Climate Change Is A Photography Issue

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It's no secret that most of humanity is doing great efforts to tackle climate change. Whether you believe that there is a climate emergency or not, you can't deny that over the last few years the majority of countries in the world have made it a priority to counteract global warming. And we have reached a point where, if you don't see the problem you are most likely part of the problem. During the event that I hosted last month for LGBT History Month on Queer Identity, Meghana Duggirala introduced me to a speech given by Audre Lorde in the early '80s where she said: "There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives." As a photographer and a visual artist who explores Human Rights, Mental Health and National identity, Lorde's words resonated in my mind.

I've written in the past about the complexity of my identity, of anyone's identity for that matter. Sometimes, the people who commission photographers want to hire someone who does just one thing and does it very well. But, that description doesn't fit me. I do many things. Many very different things. And I don't know if I'm any good at any of them, but I do know that I'm very passionate about the things that I strongly believe in.

One of my main concerns over the last few years has been how my practice impacts the environment. I use my blog to tell my readers the different ways in which I'm exploring my place in the climate change crisis and the actions that I'm taking every day to counteract the contributions that my business has to global warming.

But when you speak about photography, particularly coming from someone who works in fashion, not many people understand the connection of my work with the issues that I care for. To some people, I don't look, act or talk like a fashion photographer because I speak out, write and care about the current issues that affect humanity. But, the truth is that the issues affecting humanity, especially those affecting the environment, affect the fashion photography industry as much as they affect the rest of the world. So, why should I deny my place in the problem and my possible contribution to a solution?

Climate change is a photography issue: I've written extensively about the relationship between photography and the environment. How the digital equipment that we use contributes to waste, how the storage of digital images contributes to deforestation and global warming, and how we need to reconsider bringing new creations into an already saturated planet. But one thing that I haven't written about is how climate change affects the photography industry and why every single photographer should be more concerned.

At its most basic level, climate change is a human issue. The devastating effects that global warming has on humanity are covered in the news every day. Photographers are humans, so anything that has a negative impact on humanity also has a negative impact on photographers. If this argument doesn't convince you, think about all the ways in which your business depend on humans.

Climate change also has a direct impact on the economy. If your clients, who are humans or companies run by humans, are affected by an environmental issue they won't be able to commission your work. If your suppliers and those who manufacture your equipment are affected by climate change or scarcity of the materials used to produce the tools you use, the prices of the services you pay for or the equipment that you buy will become more expensive. These two factors can put us out of business. If you want to have a glimpse into what this might look like, just think about the repercussions that the Covid-19 pandemic has had in our industry.

For anyone living and breathing in this day and age, there doesn't need to be a specific reason to realise how important it is that we all do what we possibly can to counteract climate change. If you are not sure of what you or your business can do to contribute to the environment, the UN has created The Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World to give you some ideas. If you need more information below are some of the posts in my blog where I have spoken about sustainability in our industry.

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Making This A Better World: A Work In Progress

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These days, there is a collective need to be good for the world. Society wants us to be greener, to be ethical and to have a purpose. Many businesses, especially bigger brands, have successfully aligned their mission with this new collective social conscious. They are working hard towards using 100% green materials, producing with 100% sustainable suppliers, or becoming 100% ethical. But for smaller businesses, particularly creative entrepreneurs, the idea of having to adapt their business to become 100% good for the world can be daunting. Where does one start?

Achieving 100% of anything might not be realistic. Being 100% of something implies that we are done, that we have reached the end of our efforts, and that there is nothing else left to do. But, the reality is that just our mere existence as a business and as a human being has an impact on the planet. To be 100% green and have zero impact in the world we would have to stop existing altogether.

A better approach to sustainability and ethical practices would be to become a work in progress. When you are a work in progress, it means that you are constantly assessing your business and your processes to improve them. It means that you know that your efforts to be better for the planet and for society are never over. And, if you look at it this way, it becomes easier to start slowly and apply changes as you go where you see that they are needed.

To start running a more sustainable and ethical practice, you could start by identifying where improvements can be made. Then, you make a plan of how you are going to apply those changes.

For instance, our photography businesses run on electronic equipment. This equipment has a limited lifespan. Even if we tried to get our money’s worth, we would still have to replace our cameras, computers and phones every 5 years because, otherwise, they become obsolete. Our equipment also uses batteries and, nowadays, most of these batteries have a lifespan of 3 years.

A simple step towards becoming greener could be buying products that will last longer. Equipment that will not force you to replace it too often. If you have to change it, try to repurpose the old one. Use it as a backup, sell it on the second-hand market, or find ways to reuse its individual parts.

Buy from suppliers and manufacturers that are environmentally conscious, those who use less packaging material, and those who have strict environmental policies in place. Try implementing other actions like remembering to turn off electrical equipment when not in use, or buying rechargeable batteries whenever possible.

When it comes to ethical practices, asking yourself a few questions might help. Are your suppliers running businesses with ethical policies in place? Are you paying your collaborators fairly? Are you championing diversity and inclusion in your projects? Do your clients align with your ethos? Is there something else that you could do to have a positive impact on your community?

Contact your current suppliers and ask them about their ethical and equality policies. Find out if you are paying your collaborators a fair living wage. Make a list of those clients who no longer align with your ethos and think of how you can get more like-minded clients and reduce your dependency from the ones who are not. Pay attention to pressing issues in your area and think of ways in which your business can contribute to improving your community.

The unexamined practice is not worth running. We should make the effort to be in a state of constant work in progress, of constant self-improvement. As businesses, our goal is to make a profit. But, in order to make a profit, we need clients who are part of healthy economies and stable communities. If we want to guarantee those conditions, we must make it part of our core mission to benefit and improve the world.

Photo credit: portrait by Ivan Weiss.

A World That Others Can't See... with Jonathan Stokes

Our role as photographers is to capture a world that others can't see, and in this process, we leave a little bit of us in every photo that we take. In a way, every single one of our photographs is also a portrait of ourselves.

In this series, A World That Others Can't See, I ask fellow photographers to talk about an image from their portfolios in order to discover the stories behind their work and to learn about the person behind the lens.

