Image Is More Than Perfect Composition & Light - Interview with Bieke Depoorter

There is a notion that if you want to become a good photographer, then perfect compositions and great lighting will be your best friends. And this is true. But the intention, why you are making the image, and your relationship with your subject are what make good photographers great. Belgian photographer Bieke Depoorter is one of those great (if not one of the best) photographers making use of the relationships she is able to establish. Her unconventional approach to the presentation of her projects and the way she pushes the limits of the medium are just a couple of the things about her that have fascinated me for quite some time, and I was fortunate enough to be able to talk to her about this, and much more. Thank you for listening or watching. Find Bieke Depoorter: https://biekedepoorter.com https://www.instagram.com/biekedepoorter/ https://www.facebook.com/BiekeDepoorterPhotographer/ https://twitter.com/biekedepoorter Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/36TS6kC Listen on Google Podcasts: bit.ly/2UHwbun Listen on Spotify: spoti.fi/3rrYMA0 Listen on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-228441570 Check out https://aboutphotography.blog for more stories about photography Index: 00:00 - Who is Bieke Depoorter? 00:48 - As a documentary photographer, what are your views on creating work for yourself versus creating work that has an impact? 03:36 - Is it possible to be honest as a photographer? 09:03 - Do exhibitions influence your project? 12:12 - A short recap of the project 13:06 - How do you perceive the balance, or perhaps tension, between art and documentary? 17:12 - Impact of (negative) feedback 24:13 - Balance between art and documentary regarding Magnum photos. Can photojournalism be objective? 26:03 - How demanding are the emotional connections? 28:48 - Does it help at all if the project becomes personal (when you spend a lot of time with someone, you inevitable get closer to each other). Is it how to get beyond obvious? 32:14 - Do you get better pictures if you spend more time with your subject? 35:28 - How do you recognize that the person has the potential to be a subject for a project? 39:28 - Do people on the street like to be photographed? 40:41 - What is the idea behind the format of your books? 42:13 - The photographer has the power to choose the story. 44:38 - Telling a story and editing the work. How do you choose 50 images out of 10K? 46:34 - Can you stay objective when editing your own work? 48:41 - How can someone improve their photography? 52:48 - Is composition important? 53:26 - Should you search for your own voice/style? 55:50 - Can you make a living as a documentary photographer? 57:30 - Any advice you would give to your younger self? 58:50 - What have you learned about yourself through these projects? 01:01:00 - The end, thank you for watching!

Good photography comes when someone has a good connection to the subject. British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector Martin Parr is best known for his brightly lit and color saturated images. After 15 years of taking pictures in black and white Parr started using commercial photography techniques and principles for his color documentary photography. He has worked on numerous photographic projects and has developed an international reputation for his innovative imagery his oblique approach to social documentary and his input to photographic culture within the UK and abroad. In 2017 Parr opened his foundation in Bristol and I was lucky enough to talk with him there about taking pictures, editing documentary work, wearing socks with sandals and much. If you want to watch the full story of how I came to Bristo you can do it here - https://youtu.be/hS6r89kmpKQ Follow @Martin Parr Foundation - https://www.youtube.com/c/MartinParrFoundation https://www.martinparrfoundation.org https://www.instagram.com/martinparrfdn/ If you want to follow ME on social media 🙃 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aboutphotographyblog/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aboutphotographyblog Twitter: https://twitter.com/aboutphoto_blog Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/aboutphotographyblog/ Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/36TS6kC Listen on Google Podcasts: bit.ly/2UHwbun Listen on Spotify: spoti.fi/3rrYMA0 Listen on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-228441570 Index: 00:00 - Start 01:06 - How do you take pictures that go beyond the mundane level but also beyong cliché. 02:02 - How can you go beyond obvious? 04:41 - What is your process on location? 06:00 - Have you ever felt limited by your style? 07:55 - Do you have the freedom to express yourself during commercial shoot? 10:02 - Is there a difference between a book and exhibition? (when presenting your pictures) 11:33 - Do you care about how will a photo age? 11:59 - Do trends spoil photography? 13:00 - Family photography 13:32 - How can you document your family more seriously 14:04 - Chapter 13 14:45 - What is it that you are looking for when you open a photography book? 17:32 - Chapter 15 18:32 - Future of photography? 19:06 - You want to be a famous photographer? 19:57 - About Photography challenge 27:58 - Taking pictures of children on street 29:06 - Will street photography be banned eventually? 29:35 - What is it about socks and sandals? 30:11 - Advice to your younger self 30:33 - Martin Parr Foundation Tour 37:09 - Archives 40:56 - Library 42:16 - Looking at the projects 46:34 - The end, Thank you for listening!

