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Pascal Baetens
Summary:
In this FotoTV autobiography film, Belgian photographer Pascal Baetens gives viewers a special look at his work and heartfelt thoughts about his subjects and methods to his work.
Baetens loves being a photographer it was his dream and now is his passion. He has worn glasses since he was three years old so he always had a special thought and connection to vision and how it affected the way he sees things. Further learning in boarding school taught him to dream, something very useful as a photographer. After taking courses in University studies he set out to become a photographer. Not to makes lots of money but to share his ideas and perspectives with others. He put his heart into becoming a photographer along with a good portion of hard work.
Baetens tells compassionate stories and shares examples of his work where he chooses to photograph humble people instead of showing just a pretty body in his nude work. All his photography has a story to tell a background of deep reflection and real people who pose as his subjects. For example he tells of one of his subjects, Clair, whom he photographed only after visiting a psychiatrist because he didn't want to demoralize his subject. He consulted with the doctor to learn of the special needs and particulars pertaining to his model who had a wrenching story to tell of her tattoo that he photographed on her nude body.
He continually searches for meaning behind his work and what he shares with the world and he searches for riveting ways to communicate his photography as a healing effect and to tell stories of real people going through a difficult time or who have faced other hardships. Baetens further discusses his photography books as a means to express himself and to capture attention.
The Nightmares of Stefan Gesell
Summary:
Talk about your bad dreams? Stefan Gesell is a photo artist whose pictures seem to come from the subconcious.
On his night table you'll find a pad and pencil so if he should awake he can quickly record his visions. These vision will be realized later on the studio set and in Photoshop as a means of working through his visions.
These disturbing nighmarish works are reminiscent of the work of H.R. Giger as might be seen in on of his sets for the Alien quadrilogy. As a balance to this somewhat dark aspect of his work is his work in Glamour and Fashion photography.
We met up recently with Stefan Gesell and here he shares with us a look into his soul as well as his fascinating work.
Gerd Ludwig II
Summary:
Gerd Ludwig I
Summary:
Renowned documentary photographer Gerd Ludwig was in Zingst. We had a chance to talk to him about his craft and his current Exhibition: Peace on Earth and Earth to Pieces.
We get some insight to his attraction and affinity for Russia, and his long association with Chernobyl.
Growing up in post-war Germany, Gerd first learned of Russia through the stories of his father's experiences there. He explains here the journey to be able to see Russia in the social critical eye-of-the-camera. He briefly mentions a current work in progress "Russia Never Sleeps" and his search for a publisher.
In a nod to young photographers, he talks about how he came to work for National Geographic, and their preference for photographers which have a relationship to the subject.
In a second part he discusses some of the specific photos from the exhibition.
Jean-François Bauret
Summary:
Taking pictures since the early age of twelve, photographer, Jean-Francois Bauret has had a long and stellar career. In this film he sits down for an informative interview with FotoTV to discuss his work and experiences behind the camera.
Bauret shows a stunning collection of timeless images, which capture the emotions, despair and thoughtfulness of his subjects in relation to posing in front of the camera. He was always intrigued with women he found mysterious and for him photography always meant an opportunity for him to connect to people it the most personal of ways. Bauret divulges, “I would like to photograph you nude, does not sound offensive, but saying, I would like to see you nude.--that’s sounds very rude”, he says.
Although Bauret never bothered thinking about what people would say or think about his photography, many of his photos were considered unacceptable, shocking and even scandalous at the time they were produced. However, today his photos are iconic works of art, even some of the more contemporary photographers such as Annie Leibowitz have enjoyed being inspired by some of his famous images, like that of a pregnant woman he photographed in the 60’s, earning him a name as one of the first photographers to do so.
Bauret’s approach to photographing his models is not a studied trick or unique ingredient. On the contrary, he prefers not to direct his subjects, leaving them ample freedom to be themselves and authentic before the camera.