For the eleventh post of the series, travel, lifestyle and interiors photographer Jonathan Stokes talks about a candid shot that he took at the Bar Las Teresas in Seville while on assignment for the Sunday Times Travel Magazine.

Jon says: "I took this photograph while working on an editorial assignment with Sunday Times Travel Magazine. It is a candid shot of a bar scene in the old town of Seville, Spain, taken in the late afternoon. The image shows 3 men sat at a small table in animated conversation, among a cluttered interior of old posters and paintings, plates and baskets for food, and a row of hanging cured jamón meat above the counter. The scene was very fortuitous, all the elements came together. The men in the bar seemed oblivious to me which kept the shot candid and not staged; I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

This is a personal favourite shot of mine for a variety of reasons and remains featured in my printed portfolio alongside newer work as it serves as a sort-of anchor, combining different features I love in photography. It’s a very cinematic shot with an unknown narrative which invites some imagination. Who are the men, and why are they there? Are they friends? Are they debating, arguing, sharing news, talking politics? I like how it feels like a modern scene, set in a traditional bar that probably hasn’t changed much over the years, which has seen countless meetings of the kind in this picture. I caught the moment the man in the middle is turning his head between the other two, the imperfection of the motion blur adding the feeling that the conversation is not a simple chat.

Bar Las Teresas, Seville @ Jonathan Stoke

There is a beautiful balance of light, with the men lit by the soft daylight coming from the window they were sat by, while the interior of the bar is a much murkier, gloomy artificial light. This contrast really makes the atmosphere of the shot to me; the people are bright and new and temporary, and the bar is old and established. I love taking what I refer to as ‘big pictures’ with lots of detail, textures and depth (as well presenting them as big too) which the viewers can immerse into. This image really demonstrates that with all the hanging jambons, the pictures on the wall and old tiles serving as background to the scene of the men meeting.

The image was used in the feature in the magazine, a food story on a tapas tour around Seville. Behind the camera was just me, and my guide who had taken me to the bar as they had (rightly) recommended it would be great for pictures. Usually, I shoot handheld in situations like this to keep things quite natural and loose, but as it was quite dark in the bar I used a tripod, so I was pleased it didn’t change the dynamic inside. This was shot on the Nikon D800 which was a real workhorse camera for me, I loved the results and used it for countless shoots before retiring when I upgraded (and after over 200,000 frames …)."

Thank you so much, Jon, I really enjoyed hearing about the story behind your image and learning a bit more about how you see life through your lens.

You can learn more about Jon's work on www.jonathanstokesphotography.com

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If you haven’t read the previous posts of this series, you can check the whole series here.

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I Have Been Awarded SILVER in the AOP Photography Awards 2020

I still have no words to describe how honoured I am to have been awarded Silver in the AOP Photography Awards 2020 in the Fashion and Beauty category. The category was judged by Nick Knight – Photographer, Director and Founder of SHOWStudios. The AOP Awards are a celebration of the best from image-makers working professionally in the commercial, fine art and creative sectors.

The awarded image was part of my series Spring Cleaning. It depicts a juxtaposition of fashionable and extremely ordinary. I've been interested in the influencer culture for some time now, and how they present their lives as being above the ordinary. Behind all those glamorous images on their social media, influencers are just regular people like the rest of us. But we perceive their lives as aspirational and unattainable, and that has a toll on our self-image and our mental health.

The creative team that worked with me on this shoot were stylist Patricia Machado Medici, hair and makeup artist Rachel Williamson and model Tamara Long from Models1. The winning image is as much mine as it is theirs.

Back in April, I was interviewed by The Trampery when I learnt that I had been selected as a finalist in this category. You can watch the interview on this link.

The awarded images were featured by The Guardian who called us head-spinning talent. Read the feature here.

The results of the competition have also been featured by BBC news on their website where they said that they found the images striking. You can see the feature on this link.

The Association of Photographers - AOP - is the leading body representing photographers in the UK. They have been running the AOP Awards for almost 15 years.

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I Wish I Had Known... About Making A Photobook!

This is the Twentieth post in my series of posts where I speak with people in the creative industries and ask them questions about the things that “I Wish I Had Known” when I started out as a creative myself.

This week I have a lovely chat with Yan Wang Preston, an artist exploring the poetry and politics of nature and landscapes. We spoke about her photobook Forest and the 7-year long project that resulted in this fascinating photographic work:

1. Forest is a beautiful project that addresses issues such as the environmental impact of massification in the housing construction industry in China and the contradictions of their ecology recovery programmes. You do so brilliantly, using images that look both like Tableaux Vivant and Nature Mort at the same time. What came first, the story or the image?

Well, ideally the stories and images should always come together. But in reality, they often don’t. So for me, there is always a balancing act. Some of the ‘balancing’ happens during the shooting: some scenes are simply not photographed because they don’t work visually, even if they tell brilliant stories.

Some happen during the editing. A photograph might be visually very strong and telling a great story. But it may not work with other images or their colour palette. But overall the story is very important to me. I wouldn’t like to dwell on the images too much without the story, that is too self-indulgent.

2. You began your story with a tree that you named Frank. Throughout the project, you followed Frank’s journey from the place where it stood for 300 years to its new location on the other side of the country. Did you ever think that Frank’s journey would take you on a 7-year journey of your own that would culminate on having your project printed on a book?

No, at all. The story only came together after my third visit. But I always knew the significance of Frank’s story, ever since I met it for the first time.

3. Forest tells us the story of trees that are removed from their millenary locations and are taken far-away where they will be replanted to become part of the man-made landscapes of new housing developments for wealthy people. But, it is also a commentary on the incongruences of the ecology recovery programmes that are put in practice to repurpose disused quarries and the economic impact that these new man-made landscapes have over the local authorities. With such an ambitious scope, how do you know when the project is finished and it’s ready for exhibition and print?

Ha! Well, the project could have just gone on and on. In fact, I have already been back to China and photographed the re-purposed disused quarries again. But there was a moment when I felt that the one stage of the stories could be told sufficiently. And that’s when the book and shows came out. It’s actually really important to have these ‘endings’, even if they only serve as a new beginning.

