Earlier this year a friend of mine phoned in a bit of a fluster. He’d just seen a photography exhibition and claimed to have had a reaction not unlike seeing the Stanze of Raphael, reading the last pages of Joyce’s Ulysses, or listening to the second side of Joy Division’s Closer. To be fair he’s prone to poetic outbursts. I listened with caution. As he rattled through descriptions of grainy prints and unexpected juxtapositions, I felt my pulse quicken. He was describing The Family of Man.

I’ve owned the Family of Man book since my A Level photography days. First shown at MoMA in 1955, the exhibition comprises 503 photographs by 273 photographers from 68 countries. Nine versions of the show were created and toured to around 160 venues in 37 countries including Russia, Germany and Japan. It was seen by an estimated 10 million people. I never thought I’d see it.

Where is it? Not New York, Paris. Not even Bradford

Then came the real surprise. Where is it? Not New York, Paris. Not even Bradford. But Clervaux in Luxembourg, a land better known for castles and investment funds than photographic history. And yet, it made perfect sense—Edward Steichen, the exhibition’s creator, was Luxembourgian and had requested the exhibition be permanently installed there. A few emails exchanged with the Luxembourg Tourist Office and I found myself boarding a 65-minute Luxair flight from London City airport.

Clervaux Castle is a pristine affair nestled in the north of the country, like someone built it from a model village or inspired a World War II Hollywood film set – it may have, the opening engagement of the Battle of the Bulge took place here. In 1964, as Steichen wished, the US government donated the exhibition to Luxembourg. After a period of partial display and extensive restoration, the full exhibition was permanently installed at Clervaux Castle in 1994 – 21 years after Steichen died. In 2003, it was recognised by UNESCO as part of the Memory of the World register, and following further renovations, it reopened in 2013 in a purpose-built, climate-controlled space: 18–20°C, 40–50% humidity, and UV filters on the windows.

On arrival I was greeted by a parade of Patagonia jackets and kids in primary-coloured mud-splashed wellies. This version of the show was the third created, specially made for the European leg. It is composed of original silver gelatine prints on baryta-based paper mounted on wooden panels, which—if you’re interested in conservation—is about as sensible as using Pritt Stick on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Each version was packed into around 26 crates totalling 1.5 tonnes

Each version was packed into around 26 crates totalling 1.5 tonnes – it took over a week to hang following a sheet of instructions. Many of the images bear the signs of their 70-year journey: smudges, cracks and scratches. It only adds to the charm. The exhibitions were only supposed to last one decade not seven.

The show is closed two months a year and two days a week, partly for preservation and partly, I suspect, to give the staff a breather. The collection has been reconstituted as an archaeological object. The reinstatement of the exhibition respects its historical chronology and the wish of its creator to communicate through images. This is not just a gallery—it’s an archive, a time capsule, and a temple to Steichen’s monumental ambition.

Born in 1879 in Bivange, Edward Steichen was many things: a pioneering photographer, a veteran of two World Wars, a curator, and a man who expected dog-like obedience from his staff. Influenced by a politically progressive mother and a suffragette sister, he believed in tolerance but practised ruthless editorial control.

Between 1951 and 1955, Steichen and his team waded through over two million photographs and looked at millions more. He worked from an office above a New York discotheque of questionable repute, occasionally sleeping fully clothed on piles of prints. No one fully understood his vision, but everyone wanted in.

Steichen had a mission: to create a universal visual language that transcended race, class and geography

In the foreword to the book he writes, ‘I believe The Family of Man exhibition… is the most ambitious and challenging project photography has ever attempted.’ For previous exhibitions Steichen had attempted to shock by exhibiting photographs showing the full horrors of what man can do to man. For this he took another approach.

The images selected—five of them Steichen’s own—were edited, cropped (yes-including Henri Cartier-Bresson’s), and sequenced with military precision. Some photographers grumbled (he’d made them sign away all rights), but Steichen had a mission: to create a universal visual language that transcended race, class and geography.

Steichen’s genius wasn’t just in image selection but in spatial choreography. The prints aren’t all at eye level—some are high, some low, some even overhead. There’s an almost musical rhythm to the layout. You don’t just look; you move, weave, crouch, bob.

Humour crops up in delightful ways: a photograph by Ernst Haas of Albert Einstein seemingly searching for his glasses, is hung next to a child solving a simple maths problem while wearing thick specs. A strobe-lit ballerina by Gjon Mili spins not far from a formal studio portrait by Irving Penn. Technique is not the point—humanity is.

From birth to death, war to dance, the exhibition flows like life itself. A series of workers is hung like bricks in a wall. Japanese, Italian, and German families hang together like neighbours. Visitors are squeezed between two walls thick with images of death before being hit with a bang—a giant photo of a hydrogen bomb blast. At MoMA this was reportedly backlit with red light, just in case you weren’t feeling the apocalyptic stakes.

The exhibition is a roll call of photographic greats where surnames suffice – Eisenstadt, Brandt, Capa

But Steichen doesn’t leave you smouldering. The final photo, W. Eugene Smith’s The Walk to Paradise Garden, shows two children (Smith’s own) walking into a clearing. Smith had nearly lost the use of his hands in WWII. This image was among the first he took after dozens of surgeries. It’s not just hopeful—it’s defiant.

