Some Great Advice

I was met with a reply by a photographer who I had hoped to interview and though he didn't have time for an interview he did have some spare time to share some good tips on how to be successful when it came to photography.

A direct quote from the email sent by Daniel Allan,commercial and still life photographer.

" Everything is so subjective , but three bits advice I will give you .

 Just take pictures all the time. (most important)

Try and work with someone half decent, in the field that you want to pursue.

Lean ALL the camera softwares."

Be Personable and  persistent

Please visit Daniel's website and look at his work,it's great if you want to be a still life photographer.
http://www.danielallan.com/

Robert Capa

 "If your photo's aren't good enough,you're not close enough"
                                                                    
                                                                          -   Robert Capa


Robert Capa is a photographer I have always admired since seeing his work in an old and tatty photography book hidden behind a stack of artwork at my school.
         The book which focused on his images of the Second World War has falling apart but the images were as clear as day and as I picked them off from the floor I couldn't help but study them.
         Interested in the history of the Second World War I decided to do some research and was led to Magnum Photography where there was much more of Capa's work. I discovered about Capa's history and the conflict's he had been a part of and documented,I also learnt about his death and the quotation he is so famous for saying. 
       Seemingly drawn to conflict Robert Capa never seemed to let anything stand in his way,no matter how hard the fighting or the danger he threw himself in with the soldiers and was respected for it. This is one of the reasons why Capa is such an inspiration to me.
     He was afraid,this he has admitted time and time again in his books but still he went for it. On the Front lines,in the trenches,parachuting over France. Capa did it all and more and while doing it all he managed to capture some amazing images along the way.

 (On The Road to Messina,1943)

One such image is this one,the German prisoner of War. His face can tell you more than any history book. The strain around his eyes, the detached look,the stubble and dirt mixed together,the tatty uniform. All draw you to one conclusion,that whatever that one man has witnessed he never wants to experience it again. His facial features show that war is the worst creation of man.
       What i also find so intriguing about this image is not the questions it answers but the ones that it does not. I have looked and never have I found what happened to the prisoner, I want to know and yet feel i should draw my own conclusion. He has no name to me,just the prisoner. His life,it could be over now,it could have ended moments after the image was taken. Perhaps he escaped, it's something I will likely never know but it is an excellent image nontheless..


                                                                           

The Ghost

 

Photography at A level was a great experience for me,it was a time where i could relate my interests in photography with those who felt the same way and with those who of course did not.
       The two years I spent studying photography at A level were not about the technicalities but rather the image itself,i grew to understand the importance of composition and subject. This placed me down a road which I have never derailed from.

       For my A Level exam we were tasked with basing an entire project around one word and the word that i chose was illusion, an idea quickly came to me. The greatest illusion is the one not seen and how better to be unseen than to hide behind a mask.
       Yes, I based my entire project around masks,masks ranging from old military gas masks to carnival props. It was a project that let me explore the strange and unusual, I pushed myself to see what i could with a simple bland mask and with the use of some lights and a novice skill of photoshop i managed to create the image above.
      It's nothing special now that I look back at it but then......it meant a lot. I had managed to take what I thought was a striking image,something that caught the eye. It made me want to do more,it was the final decision to pursue a career in photography,to always strive to create that perfect image. Two years later and nothing's changed.....

Why Photography?

As I turned 17 I was faced with the situation of what to do with my life. One year of A Levels had shown me what to expect of the next stage of education and it worried me. I never believed myself to be creative so picked the more written based courses such as history and Psychology and after a year of these i needed something else....something fun.


I was faced with theater studies or Photography and the popularity of theater studies meant i was placed in photography, a choice ultimately made for me. Placed in a class filled with people i had never met i wondered what would happen. My teacher i had met years ago and doubted he would remember the quiet child who sat at the back and listened in silence,i was wrong. He did indeed remember me and it was a boost to my confidence.

Our first photography lesson was something of an eye opener,five minutes in we were asked "What is photography to you?". I looked at those around me and listened at their ideas,some had experience with photography many like myself were as green as they came. All the answers were different and when it finally came to my turn all i could say was that photography was a way of remembering,a way to show the world to others.

 The lessons seemed to pass quickly after that and over the course of the first year i found myself growing to like the course more and more and then one day everything seemed to fall into place. I made the decision to buy a professional camera and for a full two weeks I went and photographed whatever caught my eyes. It was an amazing experience and put me on the tracks of what i hope to be a long and prosperous career in photography.

Since my first official year studying Photography my skills have increased ten fold,i know things now that i never knew existed or believed i could ever know. I realize now that i am creative,Photography is something I enjoy, it's a challenge and it is always rewarding. I hope to learn much more in the coming years.