4. You and I met back in 2018 during a portfolio review event. We sat next to each other in the waiting area and we shared our experiences thus far with the different reviewers. It turned out that we both had our portfolios reviewed by the same person and that person told both of us something very similar: that our work was soulless and lacked personality. But, judging by the international success that your project Forest has had, that reviewer was completely wrong. How much do you think artists should let their work be influenced by the reviewers during these portfolio reviews?

Yes, I do remember our bitter portfolio reviews experience. I have done a few reviews and in general, I think that you should work with people who appreciate your work. It’s a waste of your time trying to persuade people who don’t like your work. And you know, people have opinions and we can’t have all of them to like our work. So be strong and be persistent. Above all, believe in yourself.

5. Did you plan for the project to end up in a photobook or was it something that happened organically? Looking back, would you have made different decisions when you started photographing the project had you known from the beginning that it would end up in a book?

Forest ended up being a book organically. At first, I was just responding to what I saw and felt. But after some time, I began to ask what platform would be the best to tell these stories. I’m a huge fan of photobooks, which I learn most of my photography from. Photobooks can’t satisfy everything, but it can serve as the central storyline.

6. What was the most challenging part of the photobook-making process?

It’s to give up some of your favourite pictures because they don’t fit.

7. The book is beautifully printed and the images look like fine art prints stitched together in a book. How involved were you in deciding the design and the quality of the materials?

I’m involved in every stage of the book, from photographing, to editing pictures, to sequencing, to designing the layout, choosing materials, proofreading, and to overseeing the printing in the factory.

I’ve heard that some photographers would give the editors a bunch of photographs to make the sequence and design. I don’t work like that. Of course, I share ideas and take into suggestions. But essentially it’s my work, so I have to be responsible for it.

8. For someone thinking about making a photobook of their project and who is struggling with all the decisions such as crowdfunding vs self-funding, the number of images, the sequencing, printers selection, number of books to print, size and dimensions, number of pages, or shipping, where can they find help? How did you answer these questions yourself?

I suppose that trying to imagine a book and to make a dummy would be the first step. After that, you’ll know the story of the book, the potential audiences, the budget and the publisher. Then you can work out how to fundraise. And of course, talk to people who have done books for real advice.

9. Do you have any additional advice for those thinking about starting a project and making a photobook?

Stop thinking and start making.

10. Forest has been exhibited all over the world over the last few years and I can’t help but look at you and your work in awe. What other projects are you working on at the moment?

I am exploring the ideas around invasive species, the politics of ecology and conversation, and the notions of national landscapes. Basically, I go to a lot of my local areas in West Yorkshire and Lancashire, to study the post-industrial landscapes occupied by a cosmopolitan ecology.

I also talk to lots of people, particularly ‘foreigners’ like myself, in order to get a different set of perspectives on a lot of things, such as belonging, national identity and migration. I’m also beginning to collaborate with musicians and ecologists.

Yan, I can't thank you enough for taking the time to answer my questions and for sharing with me what making a photobook entails. It’s everything that I Wish I Had Known!

You can learn more about Yan Wang Preston's work at yanwangpreston.com or on her social media: @yanwangpreston

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If you haven’t read the previous posts of this series, you can check the whole series here. I hope you liked this new post and stay tuned for a different creative each month!

Photo credit: My portrait by Wayne Noir.

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The Photographers In My Blog

Over the last two years, I've been featuring fellow photographers in my blog to showcase the diversity of creatives that surround me. These photographers are people who I deeply admire, not only because they are very talented artists but also because they are exceptional human beings.

Our role as photographers is to capture a world that others can't see, and in this process, we leave a little bit of us in every photo that we take. In a way, every single one of our photographs is also a portrait of ourselves.

In my series A World That Others Can't See, I ask fellow photographers to talk about an image from their portfolios in order to discover the stories behind their work and to learn about the person behind the lens.

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Andrzej Gruszka.

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Interview By Kodak One

The lovely people of Kodak One interviewed me a few weeks back for their blog. They were particularly interested in my work to promote Mental Health Awareness and we had an interesting chat about how to use our work as photographers to keep the conversation about Mental Health going.

You can read the whole interview on this link: Kodak One Official.

Photo credit: behind the scenes image by Aaron O'Dowling-Keane.

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Society's Image Of Success is Very Limited

Success looks different to every single person in the world. If you ask Greta Thunberg to define success, she will most likely tell you that for her success means reversing global warming before it is too late. If you ask Elon Musk the same question, he might tell you that for him it means getting the richest people off the planet before the Earth dies. And, if you judge music videos these days, some people in the music industry seem to think that success looks like being a gangster living in a mansion and throwing money to your followers whilst standing on the roof of your luxury car.

However, these to me sound more like a list of goals than a definition of success. I believe that achieving a goal is not the same as being successful. Anyone who runs projects can tell you that after completing a project you feel both fulfilled and empty at the same time. You feel good because you have succeeded in finishing the project, but you are left with a void inside and a feeling that you don't know what's next. Some call it post-project depression. In both Project Management and in life, what happens after you have achieved your goals is as important as achieving them. Sadly, we are brought up to focus on winning the race but nobody teaches us what happens after the race is over.

Life continues, that's what happens. If you equate feeling successful to ticking goals off your list then you will always feel like a failure even if you have reached your goals. I hear so many people around me say that they feel like they haven't really achieved anything yet even if by society standards they should feel successful.

Society's image of success is very limited. Feeling successful should align more with your purpose in life and your values, and less with the completion of your tasks and goals. You can perfectly feel accomplished and successful but at the same time have a long list of unachieved goals. One thing is not a requirement for the other.

I have a list of goals and dreams that I have yet to achieve in my life that could span for kilometres, but that doesn't deter me from feeling accomplished. My purpose in life is to try to make this a better world, and I work hard every day to use my platforms to help others and to raise awareness of the issues that I care for. That makes me feel happy and successful, even if that doesn't always translate into the image that society has of success. Being a good human being is what success means to me.

Photo credit: portrait by Ivan Weiss.