The exhibition is a roll call of photographic greats where surnames suffice – Eisenstadt, Brandt, Capa – others return zero search results on Google. Some images achieved fame because of the exhibition—like Henri Leighton’s 1954 photo of two boys, one Black and one white, walking arm-in-arm past shopfronts. Some were already famous—this was the golden age of photojournalism, with copies of weekly magazines Life and Picture Post selling in their millions.

Of course, not everything about The Family of Man has aged well. Critics Roland Barthes and Alan Sekula argued it was little more than Cold War propaganda—a vision of humanity scrubbed clean of politics and cultural difference.

Susan Sontag, in her seminal work On Photography, argues that its attempt to universalise human experience through photography is ultimately flawed. She contends that the exhibition simplifies complex human experiences and reduces them to sentimentalised clichés, thereby obscuring the social, political, and historical contexts that shape individual lives.

Comments in the visitors’ book range from profound to priceless

Steichen adapted the exhibition after launch – removing country credits (these appear in the book). An image of a lynching was taken out seen as an American not universal problem – MoMA visitors clustered around it, disrupting the exhibition’s intended flow. In Japan, images of Nagasaki were added then swiftly removed.

It’s also been accused of romanticising suffering and portraying Africans through a colonial lens. The intentions may have been noble, but the execution wasn’t always nuanced. Quotes from diverse communities are often vague—‘Sioux Indian’ rather than an individual’s name.

Despite its flaws, the show still speaks. My guide recounted a 12-year-old visitor who learned where babies come from after being convinced that a photo by Wayne F. Miller of his newborn son still attached by the umbilical cord—wasn’t a fake. It still has the power to provoke, to move, to teach. And sometimes, to scandalise. Modern visitors gasp at the full-frontal nudity. Comments in the visitors’ book range from profound to priceless:
An exhibition that changes life and viewing of the world. Such an honour to be here. Maya, 18 years, Poland.
WONDERFUL MESSAGE BY WONDERFUL PICTURES AND WORDS. KEEP FOREVER. Anonymous

Entry fee just €6

The curators used over 30 thematic groupings to help shape the exhibition’s narrative, although these aren’t always explicitly communicated to the public. Some are obvious, others more subtle. My personal favourite? The images of leisure. People drinking, dancing, swinging (not that kind). Photos that suggest not only that we’re all human—but that we’re also hilarious. I stayed an hour after the two-hour tour ended, drifting through the rooms, smiling and quietly marvelling.

The Family of Man tries to remind us what’s at stake—not through warning signs but through wonder. It’s reassuring to know that the greatest photo exhibition ever created is preserved in a castle, high on a hill in a little country with a big heart.

As Steichen put it: ‘The mission of photography is to explain man to man and each man to himself.

Even Ryanair flies to Luxembourg – what’s your excuse not to go?

The Family of Man exhibition at Clervaux Castle is open from Wednesday to Sunday, 12:00 to 18:00. March 1 to January 1. Entry fee €6

Dench flew Luxair to Luxembourg City and had an early night at Hotel Novotel Kirchberg. In Clervaux he stayed at the Hotel du Commerce dining at La Table de Clervaux devouring the cod fillet in balsamic vinegar broth with Luxembourg apple before utilising the country’s free public transport system to Vianden, where he bottled out of riding the chairlift but did make the most of the indoor swimming pool and sauna at Hotel Belle-Vue.

Check out our best UK photography exhibitions to see in 2025

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Creating I Am Martin Parr

‘I did make the film with the idea that if you didn’t know who Martin Parr was, you knew nothing about photography, that you would find this film interesting,’ says British director Lee Shulman from his home in France where he’s lived for over 20 years. Shulman has received awards for directing 100+ adverts globally. In 2017 he established the art initiative The Anonymous Project, collecting and preserving unique colour slides from the past 70 years taken by amateur photographers.

After bumping into each other at Shulman’s installation, The House, at the 2019 Rencontres d’Arles, a bond developed with Parr. They went on to collaborate on the book Deja View (Hoxton Mini Press 2021) which pairs Parr’s images with archive images from the Anonymous Project. When Shulman first saw Parr’s work he wasn’t sure if he liked it. He is now an unabashed uber-fan. ‘He’s up there with Paul McCartney. For me, he’s one of those people who’s really created something. Photography will never be the same again and he does it without any ego.’

The 67-minute film launches into a montage of Parr images to White Riot by The Clash, an intellectual punch in the face which sets the tone. It ends with Baggy Trousers by Madness. ‘I grew up in that music, so for me, those two songs are really important, that’s how I see Martin, he’s a punk, a sort of child punk. Even though you see this sort of middle-class, white guy, he just doesn’t care. Madness are the words to Martin’s film photos for me. Baggy Trousers and all these kinds of songs, they felt like they were Martin’s world.’ The acquisition was expensive but Lee refused to do the film without them and the investors relented.

