project. But by approaching people cheerfully and engaging with them meaningfully, I’ve not only started to overcome this initial fear, but also gained tenfold back in what I’ve learned about my subjects. As far as completion is concerned, my end goal is a solo exhibition and possibly a book. This will involve a massive learning process which I’m looking forward to.
RH: How long do your projects tend to take from start to finish?
RL: My previous projects have been time-limited due to the fact they were taken whilst travelling, sometimes abroad. They also lacked commitment. My current project was a step I wanted to take in my photographic journey and dedicate a least a year before thinking of publishing. It also has the possibility of being on ongoing project for many years.
Editing and Sequencing
Copyright Robert Law
RH: Do have several images to edit of one fleeting moment or do you have one well-constructed precise image that you have captured?
RL: The latter, definitely. I select and compose with attention and care, until I’m satisfied. Typically with a roll of medium format film, I’m aiming to have, say, 8 frames out of 12 suitable for publication. I’m that cautious.
RH: Within the editing stages, have you felt the project has taken on a different narrative than first envisaged?
RL: No, but it has ‘grown’. Taking stock of the content so far may dictate looking for specific content on my next outing, for example, portraits or close-ups/vignettes. Also working mainly analogue lets me reflect on what I’ve taken while I wait for the results.
Tips and hints
Copyright Robert Law
RH: What would you recommend for people starting their own photographic project?
RL: Do what you enjoy. Don’t expect instant results as projects take time. If you can speak to someone who can offer a little mentoring and review your latest work, that’s like pure gold.
RH: Does the camera really matter?
RL: For those that obsess with the ‘tech’ - absolutely not and I wish people could get that on board. Different cameras can affect your workflow and practice, but I can’t stress enough how important it was for me to work in a way that reduced all the technical variables to a minimum. This is the only way as a beginner to produce a cohesive body of work. So keeping it simple by using just one prime lens, using the same film stock and only applying the lightest corrections in Lightroom taught me so much. I now have the discipline to vary if needed. You wouldn’t let a 17 year old new driver loose with a Ferrari, so why a newbie with a pro digital camera and zoom lens? The results are a car crash in both cases. I have images with a premier photo agency shot with a charity shop compact camera and Poundland film. It’s always about the image.
RH: Any books you would recommend reading to get the creativity started?
RL: Personally, ‘The Life of a Photograph’ by Sam Abell of National Geographic taught me a lot. He has an excellent video presentation on YouTube that accompanies it. Books by Chris Killip, William Egglestone and others gave me visual inspiration. ‘On Photography’ by Susan Sontag was just plain hard-going. I would also recommend the podcast ‘A Photographic Life’ by The UN of Photography for raising interesting questions about our practice.
RH: Would you recommend attending photography workshops?
RL: I never have, but would certainly consider. I’m on a massive learning curve and will continue to be on one. And that’s my greatest joy of photography.
Copyright Robert Law
Copyright Robert Law
Copyright Robert Law
RL: LINKS:
Instagram: With The Grain
Facebook: With The Grain
An interview with Andrew Kochanowski
An interview with Andy Kochanowski
copyright-Andy Kochanoski
RH: who is Andy kochanowski?
AK:Andy Kochanowski is a street photographer. His work has been exhibited in both solo and group exhibits since 2007 in Detroit (where he is based), London, Paris, Warsaw, Berlin, New York, Milan, San Francisco and elsewhere. He makes frequent appearances at street photography festivals, and his work has been published in numerous print and web publications.
Planning
RH: What attracted and inspired you to your current documentary project?
AK: I doubt that what I do is documentary, it is my interpretation of what I see. I don’t see a need to tell a story, I see a need to tell MY take on what I see; and what I see is the little slice of rectangle in my viewfinder.
RH: Can you talk us through the planning stage for your project?
AK: I don’t plan much of anything except where to be and to be attentive to what I see. My only desire is to come back with a photo or two that has something interesting in it. I don’t view moody man-on-the street pictures as interesting, by the way.
I shoot for a few months and then look through to see if any patterns, moods, ideas, notions or fancies caught my eye. The current project has chapters called “It’s A Party,” “Unrequitted Love,” “Signs Of The Apocalypse,” and “LA LA LA Land.” I try to see if there are ten to twenty shots that make me happy in each chapter. Then I publish it, show it, stick it on my website, or forget about it.
RH: Is there anything you wish you had done differently?
AK: No, this is the way I work.
copyright-Andy Kochanoski
Implementation and Completion
RH: How have you dealt with any challenges and difficulties within your project?
AK: I view it all as one, shooting, seeing, and later choosing what to show. My biggest issue is always finding enough time to shoot and edit.
RH: How long do your projects tend to take from start to finish?