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Do We Really Want Diversity And Inclusion?

The problem with longing for a truly inclusive and diverse society is that we haven't really sat down to ponder on what that really means. For a society to be truly diverse, it must welcome and include everyone. From the ones who look and think like us, to the ones who don't. It must include what we consider good and what we consider bad and every flavour in between. It must also welcome everything that we think is beautiful and everything that we consider ugly of this world. If that is not the case, then it's not a truly diverse society. What does your version of diversity look like?

We can't fight for inclusion by excluding others. That would make us hypocrites. And, as much as this notion hurts, if when you think of a diverse and inclusive world you eliminate a group that you deem unacceptable then you are just creating another broken version of the world we already live in.

This is not to say that we should condone the behaviour of those who attempt against humanity and human rights. Those should never go unpunished. But, it is the duty of our society to establish mechanisms to guarantee that we can all coinhabit our communities in peace.

What are those mechanisms? I don't have the answer. But we have already seen a version of our society that doesn't work. Our communities have lost respect, empathy and accountability. These three elements that were ingrained in my education while I was growing up don't seem to exist anymore. Our communities are so fractured and divided that at this point we have finally achieved some shape of equality. One in which we all equally hate someone else.

We need a more permanent solution. For decades we championed tolerance and political correctness, and those who didn't agree with us were pushed to the side. Then, we started working towards a more equal and diverse world, and those who wouldn't jump on board were cast out.

Now, those who we tried to keep on the edges of society have grown stronger and they have found the leaders that they needed to reclaim their space. And they have come with a fight. We are fighting back with our flags of inclusivity and sustainability and I'm sure we will push them out again. But, for how long? Until they regroup, find new leaders and recharge their batteries? When will this end? Is there another way?

In every ecosystem, there needs to be a balance for all the species to survive. We must find that balance in our communities. That version of society might differ from the image of an ideal society that we have in our minds, but we must find a way to coexist by respecting our differences and empathising with those who don't think like us.

I'm not pretending that this will be easy nor that the perfect version of society that fits everyone's needs exists. All I know is that, whenever I hear versions of inclusive societies that don't have a space for everyone I wonder if we really want inclusion or if all we want is a version of society where everyone looks like us. That doesn't sound very diverse to me.

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If You Don't Shine, I Don't Shine

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A few years ago, I found myself at a point in my life when I started to think a lot about all the opportunities that I had been given. I felt grateful for the key people in my life who acted as mentors and offered me those opportunities. That feeling of appreciation made me realise that it was time to pay it forward and offer that experience and those opportunities to others.

I know first-hand that having a mentor can change your career forever. When I changed career at almost 40 years old, I started anew in a different industry, a different country, a different work culture and a different language. I wouldn’t have been able to get a foot in the new industry if it hadn’t been for those who lend me a hand.

I discovered that there are people in every industry willing to offer advice, who wish to inspire others and offer career and business advice. People who understand the difficulty of not having contacts or resources when you are starting out.

So I decided to offer that chance to other people coming into the workforce, but also allow myself to have a positive impact on someone else’s career.

It all started with one person asking for advice and for someone to keep them accountable for the progress of their project.

When I started mentoring them, I didn’t know exactly how I could support them or what kind of help they needed. I only knew that I had been in the workforce for 27 years and in the creative industries for almost 15 so at least there were some questions that I could answer.

My mentee also had no idea of the kind of help that they needed. Our first conversation was more to get acquainted with each other and to establish the line of communication that we would follow for the rest of the mentorship.

We soon realised that they had many questions that weren’t obvious to them at first, but that throughout the weeks started to arise. And some questions led to straight answers, but other questions opened more questions and the conversations became more informative with time.

I was able to offer insights into the job market and how the industry works, apart from advice on how to develop projects from inception to completion.

I was happy to help, but I never expected that in turn, they were going to help me as well. As a mentor, you learn as much from them as your mentees learn from you. It’s a symbiotic relationship. You offer advice and give answers to questions about your industry and your job. In return, your mentee offers you a different perspective on your own career and on life. They give you a fresh view of the issues that people coming from other backgrounds face when they join the industry. They show you a whole new way of doing things.

I am someone completely different from the person that I was when I started mentoring others. Mentorship has opened my horizons, and it has made me more conscious of the vast experience and knowledge that I have that I wasn’t aware of. It has helped me sell myself better as an expert in what I do. And, more importantly, it has given me the satisfaction of being able to share my knowledge with others and to see how others thrive when they feel supported.

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Sandy AbdelRahman.

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It Takes A Village

Whenever I hear an awards acceptance speech, no matter how long, I always think of the people who are not mentioned. It must be difficult for the person accepting the award to decide who to include and who to leave out when you have such a short amount of time to deliver your appreciation. If I were ever put in that position, I think I would just say “it takes a village. I’m grateful to you all.”

In her poem Our Grandmothers, Maya Angelou wrote: “I go forth along, and stand as ten thousand.” When I read this line for the first time, all the people in my life who brought me to where I am right now came to my mind. Nobody, absolutely no one, has gotten to where they are today on their own.

Starting with your own family. I am here because two people met and decided to have me. Those two people are here because other two couples made the same choice. And those four people were here because eight people before them did the same. Our lives represent the success of our ancestors.

The same way, every single one of our achievements is not only ours. We put the effort and we do the hard work, but it is, in reality, a collective feat. Your teachers, your mentors, your guides, your influences, your peers, your community. They are all reflected in your work. Even those people who had fleeting appearances in your timeline have left their mark in your life.

By acknowledging this, it's easier to understand why our community is so important. We are part of something greater than ourselves and we owe our communities our appreciation and support.

When you finish reading these lines, make a mental list of all the people in your life who have contributed to bringing you right to this moment. Right to this place where you are reading my words. How long would your acceptance speech be?

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Andrzej Gruszka.

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What About Humans?

I had lunch with an architect last weekend. During our conversation, I told her that there should be a law that stated that anyone who designs a living space for humans must live in it for at least a year after being built. That way, they will learn how to put humans at the centre of their practice. This came about because I was telling her that I just moved into a new flat, and one of its most interesting features is that if I go to the loo with the door open the people from the building across the street can see me in all my glory. Nowadays, we are too focused on maximising income and minimising costs. But, what about humans?