Before the Madness we go on a road trip with Parr and Shulman. In the spirit of a summer camp, they basically jumped in a van and spent a good part of a year on a road trip across England revisiting locations from Parr’s career, including New Brighton, Merseyside, where Parr shot his seminal series The Last Resort, capturing English holidaymakers. At the time it was both influential and controversial, sparking debates about its portrayal of the working class. Parr would often ruin filming by smiling or talking to friend Shulman who often had to hide away, delivering instructions to the hand-held cameraman through an earpiece.

Parr, who’s recently post-cancer, is filmed transiting frame after frame pushing his Elite Care walking frame, occasionally using it to sit down and observe. The technique gives the film great rhythm and energy. Parr is always going somewhere. Shulman says, ‘He’s just a force of nature. He never stops. I was running with the camera, because you can’t keep up. We lost him all the time.’

Uncomfortable reality

Wearing his social camouflage of untucked patterned shirt, soft shoes or sandals, sun hat and half-grin, Parr often becomes one of his own photographs. The film’s high colour grade intentionally matches a Parr colour photograph. The construction of the film is linked by wry archive chapters of Britain which add another layer. Scenes of an idealised Britain of fishing, rowing, golf, horse racing, tea in the garden and royal pageantry contrast with Parr’s uncomfortable reality of what life is actually like.

Parr says, ‘I love Britain, of course, because we all love the country we come from, part of my role is, if you like, to define my relationship to being British and being here… trying to show the yin and yang of British society, and to show it as I find it, as opposed to some idea of it being romantic or good or bad, and to try and show both things.’

Visual legacy

The film explores Parr’s transition from black & white to colour photography in the early 1980s (considered bold and unconventional at the time) and themes around class, cruelty, snobbery, greed, humour, politics and Parr’s overriding visual legacy, leisure. Parr was both accessible and elusive, preferring to let his work speak for itself while subtly conveying his political views through his photos. It highlights his journey to join Magnum and establish his foundation. It offers behind-the-scenes access to his creative process and the philosophy behind his distinctive style.

Parr is the voiceover of the film, he isn’t conventionally sat down and interviewed. More formal contributions are delivered by photographers, curators, staff at the Martin Parr Foundation, Madness bass guitarist Mark Bedford and David Walliams, co-creator of television’s Little Britain. Parr’s wife Susie reveals Parr can’t swim.

Grayson Perry provides eloquent and erudite Parr commentary. ‘The humour is just so important, so underrated. Culture is biased against humour, and yet humour is what keeps it in check. There’s so much what I call performative seriousness in art, where people think that misery is somehow more important in art than humour. And he has inveigled his way into our visual unconscious, now. That is the mark of a true genius. You know that he’s had such a strong vision and he’s able to technically convey that over such a vast, sort of, oeuvre. He’s made a way of seeing which not many people get to do.’

From a Parr fan it was never going to be a critical film. It’s a homage and love letter to Britain which has global appeal. A film about what it means to be obsessed. Shulman says, ‘Some artists change the way we see the world. Martin, for me, is that person. His vision and style have become a new language in the way photography has evolved. He is a mystery and I wanted to understand what consistently drives him to take great images.’

As the film credits and montage of Parr autoportraits roll, is it Parr’s swan song? ‘You appreciate the ability to photograph even more after cancer, because that’s one thing that really sobers you up. Makes you realise… your family, things you take for granted beforehand, you know are so much more appreciated in the post-cancer world. So it’s been a real motivation for me to do more work.’

Get tickets to the I Am Martin Parr premiere in London!

• 19th February 2025
• https://www.curzon.com/ticketing/seats/SOH1-48603/

I Am Martin Parr is in cinemas from 21 February 2025. Produced by Haut et Court Doc in association with Dogwoof.

Watch the trailer:

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Inventions are rarely devised by one person or appear at a precise date. Often there are several individuals working to the same end, at different times and unaware of the others. Think of the motor car, telephone, personal computer or the cinema.  Eventually one comes out ahead and is hailed as the ‘inventor’.

Coming up with a date when photography was ‘invented’ is a fraught exercise: 1727, 1802, 1826, 1834 and 1837, are all potential candidates. But like so many inventions photography has its origins in the work of many people working from the late eighteenth century and, of course, it depends on how one defines photography. 

If you took a poll then 1839 would be the date that most people would say that photography was ‘invented’. That year was the culmination of several decades of work and it saw the announcement of two separate photographic processes: Frenchman Louis Daguerre’s daguerreotype and Britain’s Henry Talbot’s photogenic drawing process.

Of these Daguerre’s was by far the most successful commercially, leading to the growth of portrait studios as it, arguably, produced the better image. Daguerre’s process made a single image, Talbot’s produced a negative from which multiple positive prints could be made. It was Talbot’s process, which he patented as the Calotype in 1841, which formed the basis of photography, with later improvements, until the advent of digital photography from the 1990s.

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce

AP reader Jose Casas-Finet from the United States wrote to the editor recently suggesting that AP commemorate the two hundredth anniversary of photography. He suggested that 16 September 1824 was the first evidence of a photograph from life being made in a letter from Joseph Nicéphore Niépce to his older brother Claude.

Niépce has a better claim than most for the invention of photography and his experiments in the 1820s helped Daguerre in his invention of the daguerreotype.