Elliott Erwitt and Marc Riboud
Summary:
Eavesdrop here on two of the twentieth century's top photojournalists sitting on a sofa and chilling out. Elliott Erwitt, three times president of the illustrious photo-agency Magnum, and Marc Riboud, whose startling and captivating images put him in a class with Cartier-Bresson. Like Bresson, both men were born in France. Unlike Bresson, however, both are inveterate globetrotters. Asked about their attitudes to travelling, Riboud says, "I don't travel for the sake of travelling, I like surprises." And Erwitt, too, thinks that travelling is not necessary, but has its merits. It cuts you off from routine so that you can get 'fresh meat'. And it's fun!
Both professional veterans went to places that most people did not, or could not go to. In the 1950s and 1960s Erwitt photographed in the communist block countries of Eastern Europe. He was sent there on assignments, which he enjoyed. "Assignments take you to places you can't afford to go", he says, with a twinkle in his eye. Riboud works quite differently. He just goes off to somewhere that interests him, then comes back and tries to sell his photographs through agencies. Many of his trips were to Asia, including North Vietnam during the war there. He likes travelling alone: "In groups, people talk a lot. I don't think you can travel and speak at the same time!" And he likes exploring on foot ("Walking with your feet, you discover much more.").
The interview is richly illustrated with some of the best and most well known images of these two experienced and skilful photographers. And it is seasoned with their refreshing, good-humoured and insightful comments. What is the most difficult thing to photograph? What did Picasso say about that? What do Africans say about foreign visitors? How do you know when you've made a good photo?
More of Elliott Erwitt's work can be seen on his website, which bears the typically subtle and understated subtitle, 'for life-like snaps'.
The FotoTV interview with Marc Riboud alone is well worth watching too. His motto is, "Talk less and look more."
Ed Kashi
Summary:
Ed Kashi is charismatic proponent of photojournalism. In this FotoTV video he is spell-bindingly direct and passionate about his work. For him it all began as a teenager wanting to tell stories, and then going to college to learn to be a writer. In the freshman year the students had to make photographs too. And the young Kashi had never done this before. So he borrowed money from his family and rented a Ricoh. That was the beginning of a switch from words to pictures.
That’s why he calls himself a visual storyteller and why he’s been telling stories now from all over the world for over thirty years.
His motivation is a compassionate and engaged interest in social and political themes. His general approach is to choose an issue and work on it in depth. And by ‘in depth’ we’re not talking about days, weeks or months: We’re talking about five years working in the Niger Delta on oil, development and militancy, about eight years on aging in America.
His first significant project was on the protestant community in Northern Ireland. The resulting images appearing in a small, self-published book. This led to his working in 1991 for the National Geographic Magazine. A 26-week contract covering the Kurds was followed by a project on the Jewish settlers on the West Bank.
This project, however, was brought to a sudden end by the then rapidly expanding Internet. It never occurred to Kashi, and probably to most other photojournalists at that time, that the subjects of their work would actually see and read about themselves. In this very early case it was the words accompanying the images on the Internet that caused consternation amongst the settler community. They told to get out!
Beginning in 1995 Ed realized that he wanted to look at his own culture in America. He chose an issue that will increasingly affect all western cultures, at many levels, and for the coming twenty to thirty years: Aging - a demographic shift of gigantic proportions. Many older people will remain fit and full of life. But many will be poor, depressed and lonely. We will need massive number of caregivers, not only health specialists but also simple companions and helpers. Kashi’s involvement here is almost tangible; it shines through what he says and in some of his most moving images.
Moving images, this time in the literal sense of video, is another subject on which Kashi has interesting things to say. While he uses video himself, he makes an impassioned plea for the value of still photography. “Moving images wash over you – they are passive. They don’t require much of the viewer. A still photograph requires the viewer to work, to look carefully. You need to look for detail. You need to analyse. You need to read some kind of contextual information to understand what is going on. It demands that you think. It’s almost meditative.”
In 2009 Ed Kashi published ‘Three’, a book of trypticons. It was a dramatic departure from photojournalism. Perhaps inspired by the multiple screens common in multimedia events, the photographs in each set of three may come from entirely different places and siituation, but they share something that makes a new statement, gives a new insight.
Despite the shrinkage of printed ‘real estate’ for visual storytelling, photojournalism, according to Ed Kashi, is more alive and vibrant in all corners of the globe than ever before. He is full of encouragement for young photographers. Their work appears mostly online: “It’s just that we haven’t yet figured out a way to make a living out of this!”