AK: I never actually finish; then again, since I’m always shooting, I never actually begin.
copyright-Andy Kochanoski
Editing and Sequencing
RH: Do have several images to edit of one fleeting moment or do you have one well-constructed precise image that you have captured?
AK: Well, I don’t really do fleeting moments, one of the things I realized about myself is that I am pretty indecisive if I approach things analytically. I tend to shoot almost unconsciously. Since I use film, I am lucky if I get one shot, much less a series of them. Makes editing easier though.
RH: Within the editing stages, have you felt the project has taken on a different narrative than first envisaged?
AK: As I said earlier, or tried to say earlier, I don’t have a narrative, I find a narrative. I give it a shape by my choice of film and focal length of lenses, but as to subject matter, I will try to place myself in a position where I have a chance to see something that interests me. Once I go through a few dozen or hundred rolls or so, I will see what interested me.
copyright-Andy Kochanoski
Tips and hints
RH: What would you recommend for people starting their own photographic project?
AK: Just this: have some reason to take the photo beyond wanting to get social media approval.
RH: Does the camera really matter?
AK: No. Obsessing about equipment is a mug’s game. Film can give you a good look, that’s why I use it, but I also used and use digital or my phone. It’s mostly all the same.
RH: Any books you would recommend reading to get the creativity started?
AK: Know what went on before you. It helps to put one’s own work in stark and (mostly) unfavorable comparison. My prejudices are to Winogrand but I’m not categorical about it.
RH: Would you recommend attending photography workshops?
AK: Strangely yes, and not just the ones I give. Pick someone whose work you like, and take the opportunity to pick their brains, there is nothing wrong with that. I did workshops with Mary Ellen Mark, Eugene Richardson, and Alex Webb years ago, found them all to be fantastically instructive.
RH: want to findout more vist:
website: www.distreetly.net
Instagram: kochanowski street
copyright-Andy Kochanoski
copyright-Andy Kochanoski
copyright-Andy Kochanoski
copyright-Andy Kochanoski
An interview with Alan Gignoux
An interview with Alan Gignoux
Planning
Gignoux Dinosaur Adventure Park, Clifton Hill,Niagara Falls, Ontario
Copyright - Alan
RH: What attracted and inspired you to your current documentary project?
AG: My current project, Human Accumulations, looks at the long-term effects of exploitation by industry and tourism of Niagara Falls and the surrounding landscape. Once an icon of Nature, the Falls have now become a poster child for environmental pollution and a Rustbelt casualty.
The project was inspired by my ancestor, Regis Gignoux, who was a member of the Hudson River School, a nineteenth century painting movement that celebrates the beauty and majesty of the American landscape . He became well known for his paintings of Niagara Falls, one of which now hangs in the US Capitol.
Working with curator Jenny Christensson, I am developing an exhibition and a photographer’s book.
RH: Can you talk us through the planning stage for your project?
AC: Following thorough research into the Falls from their discovery to the present we decided to make our first of several visits to the area.
We knew that we wanted the story of the Falls today to be told by local people and so we planned several interviews with city officials, business leaders and residents.
As the focus of the visual part of the project is the landscape of Niagara Falls, we researched and identified significant sites and marked them on a map so that we could work efficiently once there.
In the end we made four trips to the Falls, deepening our understanding and building on our archive of stills photography and video material as we went. Working with Chloe Juno we are now editing all our material and working on a book draft and exhibition concept.
RH: Is there anything you wish you had done differently?
AG: Always research the project until you think there is nothing more to research! There is always something new to learn. Also, make sure you narrow down the focus of your project as this will make it stronger.
Implementation and Completion
10th and Ferry Streets, Niagara Falls, New York.
Copyright - alan
RH: How have you dealt with any challenges and difficulties within your project?
AG: One of the greatest challenges with this project has been to communicate a very complicated story and make it interesting and accessible without over-simplifying it. We have spent considerable amounts of time editing and re-editing both the photographic and the video material.
RH: How long do your projects tend to take from start to finish?
AG: We started the project in 2017 and we are still working on it! Who knows when it will end! I worked on a project with the British Council entitled, “Homeland Lost – The Palestinians” from the time I pushed the button on the Hasselblad for the first time to the last exhibition, was a total of six years!
Editing and Sequencing
Ferry Street, Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Copyright - AleanGignoux
RH: Do have several images to edit of one fleeting moment or do you have one well-constructed precise image that you have captured?
AG: I have a mixture of sequence shoots and the one precise image. Usually, the sequence shots are of reportage and the precise images are landscape.
RH: Within the editing stages, have you felt the project has taken on a different narrative than first envisaged?
AG: Yes, I have always found my projects are completely different to what I initially envisioned – which is exciting.
Tips and hints
Hornblower Cruises, Horseshoe Falls, Niagara Falls.
Copyright - Alex Gignoux
RH: What would you recommend for people starting their own photographic project?