You see the same happening with the leaders of our communities. We elect people who are supposed to represent us, but when the time comes they only respond to the needs of those who contributed economically to their campaigns. Not even to the needs of the people who voted them in.

This has become very evident during the times we are living. I reckon there should also be a law that forced all politicians in power to personally console the families who have lost someone during the pandemic. Maybe that way their decisions would be more human-centric.

As creatives, how can we make sure that the work that we create is human-centric? If we are designing or creating something that will be used for human consumption or appreciation, we must take into account humans while our ideas are still on the drawing board.

People, environment and business must always go hand in hand. What sense does it make to bring something into the world that doesn't have humanity at heart? And when I say humanity, I include everything that humanity needs for the survival of the species. If there is no planet Earth, there is no human race.

Creating something that will have a negative impact on the world, or working in environments where humans are mistreated, or engaging in practices that put the planet and all its species at risk shouldn't be excused anymore.

Start by asking yourself some questions:

1. Is the work that I'm creating improving human lives? How am I portraying the people in my images? Am I representing them well? Am I unfairly profiting or taking advantage of the people in my work? Who's my work helping? What is the message that I'm sending? Some of these questions have answers that must be assessed on a case-by-case basis, but there are behaviours in the photography and creative world that have been tolerated for a long time and that now are being put under scrutiny. Such is the case of leading photographers from the world-renowned agency Magnum and the way that they have profited from victims of exploitation in the name of art.

2. Is my work causing harm to the planet? Am I using processes or materials that have a negative impact on the world? Could I be doing something to reduce my impact on the environment? I am aware that, at first, some of the answers to these questions might not be obvious. But even taking small steps towards a more environmentally friendly practice can go a long way.

3. Is my work being used in detriment of humanity? Sometimes we get commissioned to create work that will be used by others to promote their products, services or agendas. Are we responsible if the work that we created is used to promote practices that harm humans or the planet? This is something that sometimes it's completely out of our control, but choosing to work only with like-minded ethical and sustainable partners will reduce the chances of this happening. What if I need the money, you may ask? That is a question that only you can answer.

You don't have to be an activist or a volunteer to contribute to humanity. You don't have to work for an NGO or a non-profit, you don't even have to support charities. All you have to do is take the time to think about other humans and the planet when making all your decisions.

Paraphrasing JFK, ask not what the world can do for you – ask what you can do for the world.

Image caption: this is how neighbours keep their windows open during windy days in our newly built flat.

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In Order To Grow, We Must Change

These are not easy times for humanity. We are probably the most privilege and well-off generation of humans to ever inhabit the planet. But, at the same time, we are the first ones to live a shared global experience of the magnitude of this pandemic. The repercussions of what we have lived over the last few months will be felt for years to come and they will put humanity to the test. Only those who are willing to adapt to the new circumstances will have a better chance of coping with the new reality.

Change happens all the time. Even when we don't want it to. You may stay in bed all day and not do anything at all, and still, your body will change. It is programmed to grow. From the minute we enter the world, that's all we ever do. We change as we grow. So, if even the tiniest pieces that make who we are don't do anything other than change all the time, why would we want to stay the same?

Change is good. It is ok to change, no one forces you to be, to think or to behave the same way throughout your life. If they do, be wary. You might be living under an authoritarian regime. Change has helped us arrive where we are today. If it hadn't been for change, we'd still be banging two rocks against each other to create fire. When you allow yourself space to change, you grow and you evolve. Look back and ask yourself: are you still the same person that you were 5 or 10 years ago?

One of the key factors why human beings have been such a successful species is our ability to adapt easily to new circumstances. We see something that is not favourable to us, we study it, we experiment with solutions, we implement change and we adapt.

However, being adaptable is a double-edged sword. The better adapted you are, the less adaptable you tend to be. Maybe to live in a constant state of change and growth is what we should all aspire to. We see it in our bodies, why not implement it in our minds as well?

The pandemic has created an inflexion point in the history of humanity. It has revealed the flaws in our ways, but it has also created the perfect opportunity to reinvent ourselves and our societies in order to correct those flaws. If under normal circumstances change is good, under exceptional ones change is vital.

Four centuries ago, during a different outbreak, Shakespeare gave life to King Lear, Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra. If the plague hadn't shocked his world, there might have been no Lear, or Romeo and Juliet, or Hamlet.

There will be a clear before and a clear after once we overcome the present situation. And I would like to see myself on the other side of the tunnel as someone who was receptive, someone who took the time to look around and acknowledge their flaws and decided to change and to grow.

At the end of the road, very few will remember where you came from. Most people will only see you for what you have become.

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A World That Others Can't See... with Ameena Rojee

Our role as photographers is to capture a world that others can't see, and in this process, we leave a little bit of us in every photo that we take. In a way, every single one of our photographs is also a portrait of ourselves.

In this series, A World That Others Can't See, I ask fellow photographers to talk about an image from their portfolios in order to discover the stories behind their work and to learn about the person behind the lens.

For the tenth post of the series, portraiture and documentary photographer Ameena Rojee talks about an image that she took during a surreal lockdown moment. Ameena's work explores community and culture focusing on people, places, and living, delving into our relationship with the natural world.

Ameena says: "The photograph I’ve chosen to show is a black and white photograph of a magpie flying to freedom and my mum’s hands. This photograph comes from a series of photographs I’ve taken as a lockdown-inspired study of my garden. It has largely become a space associated with relief and calm and was my only consistent source of sun and fresh air these days during the lockdown itself.

Although lockdown has been lifted, not much has changed for me; I live with my mum who is high risk and so I've been staying at home as much as possible. I’ve been forced to truly look at this space which I thought was so well-worn and each corner known to me. Instead, I’ve found unfamiliarity and magic.

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Untitled © 2020 Ameena Rojee

This was one of those surreal moments; back in March, at the beginning of everything, this curious bird somehow ended up in our house one gorgeous blue-sky day and got stuck. My mum rescued the bird from our living room and set it free again.

