Travel & Humanitarian Photos
The nice people at Prestige Magazine have published an article in this month’s edition featuring a day on one of my Bangkok Photography Workshops. Writer Debbie Oakes tells of her search for a more memorable and unique travel souvenir than the typical “sculpted tin-can tuk-tuks or eau de toilette hand-carved soaps“.
She introduces her quest, rather eloquently, “What better souvenir gift to present yourself (or another) than one that not only allows you to beautifully and creatively encapsulate the sensations, colour and flavour of your holiday, but with images that ooze professionalism rather than point-and-shoot flair?”. I couldn’t agree more heartily.
You’ll find a few extracts from the article, which I am, in truly unbiased fashion, moved to describe as a triumph in contemporary travel journalism.
What? Too overboard?
If you’d like to read the article in full, and you really should, then you’ll need to buy a copy of the impressively glossy Prestige magazine, which you can then leave on your coffee table in order to impress your friends and family, who will be left in no doubt as to your undeniable sense of style, panache and élan.
“My quest was to find a souvenir that was truly unique. And, like any worthy quest, the path was as enlightening as the end result. I met an amazing man on my journey, who not only un-blinkered my eyes, but also opened my mind to appreciate the treasures that were already around me… I had a little background in photography, but wanted to really up-the-ante and take shots worthy enough to be called art, to hang on a wall, and why not, be in a magazine. This is why I met Gavin Gough, a Bangkok based travel photographer, who loves to teach. When he is not busy producing photographs for Getty and Lonely Planet, or on assignment for National Geographic, Vogue, or The New York Times, he teaches people like me how to take travel photographs. And so it was that I found my unique souvenir and with a little help from Gavin, I made it myself…”
“…Upon arrival, Gavin surprises me by saying, ‘Put your camera away’ (Am I on the right programme?). ‘If photography is about communicating an experience, and it is, then you need to have the experience in the first place!’. He encourages me to decide what I want to convey in my own images. He tells me to stop for a few moments and to really see and feel. ‘Many people make the mistake of trying to emulate travel brochure images rather than taking pictures that reflect their own experience in an effort to get ‘the shot’ rather than to document their own journey’, he says, ‘this is about your experiences, not what you think someone else will want to see’… ‘With this kind of focus, it is possible to create images that convey so much more than the usual tourist point-and-shoot photographs. Take your time and give it some thought’…
…It’s important to understand that for all the dials and buttons and the apparent sophistication of today’s super-duper cameras, they have essentially remained unchanged for decades. Cameras try to achieve an average exposure and an average colour balance. Without our intervention, a camera will try to make a golden Buddha statue look grey and uninteresting… we need to understand how the camera is working, appreciate its limitations and then take control’…
…’my advice is to put the camera away. Taking a photograph of a street trader, market vendor or passer-by should be the inevitable consequence of a memorable interaction. The photograph should be something that we want to keep as a memento of that interaction even if it is no more than a simple, ‘Hello, how are you?’ After the interaction and after a relationship has developed is when the camera can appear and when photographer and subject will feel as if they are collaborating to record a moment in time’. Gavin encourages me to think about the vocabulary we use: we ‘take’ pictures, ‘grab’ shots and ‘capture’ images, ‘If this is your approach,’ he counsels, ‘then it is inevitable that you will feel uncomfortable with what you are doing because it is the result of a one-sided transaction. Make your photography a mutually beneficial exchange and everyone will feel better for the experience. Share your photos, even if you’re only showing the LCD screen image in your camera. Not only will you be treating others with respect, you will be paving the way for photographers who follow after you have left’…
Before I head home, Gavin gives me some parting words of wisdom. ‘When you are ready to venture out alone, have structure. Don’t photograph randomly, make a list of what you want to shoot and enjoy the liberating feeling of not having to shoot everything. With a list like this, you will be prompted to move around more, change your perspective and alter your focal length. The variety of images available to you when you return home will be much more satisfying!’ Gavin laughs, “And your friends won’t yawn during your slide shows quite as often’.”
Later in the week, I’ll be posting details of the workshops that I’m either leading or co-leading in 2012. Next year’s workshops include locations as engagingly diverse as Cambodia, Bhutan, the Malaysian Thaipusam festival, Nepal and others. I’ll also be extending the curriculum of the Bangkok Photo School classes to include a Multimedia Storytelling Weekend Workshop, an Advanced Post-Production (or “Lightroom Magic”) workshop and a rather jolly, joint Writer’s and Photographer’s Retreat in beautiful Bali.
More details to follow. Watch this space. Or, better still, sign-up for my all-too-rare but rather splendid e-mail newsletters.
Gavin, a brilliant post…and great editorial.
’….my advice is to put the camera away. Taking a photograph of a street trader, market vendor or passer-by should be the inevitable consequence of a memorable interaction. The photograph should be something that we want to keep as a memento of that interaction even if it is no more than a simple, ‘Hello, how are you?’ After the interaction and after a relationship has developed is when the camera can appear and when photographer and subject will feel as if they are collaborating to record a moment in time’.
How true….I am going to try it right away. Street photography at times is intimidating purely because I looked at it as a one way transaction. Thanks a lot!