AG: If you can make sure you have funding in place; I realise this is not always possible and where necessary I have used income from commissions to cover the costs for my personal projects, but I try to secure as much grant funding as possible up front.
RH: Does the camera really matter?
AG: Of course, today, it is so exciting that there are so many different mediums you can use, from a drone to a mobile phone, but of course the Hasselblad still lives on.
RH: Any books you would recommend reading to get the creativity started?
AG: The Art of Seeing - Berger
RH: Would you recommend attending photography workshops?
AG: Photography, like any other industry is always changing so I would recommend attending workshops to keep up with technology but to also get inspired!
Skylon Tower, Niagara Falls, Ontario
Copyright - Alex Gignoux
If you have an intresting street project or documentary project please leave a comment below
An interview with Yasmin Carter
An interview with Yasmin Carter
Copyright- Megan Bendall
RH: Who is Yasmin Carter?
YC: Yasmin is a young social documentary photographer based in Manchester, UK. Her work primarily focuses on personal narratives and is currently focusing on her ongoing project Stay Strong Our Kid, which documents the survivors of the 2017 Manchester bomb attack so that the history and their stories are not forgotten. She plans to release the project as a book in the future.
Planning
Copyright- Yasmin Carter
RH: What attracted and inspired you to your current documentary project?
YC: There were a few things that made me want to document these incredible people, it’s also a very personal topic for me as I am from Manchester and it is where I grew up. To put it in simply my home had been attacked along with some of my friends who attended the concert, and no one was telling their stories or showing the strength that they demonstrated each day since the attack. Their stories needed to be told and it is now a part of Manchester’s history it’s important that people do not forget.
RH: Can you talk us through the planning stage for your project?
YC: I spent a long time researching before beginning the project and putting things in place for my own mental health so that if I was affected by something, I was told in an interview I would have a support network to fall back on. I then spent a good three or four months building up relationships with each person that agreed to take part in Stay Strong Our Kidbecause before I could even think about taking a photo or talking to them about what they experienced, they had to trust me in order to divulge that kind of personal information. After we had established a good relationship, I spent two months photographing and interviewing each person.
RH: Is there anything you wish you had done differently?
YC: I wish I had spread the shoots over a longer period of time and had taken more breaks.
Implementation and Completion
Copyright- Yasmin Carter
RH: How have you dealt with any challenges and difficulties within your project?
YC: It’s such as sensitive topic, approaching people on social media didn’t work out because people didn’t know me and felt uncomfortable sharing their story with a stranger, which is completely understandable. Almost everyone featured in the project was found through word of mouth. Personally, I received a lot of support from the network I began before the project and had continuous help throughout from my university lecturer Grant Scott.
RH: How long do your projects tend to take from start to finish?
YC: Every personal project I have created so far has taken a minimum of three years to complete, however I plan to finish this project in time for the fifth anniversary of the attack.
Editing and Sequencing
Copyright- Yasmin Carter
RH: Do have several images to edit of one fleeting moment or do you have one well-constructed precise image that you have captured?
YC: For each portrait, I took into consideration the background and where the natural light was and used this information to photograph them where they felt the most comfortable. Alongside their portrait, I photographed their items of memorabilia from the night and included a scan of their written statement of their experience.
RH: Within the editing stages, have you felt the project has taken on a different narrative than first envisaged?
YC: Since the beginning of the project, the overarching narrative has not changed, however the unique accounts of the people involved have created their own individual narratives.
Tips and hints
Copyright- Yasmin Carter
RH: What would you recommend for people starting their own photographic project?
YC: Fully understand what your narrative is and research the topic that you are choosing to photograph. Be empathetic towards the people you shoot and if you are tackling a difficult subject know that it’s ok to take a break and ask for a bit of help. And just get out there and shoot it.
RH: Does the camera really matter?
YC: The subject can dictate what camera you use. But often it doesn’t even matter, it’s all about how you see the world.
RH: Any books you would recommend reading to get the creativity started?
YC: For me, the Harry Potter series and The Lord of the Rings trilogy (and of course, The Hobbit) were staples of my childhood, and books that sparked my imagination. In terms of Photobooks, I would recommend Jim Mortram’sSmall Town Inertia and once it’s completed, Stay Strong Our Kid. But overall, my advice would be; read what your passionate about.
RH: Would you recommend attending photography workshops?
I personally, have never been to a workshop because I have been fortunate to be able to learn about photography during my college and university education. But, for those interested in studying it, I would definitely recommend the Editorial and Advertising Photography course at the University of Gloucestershire.
RH: If you want to see more of Yasmins work vist
instergram https://www.instagram.com/y.a.carter/
website https://www.yasmincarter.com
Copyright- Yasmin Carter
Copyright- Yasmin Carter
If you have an instresting Street Project or Documentary project please leave a comment