It was such a timely real-life metaphor - a moment of struggle and panic, but with some help and kindness, the magpie was able to fly away to freedom again. It was a spontaneous moment and I’d had to run to get my camera; a reminder that sometimes our best work comes without planning, foresight or indeed any idea of what’s about to happen.

Four months on and this photograph still has so much immediate meaning. Every day I look at it and can’t help but hope for the day that we’ll all be free again."

Thank you so much, Ameena, for sharing this image and such a unique experience with me! I can almost feel that sense of regained freedom when I look at it.

You can learn more about Ameena's work on https://www.ameenarojee.co.uk/

If you haven’t read the previous posts of this series, you can check the whole series here.

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When Words are not Enough

I'm not going to pretend that I can answer the age-old question of what is art. But, one thing that I can say is that art is a form of communication. As an artist, especially when you are starting out, you are always told that you need to find your voice. The problem is that a voice is not something that you acquire by studying or following certain steps or instructions. Your voice will come after many years of pouring your soul into your work. In the meantime, even if your work is not fully voiceless, you may still need to find the visual vocabulary to express yourself truthfully.

Photographers are visual storytellers. We use our visual language to show the world what we see through our lens. And we can spend our whole careers trying to find our voice, only to realise that if we finally find it we will probably be the last ones to notice.

Ever since I was a child, I was always the relative or the friend who had a camera. Wherever we went, people always expected me to take their photos and tell the stories of our trips or gatherings. However, growing up I never considered it as a possible career. I come from a part of the world where the arts are not valued and where family encourages you to pursue careers in science, technology or law instead.

Despite the lack of support, I had a teacher at school who always encouraged me to read, write and appreciate the arts. I became an avid reader and writer, and for a long time, I thought that if I ever left my day job I would become a writer.

Looking back, I can see now that it wasn't about writing or about a specific medium to express myself. It was about telling stories. That is why I feel that at some point I came to the realisation that I could use photography to tell my own stories.

I don't think that I have a voice yet. I can feel the words stuck in my throat trying to make their way out through my visual vocal cords. But they still need to properly take shape before they can come out. I'm still at that place in my career where I'm examining the world around me and trying to find answers to all the questions that come to my mind.

Our role as artists and photographers is to look around and try to make sense of the world that surrounds us. By studying it and interpreting it, we can present it to society and offer a different perspective on the issues that we care for.

Making art is like trying to have a conversation with another person in a very noisy space. The other can see you opening and closing your mouth, but the words that come out of it are unintelligible until you find that one person who can finally understand what you are trying to say. From there, you spend the rest of your life trying to find those people who can get your message.

If art is a communication channel, then photography is the language that we use to encourage others to question their own realities. When words are not enough, our work gives shape to our thoughts, our concerns and our emotions.

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Andrzej Gruszka.

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Imagine A World Without Light

One thing that all photographers have in common is our fascination with light. The pencil of nature, as Fox Talbot called the camera, literally writes with light on the sensitive surface where the image is imprinted. If there is no light, there is no photograph. Even if you use infrared technology to capture an image, the camera still needs the infrared part of the spectrum of light to record the photograph. Being able to control light is one of the most important skills in a photographer's toolkit. In a way, shaping light is our superpower.

Imagine for a second a world in which we couldn't control nor shape light. A world with no artificial light sources, no electricity, no lamps. During the day, indoor spaces would only be lit by a window or an opening nearby. But at night, everything would be in pitch darkness. If you had access to making fire, you would light a torch or a candle. If you were modern enough, you would have a gas lamp. However, these methods wouldn't render enough light to see the world the way we see it today.

This was the world we were living in when photography was invented. When Fox Talbot invented the photographic negative in the early 19th century, his experiments needed a strong light source that at that time could only be provided by the sun. Similarly, Daguerre invented the photographic process around the same time in Paris, a city that was only lit by street gas lamps.

All the art that was conceived before electricity lit our homes and streets, was created either in plain daylight or under very dim conditions. Consider the limitations and the circumstances under which your favourite artworks were created. Don't you have a new appreciation for them now?

The same way that light is essential to register the information that is visible in a photograph, darkness is important to provide volume, mood and character. As photographers, we are sometimes so obsessed with the light that we forget that the shadows play a decisive role in how our subject is perceived. My friend Facundo Bustamante always says that shadows are another element to take into account when creating an image because they provide shape to your photo.

Classic painters understood this very well, maybe because their world was so much darker than ours. In Britain, the first street to be lit with electricity was the rightly named Electric Avenue in Brixton in 1880. Over the next decades, the first switch that was flicked in most homes was the light switch. On a BBC interview, engineer Hector MacLean remembers that the instant response of his parents to the brightness was "look at the dust, we need to repaint".

If you want to create work that resembles the classics, you must recreate the environment in which the classic artists worked. Turn off all the lights and close all the curtains. Better if you do it at night. Then, gradually, start adding different light sources to your composition. As you build your image, you will see how light behaves on different surfaces and also how the shadows fill the space untouched by the light.

This is how I learned to light my subjects when I started out, and to this day it is still the technique that I use when I'm photographing someone. I start in pitch darkness or set the camera settings to leave out the available light. From there, I add the different light points working my subject as if it were a sculpture created by lights and shadows. Try it yourself. I promise you won't see light the same way again.

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Emma Steventon.

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5 Things I've Learned In 20+ Years As A Project Manager

Before becoming a full-time photographer, I worked as a Project Manager in different industries for more than 20 years. I worked in everything from Hospitality, to Telecommunications, to Consumer Electronics, to Fashion. My projects were of all sizes and scopes. But, when I transitioned to photography I thought that all those years of sweat and tears were going to go to waste. Luckily, I soon realised that Project Management skills are transferable and are very useful in all types of industries.

In all our jobs, we have skills that can easily be used in other roles or industries. You are not just one thing, even if it is easier for the majority of people in your life to put a label on you. If you are a lawyer, you have the skills to be a therapist. If you are a cook, you have the skills to be a wedding photographer. If you are a receptionist, you have the skills to be a project manager. What all these roles have in common is that they all have skills that can be transferred from one to the other.