Since 1996 when he became an intern at Magnum’s London office Jonas Bendiksen worked for editorial clients such as National Geographic, Vanity Fair, Red Bull or Land Rover. He also produced some amazing projects including documenting the second coming of Jesus or photographing the center of fake news with it’s fake history in his fake book. He also won many awards including Best Photography Book, ICP'Infinity Award or World Press Photo award. Jonas is a documentary photographer, photojournalist and member of legendary Magnum Photos. Find out more about Jonas: https://aboutphotography.blog/photographer/jonas-bendiksen Website: https://www.jonasbendiksen.com/ Magnum: https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/jonas-bendiksen/ Jonas Bendiksen: Curiosity in Practice | Magnum Learn: https://www.magnumphotos.com/learn/course/jonas-bendiksen-curiosity-in-practice/ Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/36TS6kC Listen on Google Podcasts: bit.ly/2UHwbun Listen on Spotify: spoti.fi/3rrYMA0 Listen on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-228441570 Index: 0:00:00 - Who is Jonas Bendiksen? 0:01:09 - What do you think most people get wrong when it come to documentary photography? 0:02:38 - The story of how Jonas became a photographer 0:06:55 - Now looking back, if you would start with documentary photography today whats the one thing you would stop yourself from doing? 0:09:15 - Millions or maybe billions of photos are being published every day, as a very successful photographer what do you think is that separates photos and photographers that can get traction and attention from ones that can’t. 0:15:02 - How to find the project in this word where everything seems to discovered and everyone with the phone is can be a photojournalist? 0:16:00 - What are you looking for when you look at photography of others 0:18:26 - You said your personal projects drive everything else and you always try to have at least one personal project. How do you keep pushing personal project when there is nothing that would force you to do it (no editor, no one waiting for the pictures) 0:21:09 - Jonas is not one of those 24/7 photographers who eat and sleep with a camera 0:24:02 - Being out in the field is almost like a small detail. From getting the idea to final thing. 0:26:43 - What is your photography process when you are out in the field? 0:29:22 - When do you know the project is finished? 0:30:54 - how do you find what is the best part of the project and how you want to structure it? 0:34:24 - Do you have some sort of system how to get from 10 000 photos to final 50? 0:39:36 - What about family photos? Do you apply the same system? 0:41:57 - Did your first project make you believe you can be a documentary photographer? 0:43:50 - Start of Satelites project 0:44:05 - Satellites. Altai Territory, Russia. 2000. © Jonas Bendiksen | Magnum Photos 0:50:05 - Documenting the second coming of Jesus? Story of The Last Testament 0:52:27 - How did you pick the right messiahs? 0:54:14 - Is design something that is import for you? To find the right presentation? 0:58:39 - What sort of impact do you want to have with your projects and did making of this project have impact on you? 1:01:27 - Do you want to be objective? 1:02:49 - The book of Vales 1:06:02 - Reacting to negative comments 1:09:26 - Did you think about pitching the project to the publisher as unknown photographer 1:11:29 - Photojounalist or documentary photographer career - Is it a good idea? 1:13:33 - The end, thank you for watching! #podcastaboutphotography

Hello fellow photographers. In this episode I am talking with Sean Tucker @Sean Tucker about street photography, portrait photography, social media and much more. Thank you so much for joing me/us on this episode. Make sure you are subscribed if you want to be notified when I post a new episode. And also there is one thing I would love you to do. I would be very thankful if you could go and give this podcast five star rating and the review. If you like this content and you think other people might enjoy it as well feel free to take a screenshot and through it out on your instagram story or share it with your friends. Follow Sean: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SeanTuckerphoto Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seantuck/ Website: https://www.seantucker.photography Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/36TS6kC Listen on Google Podcasts: bit.ly/2UHwbun Listen on Spotify: spoti.fi/3rrYMA0 Listen on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-228441570 In case YOUR Podcast Directory is missing, please let me know in the comments bellow and I will add that. Thank you! Index: 0:00:00 - Hello there! 0:01:11 - Introduction 0:01:28 - How did the change of the enviroment ipact your street photography 0:04:43 - What is your process when you cannot find an inspiration? 0:07:44 - Are social networks still good for sharing your art? 0:11:56 - is there a dakr side of social media? 0:16:48 - You should not try to please everyone 0:21:34 - What is your approach to black and white photography? 0:25:48 - Why does image work in black and white? 0:27:04 - What about color images? 0:28:47 - Finding a style 0:33:11 - Does every image have to have a story? 0:35:28 - What about photography projects? 0:36:52 - Would you like to change your portrait photography? 0:39:12 - What are you looking for when you pick a portrait picture 0:40:56 - What was the idea behind it 0:43:26 - Should you always wear a camera? 0:52:28 - How do you learn from photography books? 0:56:07 - Getting inspired by movies? Talking about movies in general 1:04:37 - Sean’s projects 1:06:47 - Photography goals? 1:07:45 - Self publishing or publishing via publisher? 1:08:37 - What is the hardest part of self publishing 1:10:10 - Q&As 1:10:20 - Videogames 1:12:59 - What difference do you want your photos to make? 1:14:03 - What is the purpose of taking photos?