Ed’s philosophy, and the message of this video is that ultimately, to make good photographs you have to tap into your creative soul, into your passions. Know what is it you want to do with your work. The camera is only a tool.
Steve McCurry
Summary:
Photographer, Steve McCurry might be most famous for his mysterious and arrestingly beautiful photograph, "The Afghan Girl", but his entire collection of work is so much profound.
In this interview McCurry reflects on his photography and speaks with FotoTV about his unique experiences and stories behind his iconic work. McCurry’s first trip abroad as a photographer was to India. Shortly after he took a trip to Afghanistan during the early days of insurgency and revolution, which was the turning point of his career. Always fascinated with meeting new people and discovering new countries and cultures, McCurry began to pitch his own ideas for stories to magazine editors. Those ideas were always simple, to take meaningful photos of situations and things that were moving and inspiring, merely his response to the world surrounding him. Human behavior seems to be the element always present in McCurry’s images, the human face and its expressions and how people differ from culture to culture.
Currently working on a long-term project on Buddhism, he travels back to India at least once a year to visit the country and people he has come to love and understand, each time discovering something unknown and cherishing every moment of new experience. Throughout his career he has collected a vast amount of vivid portraits and photographs reflecting the daily lives of people and their cultures around the world and assembled them in a book project entitled "Portraits". With so much success and international accolades he remains humble and grateful to be able to share his work with people, and to be aware of what it means to live on this planet.
Nadav Kander 2
Summary:
Photographer Nadav Kander sits down for this second interview with FotoTV to share some of his work and stories surrounding his stint of photographing in the USA, while showcasing sleek images of individuals of political power he has had the honor of photographing, including President Obama. Kander is a quiet photographer who shoots based on creating accurate portrayals instead of ingratiating Hollywood style imagery.
Kander discusses his approach to lighting and how he captures the slight nuances of the individual and it is that of a contemporary almost "non-lighting" style. His lighting effects are not liken to Irving Penn or Albert Watson, but bear the his signature of unique, individualistic style frozen in time. It was his recent works of American landscapes that gave him time to reflect on "God's Country" as he puts it. He views America as a religious country, which possibly explains his ethereal collection, "Color Fields" a photographic work of simple tonality and atmosphere and unnatural landscapes.
His work is harmonious and credible alone due to what the viewer feels when they see his images as opposed to a intentional statement that could possibly influence others thoughts about his work. His approach is always simple; look, feel and photograph. It is a humble way of thinking for such incredibly precise and insightful imagery. His photography is unpretentious yet stark in reality, mood and exactness.
Nadav Kander 1
Summary:
Photographer Nadav Kander sits down in this interview with FotoTV to share some of his work and stories surrounding the start of his career, while showcasing sleek images of the iconic artists and personalities he has had the honor of photographing. Kander is a no-frills photographer who shoots based on his feelings as opposed to idealistic thoughts. People react differently, though often to the same thing and that is a fact that Kander takes into consideration when photographing, always trying to maintain that level of connection to his viewers.
After serving in the military in South Africa, Kander left the troubled land of Apartheid for the opportunity to work as a photographer in an environment free of aggression, hatred and exclusion, a move that would prove very fruitful for his uncomplicated and honest rationality. Devoting four years as a photographer's assistant in London gave him the necessary skills and confidence to branch out for himself with the immediate purpose to take on projects as a successful commercial photographer.
When it comes to taking photographs Kander does not consciously formulate ideas, as an artist would paint a prepared picture, rather he disconnects himself entirely from the thought process and focuses more on his inner feeling--his true desire for visual satisfaction. Notably it is the sense of sentiment and melancholy of his subjects, which he finds a vibrant and interesting appeal for his motifs. Never being one for many words, Kander does not do well to describe his work in an elaborate sense. His work is harmonious and credible alone due to what the viewer feels when they see his images as opposed to a intentional statement that could possibly influence others thoughts about his work. His approach is always simple; look, feel and photograph. It is a humble way of thinking for such incredibly precise and insightful imagery. His photography is unpretentious yet stark in reality, mood and exactness.