This brings me to the first lesson that I learned as a Project Manager:

1. The words project management may sound intimidating, but in reality, we are all project managers already in our daily lives. Even if it is in a very informal way. If you are baking, you are managing a small project. If you are planning vacations for the family, that is a medium-size project. If you are renovating your whole house, that is a larger-scale project. In all these examples, you have a scope, a start and an endpoint, you have your tools and resources, and you have to work within a budget. These types of projects might not qualify for a mention in your CV, but if you enjoy doing them that means that you have the skills needed to run a project.

2. The second lesson that I learned is that Not All Projects Are Created Equal. Projects come in all shapes and sizes. From the informal aforementioned ones to the more complex projects. And there is not just one way to run a project. If you run a business, you may perfectly create your own Project Management procedures that work for what you do. However, there is a very powerful reason to subscribe to an already existing methodology that fits your industry: standardisation. If you want to be able to communicate with other people and businesses who also run projects, you've got to speak the same language. This is particularly helpful when you seek Project Management tools and software, when you onboard new staff, or when you communicate with partners and suppliers.

3. This leads me to the third lesson. Every organisation and every industry organizes its projects in different ways. This is the reason why there are so many methodologies. Each methodology is adapted for a specific way of working. Different industries choose different methodologies. PMI (waterfall) is one of the most traditional ones, best suited for linear projects like manufacturing, construction or even photoshoots. Agile works best for the software industry, where you are constantly releasing deliverables instead of waiting until the end of the project as you do on traditional methodologies. Prince2 was created by the UK Government and it is best suited for large-scale projects, particularly Government IT Projects.

4. If it doesn't have an end it's not a project. This sounds like something obvious, but if you don't define a start point and an endpoint for your project, you are not running a project. You might actually be running a process. A project, by definition, needs to have a beginning, an ending and at least one goal that needs to be achieved by the end of the project. This goal needs to be something that you can measure and that you can evaluate after the project has ended.

5. The process of project management never ends. Projects end; Project Management doesn't. Most Project Managers are running several projects at the same time. The process of managing projects requires that you follow up on the status of each project with regularity. When managing your project and following up on your tasks on a regular basis, you get motivated as you see the tasks being accomplished. Every time that you tick a task off your to-do list or you move a post-it in your Kanban, you are one step closer to completing the project. Additionally, by following up daily on the progress of your projects you can minimise risks before they happen or identify if things are not going as planned and apply corrections as soon as you discover them.

A Project Manager is someone who plans, organizes, evaluates, directs, controls, and leads the project from conception to completion. Being able to juggle several projects at the same time is a mandatory ability for a Project Manager.

Project Management requires a combination of soft skills and hard skills, but in my experience, it's the soft skills that are quite crucial. You must be self-motivated, flexible, methodic and a problem-solver. And above all, you must enjoy running projects and bringing structure to chaos. Funny enough, I just described myself in these two last phrases. Do you recognise yourself too?

Photo credit: I can’t remember who took this image. Probably my boss. We were on a 3h-train on our way to a meeting, preparing the last details of our presentation. Do I look corporate enough?

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This Is NOT How You Talk About Mental Health

One of my dearest friends has been struggling with her mental health for many years. A few weeks ago, she called me on the phone and during the conversation we discussed invisible illnesses. In her experience, every time that she has to talk about her mental health she is repeatedly faced with the same type of comment: "you don't look as if you were ill." The image that we have been sold of how a person dealing with mental health issues looks like has always been of a deranged person locked down in an asylum. And this is the reason why so many people struggling with their mental health are afraid of being open about it.

This has never been more obvious than last week, after Vogue Portugal decided to feature on their July 2020 cover an image depicting a troubled young lady being washed by two nurses in what looks like a psychiatric hospital. The Vogue Portugal team named the issue "The Madness Issue" and the copy on the cover reads "It's Summer Outside."

According to a statement from Vogue Portugal on Twitter, their intention was to shine a light on this important issue and open up a discussion about Mental Health. But, nothing in the creative direction of this issue points towards an honest and positive conversation about the topic.

Starting with the name of the issue: The Madness Issue. I searched in different dictionaries the definition of the word madness, trying to find one meaning that didn't have a negative connotation. But all that I could find were definitions like "a state of severe mental illness —not used technically", "The state of being mentally ill, especially severely", or "insanity."

If the intention was to take the stigma out of the conversations about Mental Health, they could have named the issue "The Self-care Issue", "The Wellbeing Issue" or simply "The Mental Health Issue".

Secondly, the copy on the cover: "It's Summer Outside." On their statement, Vogue Portugal wrote that they were trying to address human behaviour during the pandemic confinement. It is true that the global collective experience during these last few months has had an important toll on our mental health. But, instead of sending a supportive and optimistic message to their readers, the creative direction of the magazine opted for slapping us on the face. "It's Summer Outside", while you are trapped inside with your own fears.

A more helpful copy, one that could have also highlighted human behaviour during the pandemic, could have spoken about resilience and how this whole situation is temporary. "This Too Shall Pass", "We Will Get Over This" or "This Won't Last Forever".

Lastly, the cover image. How do you visually convey a topic like Mental Health? Well, as my friend pointed out over the phone during our conversation, you put a person who apparently doesn't have any illnesses nor disabilities on the cover and you say "This Is What Struggling With Your Mental Health Looks Like."

Mental Health problems belong to a group of conditions called invisible illnesses, according to The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An invisible illness is one that does not show any visible signs nor symptoms to others. This makes it really difficult for whoever is struggling with their mental health because help is not often given to someone who doesn't appear to need it. What's more, as an ally, how can you identify if someone is in need of support if you can't tell just by looking at them?

It is this lack of understanding of how mental health issues work that leads to some people associating mental health to images of insanity or madness. And this makes it really difficult for someone to open up about their struggles for fear of being labelled as crazy or weak.

All of the above makes me question the good intentions of the publication, even if the statement they released before pulling the issue out from the newsstands says otherwise. It feels to me that they were just trying to be amongst the trending topics of the day, even if it were for the wrong reasons.