Hello fellow photographers. In this episode I am talking with Tatiana Hopper about film school, film photography, process of taking photos and much more. Thank you so much for joing us on this episode.Make sure you are subscribed if you want to be notified when I post a new episode. There is one thing I would love you to do. I would be very thankful if you could go and give this podcast five star rating and the review. If you like this content and you think other people might enjoy it as well feel free to take a screenshot and through it out on your instagram story or share it with your friends. In case you would like to listen to shorter episodes more frequently there is a new podcast called Best of About Photography and it is updated daily with highlights from the interviews. You can watch this episode here: https://youtu.be/oNgu5ZdjPGw Follow Tatiana: Website: https://www.thopper.uk YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/THopper/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tffhopper/ INDEX: 0:00:00 - Hello there! 0:01:18 - Introduction 0:01:52 - When did you start with photography? 0:03:20 - Film school 0:05:19 - Why film and not photography school? 0:07:06 - Photography job? 0:08:06 - What about photography career? 0:10:05 - Master degree script 0:16:30 - Influence on youtube 0:18:47 - What part of the project is the best? 0:21:37 - When is art born? When you are creating it or in the edit? 0:25:10 - How does film school work? 0:29:26 - Self education VS film school 0:35:58 - imprinting personal style in your work 0:40:18 - Artistic approach VS connecting with your audience (being original) 0:46:37 - Tatiana’s photography style 0:48:52 - Do you limit your subjects for the sake of your style? 0:50:47 - What do you like to photograph in black and white 0:54:32 - Is there an advantage when using medium format? 1:00:00 - Favourite film stock? 1:03:16 - Do you develop your own film? 1:04:31 - Do film photographs look better? 1:09:10 - Prices of film cameras 1:12:44 - Photography projects 1:15:05 - Publishing a photography book? 1:16:08 - Selling prints 1:18:18 - Photography books 1:24:18 - Should you always wear a camera? 1:29:13 - Bonus question you should only listen to if you have already listened to the whole interview, and also liked and subscribed :)

Hello fellow photographers. First let me apologise because the next episode is going to be delayed. I somehow lost my voice and I can not finish the episodes. However, I wanted to tell you that I have also started a new podcast called best of about photography where you can find highlights and best of sections of my interviews and that podcast is updated almost daily with short episodes. So if That is something that you might be interested in - more short episodes more frequently then look up my podcast best of about photography. Thank you until next time. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/BestOfAboutPhotography https://spoti.fi/3fcf9M7 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-499230514

Hello fellow photographers. In this episode I am talking with Robin Schimko (aka @the_real_sir_robin ) about street photography, film photography, books, zines and much more. Thank you so much for joing us on this episode. You can watch this episode here: https://youtu.be/knWNgg-zJm4 Follow Robin: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc-9JMcDZSh6R4OXuWX6Gag/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_real_sir_robin/ Website: https://www.fotodesign-rs.de Index: 0:00:00 - Hello there 0:01:21 - introduction 0:01:40 - The reason behind the_real_sir_robin nickname 0:02:36 - Robin’s POV videos 0:04:39 - Best country for street photography? 0:08:27 - What is the most hostile country for street photography 0:12:21 - How difficult is training your eye for different formats? 0:20:18 - Best ration for different subjects? 0:24:51 - X-Pan is expensive - is it worth it? 0:28:14 - Why are prices of film cameras going up? 0:31:30 - Is film having comeback? 0:35:52 - Is shooting wedding with film a good idea? 0:37:55 - Red Filter 0:43:42 - Is wedding easier for street photographers? 0:48:45 - Wedding photography process 0:52:42 - Favourite type of film 0:58:47 - Film photography process 1:01:38 - What about double exposure 1:05:27 - Should you develop the film at home or send it to the lab 1:09:55 - What is the reason to push film? 1:13:07 - When do you finish the project? 1:15:37 - Books zines and projects 1:19:26 - What are you going to do with your project? 1:23:27 - Digital or offset printing for your zine 1:24:32 - Publishing a photo-book 1:29:27 - Robin’s most favourite camera? 1:36:54 - Monochrom Leica 1:38:35 - The end - Thank you for watching!