Nicéphore was born in to a well-to-do family in 1756. They owned land around Chalon-sur-Sôane in Burgundy, Eastern France. He considered a religious career but withdrew after two years, coming away with an interest in chemistry and science. After six years in the military, including service in the revolutionary army he settled in Nice where Claude joined him.

They returned to Chalon in 1801 and began developing a number of inventions based in engineering and science. One of these was an internal combustion engine which led to a motor boat which they tested on the river Sôane and called the Pyréolophone. It was patented in 1807and later work led to a fuel injection system. Other inventions followed: a hydraulic pump system to deliver water for Versailles in 1811, a process to extract indigo dye from woad, and a bicycle or velocipede.

Heliogravure

Nicéphore later claimed to have been experimenting with light-sensitive materials from 1797, but he began to work seriously with a camera obscura and light-sensitive in 1816. Using his knowledge of chemistry he succeeded in taking impressions out of a window on to paper using silver chloride. Talbot would start doing the same in the mid-1830s. Like Talbot, Niépce couldn’t fix his images and the paper quickly blackened.

Nicéphore realised that there was an opportunity to make images for printing and experimented with light-sensitive emulsions on stone and printing plates, with the intention of etching. This meant the fading of the images did not matter and an etched plate would allow multiple copies to be made with ink.

He used bitumen of Judea, which he had previously used as a fuel for his boat engine, and by 1822 he had managed to make a copy of an engraving of Pope Pius VII by putting his plate directly in to contact with it. By 1826 Niépce was able to make a copy of an engraving of Cardinal d’Ambroise and was able to print from this. Niépce’s plate is in the RPS Collection at the V&A Museum.

Proto-Photography

The next step for Niépce was to make an image from life, rather than simply copying engravings. And this brings us back to Jose’s proposed date for the invention of photography of 16 September 1824.

I checked with curator and photographic historian Julien Faure-Conorton in Paris. Julien had transcribed all Niépce’s letters and kindly provided me with an accurate English translation and his own comments.

In the letter to Claude, Nicéphore describes getting a view from life which he called ‘points of views’ using the camera obscura. He said the image had ‘surprising sharpness…down to the minutest details…and with their most delicate hues’ and he described the effect as ‘something magic’.

Nicéphore adds: ‘As from today, you can consider as a proven and unquestionable fact the success of the application of my processes to point of views, either on stone or on glass’.  His method wasn’t perfect as the same letter says that the exposure was four to five days! Not practical for portraiture or anything much other than still lifes and landscapes! He also notes that the image was barely visible, so more work was needed. Sadly the results of these experiments no longer survive.

Despite these issues the 1824 letter provides us with evidence, albeit Nicéphore’s own words, that he had made an image from life, which he termed a heliograph.

He carried on experimenting and obtained a better camera obscura and lenses from the Paris optician Chevalier. In 1827, he took another view from his window on to a pewter plate and that plate now titled View from the Window at Le Gras survives and is held as part of the Gernsheim Collection at the University of Texas, in Austin.  Until recently it was termed the world’s first photograph, but curators believe it is more accurate to say that that it is the oldest surviving photograph from life.

In 1829 Nicéphore and Daguerre, who had heard of his experiments probably from Chevalier, signed a ten-year partnership to perfect heliography. Then Niépce died suddenly in 1833. In 1835 the partnership was resumed with Niépce’s son, Isidore, although Daguerre made himself the dominant partner. Progress was made with what would became the daguerreotype showing potential and the partnership was further revised in 1837.

Aftermath

After the daguerreotype was announced in 1839 and given freely to the world, other than in England and Wales where it was patented, both Daguerre and Isidore received a pension from the French government.

Although Nicéphore and Claude did not make their fortunes from heliography as they hoped, Nicéphore’s experimentation in the 1820s paved the way for Daguerre to develop the daguerreotype. This saw phenomenal success across the world until it had been largely superseded by the late 1850s by Frederick Scott Archer’s collodion process which combined the best of the daguerreotype in terms of a clearly defined image, and the Calotype by producing a negative.

The date that Jose, AP’s reader proposed, seems as close as any to the invention of photography. Although Niépce’s process was not very practical, it underpinned Daguerre’s later experiments, but it would be another fourteen years before both the daguerreotype and photogenic drawing processes produced distinct images, that were permanent, and with much shorter exposure times.

As photographers we have much to be thankful to Joseph Nicéphore Niépce and to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his success, a vital step on photography’s invention.

Dr Michael Pritchard holds a PhD in the history of photography. He worked for the Royal Photographic Society from 2011-2023 and is now an independent photography consultant. www.mpritchard.com

Further reading:

• World’s best photo hoaxes
• Ilford Film: over 130 years of film photography
• Man on the Moon photo named most famous of all time
• Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2024 shortlist announced
• Best photography exhibitions to see

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Astrophotographer Josh Dury captured this stunning image of the Orion Constellation above the iconic Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival site earlier this year in January. It was months in the making, with extensive research undertaken, recces and hours of planning.