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A World That Others Can't See... with Facundo Bustamante

Our role as photographers is to capture a world that others can't see, and in this process, we leave a little bit of us in every photo that we take. In a way, every single one of our photographs is also a portrait of ourselves.

In this series, A World That Others Can't See, I ask fellow photographers to talk about an image from their portfolios in order to discover the stories behind their work and to learn about the person behind the lens.

For the ninth post of the series, Facundo Bustamante talks about his new photography project in which he explores family homes and the relationship between memory and space.

Facundo says: "This image belongs to my personal project called ‘Yapeyú 70’. I’ve been re-exploring a very special house to me: where my mother’s side of the family lived, where I enjoyed wonderful care-free moments of my childhood and also where many important and moving events of my life took place before I migrated from Argentina to the UK.

I wanted to treasure those corners that meant a lot to me; memories and feelings that - even though it may sound as dramatic as a tango- were brought back to the present when I visited that house for the last couple of times in my life.

I’m very thankful I got to photograph those spaces in its final stage; just before the house was sold. And just before another story started taking place; the one that the new inhabitants will live. Where new corners, new memories and feelings will happen as well as new pictures will be taken in what will become a new home.

How wonderful is life, right? We are a collection of stories; I believe we are the kind of persons we are right now because of the stories we’ve been through in our lives, including the second that has just passed. It’s a cycle: we make choices, take actions, live, build memories and experience feelings which altogether make us the people we are today. And yet there’s more to come!

What I find fantastic about photography, and any other type of art, is that each piece generates sensations to every spectator. In a way, I find that feelings are personal and universal at the same time. Of course, each of us has particular and absolutely personal emotions. However, feelings put us all at the same level and I love that. After all, or to put in better terms- before anything we are human beings with feelings; no matter our race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or age etc.

I suppose I’ve turned this description very philosophical (sorry JC!) but actually, it’s what I feel not only about life and this project but also about this particular image I’ve decided to share. Since this image is related to feelings and the stories in it.

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Untitled © Facundo Bustamante

Unfortunately, I still don’t have a title for the picture. And actually, it is one of my favourites from the project; I guess because somehow there’s a part of my story in it. I love the light coming through that textured glass and curtain; and how it ‘falls’ over the basket and the rest of that oven’s multiple volumes.

It transports me to times where I wasn’t even born and makes me wonder about the hands using that oven, the meals cooked there, the people (my great grandparents) who enjoyed that tiny kitchen and how that kitchen stayed lonely and empty for so many years.

I like the balance of the empty spaces in the frame where the shadows take place. I mostly work with natural light. This was a tricky one, though, as the interiors weren’t bright enough and I didn’t have a tripod with me. I hand-held my camera, positioned my legs, arms and body for the best possible stable pose (feel free to imagine that as a human-tripod-antenna structure, I won’t blame you), I held my breath and took the frame.

I shot on digital (Canon 5D Mark IV with my 50mm 1.4 Sigma ART lens) but I handled the whole project thinking as if I were shooting it on film, so I didn’t take loads of images; I wanted each take to be unique. It was a very intimate approach.

Not having a tripod, my shutter speed was depending on my handholding skills which, even though they are ‘respectable’, my ISO had to go higher than I wanted to; so technically it wasn’t great. But there’s not absolute perfection and that is good. It’s interesting how having certain ‘limitations’ is a positive thing and it even helps us. I believe these ‘restrictions’ let creativity emerge bringing richness to our work.

Today I was re-listening to Gabrielle Motola’s conversation with Rhiannon Adam; episode 3 of her super interesting podcast ‘Stranger Curiosity’ and it was so inspiring. Coincidentally, they were talking about photography and how “…the real photography has very little to do with the equipment and technicality of it…” and - even though it made me feel better about my high ISO- I bring this up because it’s related to what I was talking about earlier: the feelings, meanings and approaches involved in our work as photographers. Sharing and presenting in your picture, “…what you’re attracted to, how you see, what you look at…”, and also your personal interpretation, the way you say what you say.

I’m still working on this project which will become a book. Who would have thought, when the different stages of that house were built, that certain corners and spaces would have been special enough for someone to photograph and feature them in a book? Well, that’s another story; maybe told in a photograph someday."

Thank you so much, Facundo, for sharing this heartwarming story with me! I can't wait to see this project when it's finally finished.

You can learn more about Facundo's work at www.facundobustamante.com

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If you haven’t read the previous posts of this series, you can check the whole series here.

Photo credit: portrait of Facundo Bustamante © 2018 JC Candanedo.

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The Biggest Lesson I Learned When I Changed Careers

Before becoming a photographer, I worked for 20 years in another industry as a Project Manager. It was a very technical job, and even though it was easy for me to navigate that environment I never felt like I fully belonged. I was always interested in the creative aspects of my job and not on the technical side. And this feeling of not belonging was the cause of many frustrations during my twenties and my thirties. There wasn't a day in which I didn't think about following a different career path.

However, the older I got the more lost I felt and the harder it was for me to consider changing careers. When everyone around you sees you as a specific "title" or specific "job type", it is very difficult for others to even consider that you could explore becoming something else.

On top of that, the thought that all those years of your life that you spent building a career might go to waste, even if it was in the wrong industry, prevents you from moving forward with your career change.

Now that I'm in my mid-40's, I've finally understood what people meant when they said phrases like "it's not the destination, it's the journey" or "enjoy the process". The most important lesson that I've learnt is that every single experience that you have in your life stacks on top of each other and become part of the person who you are today. None of it goes to waste.

• All those years taking photos of family and friends everywhere we went developed my eye as a photographer.

• All the times that as a child I wrote "essays" for my parents or poetry for my friends at school developed the writer in me.

• And all those years managing projects, even the days when I got back from work and cried on my couch out of frustration for feeling trapped in the wrong career, developed my skills and inform the way in which I manage my projects these days.

Every experience in your life is a learning opportunity. You might not see it today, but I can assure you that one day you will.

Photo credit: I can't remember who took this image, but it's me back in 2004 when I used to work in telecommunications.

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