Hello fellow photographers. In this episode I am talking with Samuel Lintaro Hopf  aka Samuel Streetlife about street photography, gear, tips for taking photos, YouTube and much more. Thank you so much for joing me/us on this episode. Make sure you are subscribed if you want to be notified when I post a new episode. And also there is one thing I would love you to do. I would be very thankful if you could go and give this podcast five star rating and the review. If you like this content and you think other people might enjoy it as well feel free to take a screenshot and through it out on your instagram story or share it with your friends. In case you would like to listen to shorter episodes more frequently there is a new podcast called Best of About Photography and it is updated daily with highlights from the interviews. You can watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/FKq4EaDPs4U Follow Samuel: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcyHGNAjMTWAJ_ztX8JbGgQ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lin.taro/ Website: https://www.lintaro.de Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/36TS6kC Listen on Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/2UHwbun Listen on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3rrYMA0 Listen on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-228441570 You can also subscribe to Best of About Photography podcast for shorter episodes more often. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/BestOfAboutPhotography Listen on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3fcf9M7 Listen on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-499230514 If you want to follow me on social media SoundCould: https://soundcloud.com/user-228441570 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aboutphotographyblog/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aboutphotographyblog Twitter: https://twitter.com/aboutphoto_blog 0:00:00 - Hello there! 0:01:23 - Introduction 0:02:01 - How did pandemic change street photography in germany 0:05:52 - How different is street photography in Japan in contrast with street photograpphy in Germany 0:10:08 - What is the best city and country for street photography 0:13:48 - Is street photography the most difficult genre? 0:19:12 - Do you have a plan before going out with your camera? 0:28:10 - What is your process after you come back from photowalk 0:29:23 - How much editing is too much editing? How does Samuel edit his images 0:32:50 - Dated versus timeless photographaphs 0:39:37 - A year of taking only Black and white pictures (a year without color) 0:45:05 - Why does image work in black and white? 0:51:27 - Do you have favourite style of street photography? 0:53:22 - Is 28mm the best focal length for street photography? 0:56:08 - Prime VS Zoom - How to find a focal length that works for you? 0:58:45 - How do you keep educationg yourself and improving your photography 1:01:04 - Should every photograph have a story? 1:04:17 - How does someone develop style? 1:08:35 - How do you stand out on social media? Are social media necessary for photographers? 1:16:08 - How to present your portfolio 1:20:18 - Genesis of Samuel Streetlife 1:28:37 - Income stream of freelancer on YouTube 1:39:21 - The diference between Patreon and YouTube membership 1:45:08 - Samuel Farmlife? 1:48:32 - What is the influence of YouTube algorithm? 1:50:24 - Best camera for street photography? Samuel’s Streetlife opinion on best street photography camera 1:53:11 - The balance between one camera one lens and too many cameras 1:56:03 - What is it like to be a Ricoh GR ambassador? Should you become one? 2:10:03 - Lets talk about Leica 2:18:55 - What about cavering the red dot 2:20:25 - Q&A from chat and Instagram 2:20:35 - Should I wait for Ricoh GR 4? When does Ricoh GR IV come up? 2:21:07 - What are your ethics ehn doing street photography? 2:26:23 - The last/best bonus question - only watch this if you watched the whole intervew 2:29:26 - The End - Thank you for listening