Capturing this self-portrait has been an aspiration for Josh for quite some time. His passion for the arts makes this legendary location of one of the world’s most well-known music festivals, the ideal backdrop for creating his masterpiece. But to pull it off, he had several elements to consider and careful planning to ensure the stars aligned on the night.

It was during a recce of the site on New Year’s Eve that Josh realised his plans to shoot at his desired location would be far more straightforward than originally anticipated. After stopping to chat to a couple of locals, he eagerly shared his ambitions with them, and they assured him the landowners, Sir Michael and Emily Eavis, encouraged the public to roam freely along the many footpaths across their land. Josh was given the green light. ‘My hopes of being able to capture “Starstruck” were looking more promising.’

Next, Josh had to pinpoint the exact location. ‘I needed to know which direction the “skeleton” of the Pyramid Stage would be in context to the setting of Orion, which is approximately south-west-west. The image had to be timed precisely at the right place and at the right time to capture Orion from this perspective.’

Once Josh was able to visualise the angle of view, he had to tackle his next challenge – the weather and light conditions in the night sky. Unfortunately, the weather throughout January had been abysmal and he had to wait for a clear night with minimal light from the moon. ‘I needed to capture those finer details under as dark as skies as possible. This also needed to be timed with the constellation Orion beginning to set towards the south-west at approximately midnight to 1am.’

When the perfect conditions finally presented themselves, Josh set out with his Sony A7S, Sigma Art 20mm f/1.4 lens, and his Benro Tortoise 24CLV and geared head.

Due to the astronomical nature of the image, the final picture is a composite. The image depicts an area of the night sky known as The Orion Molecular Complex. Josh explains, ‘This region captures faint details that consist of hydrogen-alpha gas emissions that stretch through the Constellation of Orion; including a notable astronomical target, referred to astronomically, as “Barnard’s Loop”.

These details are just about detectable using unmodified cameras. While some astrophotographers decide to remove the infrared-cut filter from their camera sensors to resolve this detail over long exposures, it can render the warranty of your camera void.’ In this instance, Josh decided to capture what was possible with his camera setup without the need for modification. He continues, ‘This image required extensive exposures, 10 second subs over a 30-minute exposure, in relatively dark skies from the same spot and is documented as a composite for that very purpose.’

The hours of preparation paid off and after a successful shoot Josh can now proudly show off his hard work. His self-portrait was deliberately crafted under the frame of the Pyramid Stage to mimic the many names in music who have passed before, from the likes of Bowie and Dolly Parton to Sir Elton John. Josh says, ‘This image brings together the pyramid that is photography, music and astronomy. Capturing the “King of the Stars” – Orion, as he takes centre stage.’

This self-portrait really is a wonderful celebration of the arts and Josh dedicates it to two of his greatest musical influences, Kate Bush and Grace Jones. Josh says, ‘This is my attempt to reach out to them through the stars to give thanks for what their music has lent to me narratively to craft my images. In the hopes that one day, it will be their turn to take their place on centre stage.’

About Josh Dury

Josh Dury is an award-winning professional landscape astrophotographer, presenter, speaker and writer from the Mendip Hills in Somerset. His work is recognised by major publishing and media outlets, including: NASA, BBC, ITV and CNN amongst others. See more of his work at www.joshduryphoto-media.com

Further reading:

• The night sky: How to photograph stars and the Milky Way
• Guide to night landscape photography
• How to shoot star trails – in 6 easy steps
• How to photograph the moon – and super moon!

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From 1986-1992, Sebastião Salgado travelled across the globe documenting the end of the first big Industrial Revolution and the demise of manual labour. The result was the classic tome, Workers: An Archaeology of the Industrial Age. The book presented six essential chapters: Agriculture, Food, Mining, Industry, Oil and Construction.

The striking black & white images are an eclectic odyssey, from Russian car factories to the beaches of Bangladesh. Collectively, the book delivered a masterclass in photographic technique – content and contrast, lighting and composition. It is testament to the best attributes of the power of photography and what can be achieved through collaboration between subject, sponsor, publisher, editor, colleagues, friends and family.

Thirty years on from its first publication in 1993 and now republished by Taschen, Workers still resonates, perhaps more so as the world’s population is increasingly sucked into a screen/computer/robot-led existence. To mark the anniversary and the book’s republication, we ask leading figures in photography about the significance of Workers, Salgado’s importance and his influence on their craft, and their favourite of his images from this important book.

Andy Greenacre – Director of Photography, The Telegraph Magazine / Telegraph Luxury

‘There are a great many photographs by Sebastião Salgado that have attained iconic status within the canon of his works, but from Workers I have chosen what might, at first glance, seem a more prosaic image. Shot in 1990 at the Brest military shipyard in France, the picture of a welder, shown below, works on several levels.

‘First, the composition and scale is much tighter than many of Salgado’s photographs, yet it retains a sense of crackle and drama with him shooting so close to the sparks being thrown off the steel. Second, we are treated to his trademark printing with absolute whites and inky blacks. But what I like
most about this picture is the nod to the surrealism in the work of photographers of the 1930s, in particular Cartier-Bresson and Alvarez Bravo.

Salgado’s low shooting position gives us that eye within an eye, a touch of humour that adds another dimension to the photograph. From record of
industry to surrealist fun, this is a great example of Salgado’s ability to imbue his works with multiple levels of depth and interpretation.’

Carol Allen-Storey – Award-winning photojournalist chronicling complex humanitarian and social issues

‘Sebastião Salgado’s style of photography, for me, fosters poetic beauty embracing brutally raw subjects – from poverty through to the oppression of cultures and the impact of industrialisation on the natural landscape. His photographs go beyond language and culture, reaching deep into our souls and challenging us to reflect on the world we live in. They provoke debate and a call to action.

‘Salgado said: “I’m not an artist. An artist makes an object. Me, it’s not an object, I work in history, I’m a storyteller,” and “Photography is a language that is all the more powerful because it can be read anywhere in the world without the need for translation.” His exquisitely crafted visuals and personal philosophy have had a profound influence on my brand of photography.’

Nigel Atherton – Editor, Amateur Photographer

‘There are key moments in all our lives that shape who we are and what we believe in, and one of mine was the day in 1993 that I went to the Royal Festival Hall in London to see Sebastião Salgado’s Workers exhibition. Oil workers, gold miners, ship-breakers, fishermen, farmers, tea pickers and others were all sympathetically but beautifully photographed like the heroes of an epic visual poem.

‘It was my “red pill” moment, showing me for the first time how the comforts that we enjoy are so often built upon the exploitation of some of the world’s poorest people. Salgado’s next project, Migrations, which focused on migrants, refugees and displaced people around the world, many fleeing conflict or natural disasters, was equally powerful and is just as relevant today. His subsequent projects, Genesis and Amazonia, focused on humanity’s relationship with nature and were no less epic in scale and visual impact.

‘Choosing just one Salgado image is tough, but I feel I have to go with one of the images that first made my jaw drop all those years ago, from his now-iconic 1986 project on the Serra Pelada gold mine in Brazil. The astonishing sight of 50,000 men digging for gold in the mud of the Amazon, like a scene from Dante’s Inferno, or the building of the pyramids, is one that has stayed with me. This mine is now closed, but it’s a blight on humanity that millions still live similarly wretched lives.’

Russ O’Connell – Picture Editor, The Sunday Times Magazine

‘Salgado is one of those rare and prolific photojournalists who documents world events and natural world scenes with an honest yet artistic eye. His monochromatic images often play with scale and perspective in a way that is both intriguing and awe-inspiring. From his iconic images of workers in the burning oil fields of Kuwait, to the majestic tail of a southern right whale in his Genesis works, he never ceases to amaze me with the scope and detail of the work he produces.

‘My favourite image of his (Serra Pelada gold mine, Brazil, 1986) is biblical in scale, akin to a scene from an Indiana Jones feature film. It shows a worker in a Brazilian gold mine, standing like Jesus on the cross, while hundreds of other workers scurry up and down primitive ladders like ants carrying earth on their backs. It’s hard to believe it is a real scene and not an orchestrated film set, but that’s the beauty in Salgado’s work; it always leaves you stunned by its undeniable reality.’

Edmond Terakopian – Photojournalist and commercial photographer, winner of the British Press Awards Photographer of the Year award

‘I think most of us can remember the photographs that grabbed us and completely shook us to the core, staying with us for life. Salgado’s ‘Crucifixion’ photograph from the open gold mine at Serra Pelada in Brazil from 1986, is just such an image. It engaged me both emotionally and intellectually.

‘The scale of it is immense. It’s a photograph that captures a grand vista showing almost ant-like colonies of men in the background, creating a dramatic mosaic of suffering for a meagre wage, yet at the same time juxtaposes an amazing portrait of absolute exhaustion, elegantly, with immense gentleness and empathy. A man broken through a day of hell, all to feed the super-wealthy with their obsession for wanting more and more gold.

‘On a personal level, at the age of 17, a year after starting photography, this image also changed the direction of my life. It opened my eyes to what a camera could produce, when in the hands of a thoughtful, intelligent, empathetic photographer, with immense aesthetic talent. It set me on the path to wanting to be a photojournalist. I could even say that I owe my career to this photograph.’

David Collyer FRPS – RPS Documentary Photographer of the Year 2021

‘Every artistic genre has its standout practitioners; those who transcend the ordinary or even the extraordinary to become indisputable masters. Sebastião Salgado is one of photography’s masters. Not only are his campaigning photojournalism and social documentary work vital in showing the plight of some of the world’s most vulnerable and exploited people, but he does so with a consistent technical excellence. Importantly, his work is also visually stunning. Each photograph, a sumptuous feast for the eyes, is an unflinching gaze into the realities of the subject, yet is never done with anything other than respect and empathy for those he portrays.

‘Choosing a favourite Salgado image is almost impossible, but I’ve chosen the photo of the ship Prodromos being broken up in Bangladesh in 1989. The workers are imperative to the shot but dwarfed almost into non-existence by the looming hulk of the ship; they are vital yet somehow insignificant. The juxtaposition of the might of the vessel and the diminutive, exploited scrap workers is a perfect metaphor for the whole of Salgado’s work.