Hello fellow photographers. In this episode I am talking with Dotan Saguy about his photography journey, photography projects, published books, Leica cameras and much more. Thank you so much for joing me/us on this episode. Make sure you are subscribed if you want to be notified when I post a new episode. And also there is one thing I would love you to do. I would be very thankful if you could go and give this podcast five star rating and the review. If you like this content and you think other people might enjoy it as well Feel free to take a screenshot and through it out on your instagram story or share it with your friends. Dotan was also very kind and made a special discount code for his Street Photography Masterclass for our viewers: "ABOUT20" The info and sign-up for the class are at http://courses.dotansaguy.com Follow Dotan: Website: https://www.dotansaguy.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dotansaguy/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dotan In case YOUR Podcast Directory is missing, please let me know in the comments bellow and I will add that. Thank you! If you want to follow me on social media SoundCould: https://soundcloud.com/user-228441570 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aboutphotographyblog/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aboutphotographyblog Twitter: https://twitter.com/aboutphoto_blog Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/aboutphotographyblog/ You can find this content and more on https://aboutphotography.blog Get the Artlist Music: http://bit.ly/ArtlistAboutPhotography (get 2 extra months) Get the Artgrid Videos: http://bit.ly/ArtgridAboutPhotography (get 2 extra months) Index: 0:00:00 - Hello there! 0:01:28 - Introduction 0:01:58 - Photography career - Ideas VS reality 0:03:24 - Is photography career doable if you don’t already have another successful career? 0:08:37 - Is it worth it to study photography in school or university? 0:11:19 - The most and least impactful investments for improving photography skill 0:15:32 - What do you do to improve your photography 0:22:56 - different methods of working the scene 0:23:36 - Following a character in street photography 0:28:08 - Dotan’s system 0:33:02 - Types of street photography 0:37:09 - What are the subject you avoid 0:40:16 - How to correctly break the photography rules? 0:49:14 - What is your camera settings 0:55:08 - Do you have a schedule? 0:57:19 - How many shots do you need for a book 0:58:31 - What is your process after you come back from photoshoot 1:01:03 - Is black and white your style? 1:03:50 - Do you only take horizontal pictures? 1:06:10 - Changing aspect ration VS staying consistent 1:08:46 - Cooperating with a lot of people 1:10:27 - The hardest part of publishing a book 1:14:48 - How difficult it is to adapt new environment ? 1:17:31 - When do you create a shot list? 1:21:45 - Schedule during the project with the subject 1:27:28 - Awkward moments in the bus? 1:29:03 - Dream photography project 1:30:25 - How to get deep in your photography project 1:31:15 - Is it better to have a project in mind? 1:34:07 - Photography goals? 1:35:50 - How profitable it is to publish photography book 1:36:58 - How to find your price when you start selling prints? 1:39:33 - Do you need signed consent or permission when selling your street photographs? Things you can NOT do.. 1:43:53 - Self publishing or using a publisher. What is more profitable? 1:45:25 - Relationship with Leica 1:47:03 - Why is Leica worth it? 1:50:59 - Is Leica M Monochrom better than your normal camera set to black and white? 1:56:35 - Advice for someone who is thinking about starting a professional photography career

In this episode I am talking with Thorsten Overgaard about his photography, Leica cameras and much more. Thank you so much for joing us on this episode. If you like this content and want to see more consider subscribing and sharing it with your friends, it really helps producing more videos like this one and if you really want to get notified use the bell icon. ou can find this podcast live on Youtube where you can ask questions in the real time or find us in your favorite podcast application. Follow Thorsten websites: https://www.overgaard.com https://www.overgaard.dk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thorstenovergaard/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MagicOfLight_ThorstenOvergaard/ In case YOUR Podcast Directory is missing, please let me know in the comments bellow and I will add that. Thank you! INDEX: 0:00:00 - Hello There! 0:01:31 - How did Thorsten get into photography? 0:06:26 - Did you imagine doing photography for living? 0:07:47 - How did you got back into photography? 0:08:55 - How to earn living with photography 0:09:19 - Why did Thorsten Overgaard pull his archive from Getty Images? 0:11:25 - To be successful artist you have to be an entrepreneur 0:19:36 - Helmut Newton and Ansel Adams 0:23:31 - How many pictures does Thorsten von Overgaard take per year? 0:24:51 - I don’t always take pictures 0:28:06 - Editing process 0:29:58 - Is Thorsten ever nervous about taking a picture? 0:31:00 - Subjects Thorsten avoids 0:35:03 - The right way of starting as an artist 0:36:24 - Talking about commercial work 0:39:22 - Postcards by Thorsten von Overgaard 0:42:54 - Thorsten’s system to organise pictures 0:45:31 - How much editing is too much editing? 0:51:28 - How do you decide between horizontal and vertical orientation and when to crop the image? 0:54:19 - Have you already taken your best image? 0:57:39 - Have you ever tried different styles of street photography? 0:58:20 - Finding your style 1:00:01 - Henri Cartier-Bresson and his portrait style 1:01:37 - Your style is unique 1:05:41 - Your first 10 000 photos are your worst 1:10:47 - What would be Thorsten’s one camera and one lens 1:11:08 - What is so magical about Leica? 1:14:30 - Is Leica M a luxury object? 1:16:42 - Could Leica M-D (or Leica monochrom)be your only camera? 1:21:27 - What should be your first Leica camera? 1:22:07 - Leica Q3 with 35mm or 50mm Lens? 1:23:52 - Leica M12 wishlist? 1:25:11 - Have you ever wanted to become Leica ambassador? 1:26:37 - What about different cameras for street photography? iPhone, Ricoh GR, FUJI… 1:31:55 - How do workshops of Thorsten von Overgaard look like? 1:38:17 - How much can be learned and how much is a talent 1:42:01 - How to be original? 1:48:49 - What are you usually looking for when you are judging photography competitions?