It really is a powerful testament to the battle between man and the elements, and the planet and the excesses of man. This shot has everything, yet unlike so much of his work, it’s strangely minimal in its composition. The strength of the shot, however, is that because of that sparse presentation, its impact is masterfully maximal. Genius!’

Tom Oldham – Photographer, Founder of Creative Corners, AP’s Hero of Photography 2023 and Sony Imaging Ambassador

‘Describing Salgado’s impact on photography is nigh-on impossible as he transcends the form. Us mere pixel- peepers aren’t asking what lens or format or megapixels or developer he’s using, are we? In no way is this work about the technical (though of course he is a master) – it’s so much more about how can anyone capture such magnitude, such incredible enormity whilst retaining that essential relatability necessary for an image to be about humans.

‘For me, what Salgado is to photography, The Beatles are to music and Ali is to boxing – you easily forget the medium and focus just on the message. The depth of understanding and pure power in those compositions has created change in us all, and for that the world owes Salgado a colossal debt.’

Ian Berry – Leading British photojournalist and Magnum Photos member since 1962

‘The first thing about Sebastião is that he’s a great photographer. Secondly, he has a background as an economist working for the World Bank which gave him a wide knowledge of global affairs and conditions. Lastly he’s a terrific guy, which is a great combination for a photojournalist/documentary photographer.

‘It was on his travels to Africa for the World Bank that he first started seriously taking photographs of the people he met. Then in 1973, he abandoned his career as an economist to concentrate on photography, working initially on news assignments before veering towards the work for which he is well-known. In 1979 he joined Magnum Photos, resigning in 1994 to start his own agency, Amazonas Images, in Paris with his wife Lélia.

‘I have sad memories of Magnum board meetings when there were discussions between two distinct sides on the board about where Magnum was going. Sebastião said that if Magnum didn’t maintain its editorial outlook he would quit. Things got heated. Sebastião rose, apparently about to depart, when Henri Cartier-Bresson got up and wedged a chair under the doorknob – a symbolic gesture to prevent him leaving. Then things became more peaceable but flared up again at a later board meeting when he rose to explain why he would leave Magnum and was basically ignored. He quit and I drove him to Heathrow to fly back home.

‘Although he decided to leave Magnum he has gone on to greater things, producing wonderful books with his capacity to spend years on a project. He is what Magnum should be about and is a great example for any budding photojournalist / documentary photographer.

‘Another side to mention is that he is also a passionate believer in preserving the environment. In 1998 his wife Lélia and he created Instituto Terra, an environmental organisation that aims to promote the restoration of the Rio Doce valley. Instituto Terra, besides advocating reforestation, promotes environmental education, scientific research, and sustainable development. For his part he has planted thousands of trees on his organic farm in Brazil.’

Tiffany Tangen – Head of Content, Wex Photo Video

‘Rembrandt became synonymous with the Golden Age because he was able to paint preternatural light, and for the same reason Sebastião Salgado is synonymous with photography. Spending a lifetime documenting the world in uncontrollable conditions, Salgado is able to see the light, regardless of what’s unfolding in front of him; to capture truth and trauma so beautifully is a rarity, and one that allows the audience to connect with a situation more wholly.   

‘My favourite image from the Workers collection is ‘Coal Mining, Dhanbad, Bihar, India, 1989’ (above). Salgado encapsulates a sense of individuality against a backdrop of sameness, like ants marching towards summer. His ability to connect you with the subject allows you to see both the solitary man, and the army marching behind. The two perspectives offer an all-encompassing visual story. The ability to document so beautifully, and in such an image-saturated world, gives scope for the general public to care more, which is something that is entirely welcomed.’

Book Review – Workers: An Archaeology of the Industrial Age

Workers is widely recognised as an exploration of the activities that have defined labour from the Stone Age through the Industrial Age to the present. Faithful to the spirit and intent of the original publication, it pays tribute to the time-honoured tradition of manual labour.

‘This book is an homage to workers, a farewell to a world of manual labour that is slowly disappearing and a tribute to those men and women who still work as they have for centuries,’ writes Salgado. His lens elevates the workers to hero or saint. The constant companions of manual labour – poverty, disease, exploitation, injury – are largely ignored. It unapologetically avoids straying from the frontline of the working environment into people’s private lives.

That’s the Salgado way of taking pictures, to eulogise his subjects and present the best comprehension of human beings and the human condition. To show how the spirit of man prevails in the harshest of conditions. To deliver a message of endurance and hope. Every social documentary photographer and photojournalist has their own eye and a decision to make about what to record and take responsibility for what to leave out, in order to construct a narrative that can effect positive change. Salgado’s method provides a valid historical truth within a framework about workers, how the world works and what unites race and nationalities.

‘Salgado unveils the pain, the beauty, and the brutality of the world of work on which everything rests,’ wrote playwright Arthur Miller on the book’s original publication – a description that would be equally valid if written today.

Workers: An Archaeology of the Industrial Age by Sebastião Salgado is published by Taschen, RRP £80. www.taschen.com

More reading:

• Sebastião Salgado honoured in Sony Awards
• Sebastião Salgado’s new book: Amazônia

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The post Celebrating 30 years of Workers by Sebastião Salgado appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

The album was titled after Swift’s birth year, mainly to signify her symbolic artistic rebirth, and was supported by seven singles, including three US Billboard Hot 100 number ones – Shake It Off, Blank Space and Bad Blood.

The fact that Swift named 1989 after her birth year also tends to corroborate the influence of 1980s synth-pop on the record. As creative director, Swift insisted the record’s packaging included pictures taken with a Polaroid instant camera – a photographic method that was significantly more popular in her birth year of 1989 than in the year of the album’s release, 2014, in the age of smartphone cameras and digital images on social media. 

The alleged inspiration of the musical work of Peter Gabriel also seems fitting as, like Gabriel with his 1980 album Peter Gabriel III (aka ‘Melt’), Swift chose to depict herself on the cover by using a Polaroid image as the main visual. In addition, similarly to what Gabriel and his art creatives Hipgnosis did on the cover of the ‘Melt’ album, she made the artistic decision of not showing the whole of her face.

Cut-off head

Swift said the choice of image for the cover was intended to bring about a sense of mystery. She explained, ‘I didn’t want people to know the emotional DNA of this album. I didn’t want them to see a smiling picture on the cover and think this was a happy album, or see a sad-looking facial expression and think, “oh, this is another breakup record”.’ 

The Polaroid cover of the album is a colour portrait of Swift, but it deliberately cuts off her face just below the eyes with her T.S. initials at the bottom left and 1989 at the bottom right in black marker pen. Swift has red lipstick on and is wearing a sweatshirt featuring flying seagulls, which some people have speculated is a reference to the British band A Flock of Seagulls, who had huge success in the US in the 1980s. Swift revealed, ‘Having been born on 13 December 1989, this album is called 1989. That photo you are seeing is a Polaroid we took, we took the album photos on Polaroids. It was kind of an accident, so I figured why not make that photo the album cover?’

Each CD copy of the 1989 album included a packet of 13 random Polaroid pictures (one of five available sets), chosen from 65 different pictures. The shots portrayed Swift in various settings, such as backdrops of New York and recording sessions with the producers. The photos are out-of-focus, off-framed, with a sepia-tinged treatment, and feature the 1989 song lyrics written with black marker on the bottom. 

Photographic duo

The US photographers behind the 1989 album cover shoot were Sarah Barlow and Stephen Schofield, who are based in LA and are known professionally as Lowfield. Barlow and Schofield had originally met in Nashville, with Schofield seeing potential beyond Barlow’s normal wedding photography work; this led to a collaboration that is ongoing. Both Barlow and Schofield had befriended Swift independently of each other and their first official paid job together was to shoot the cover of Swift’s 2012 studio album, Red.

In a similar way to the subsequent 1989 album cover, the front of the Red album also somewhat obscured Swift’s face, but it was simply a case of a shadow falling across the singer’s face because she was wearing a hat. In an interview, Barlow told Musicbed, ‘One of her background singers needed headshots. When Taylor saw them a few months later she came to me and was like, “Liz showed me the shots you took of her, and I need my album to look exactly like that.” Clearly this was a no-brainer. I said, “OK!”.’

In the Musicbed interview, Barlow revealed that the 1989 shoot ‘was like a Polaroid and digital mix. I think we end up shooting 460 Polaroids… [an] insane number of Polaroids.’ The idea behind the shoot was to purposefully mimic an image you might find in an old photo album or the type of candid shot you might take of a friend or put on social media.

Boost for Polaroid

The then-Polaroid Corporation CEO, Scott Hardy, reported that the Taylor Swift 1989 Polaroid album cover concept propelled a revival in instant film, especially among the hipster subculture who valued the ‘nostalgia and retro element of what [their] company stands for’. It also saw many Taylor Swift fans rushing out to buy Polaroid cameras to experience the fun and joy of creating instant images.

In a 2015 interview with website Digital Spy, Scott Hardy revealed how creating the cover of the 1989 album came about. ‘Taylor Swift’s camp approached us and told us about her upcoming album, 1989, which was the year she was born. They said they would love to do something with Polaroid, and so we did a nice collaboration effort with her, and she bundled 12 Polaroid photographs with that special edition album.

‘With a Polaroid picture you have that space to write underneath what it is, and so she personally hand- wrote what’s going on, chose the photographs and then we bundled them in. It was one of the most successful album launches in history. That was a proof point that showed that younger demographic know Polaroid, they want Polaroid products and they love what we stand for.’

A final twist

The 1989 LP was marketed as Swift’s first ‘official pop’ album, following her earlier, more country-style work. To bolster sales, Swift and Big Machine Records implemented an extensive marketing plan with Swift adopting a zany aspect for her 1989 persona. She had already used social media extensively to communicate with her fan base, showcasing her personal life to make young fans feel engaged with her. 

A final twist to the 1989 cover story came in late October 2023 with the release of ‘Taylor’s Version’ of the 1989 album. After leaving Big Machine Label Group, in 2018 Taylor Swift had subsequently negotiated to own the master rights to all the new music she created. By re-recording the 1989 album she now owns its rights moving forward.

The re-recording of 1989 heralded a fresh album cover, with a more conventional portrait of Taylor Swift shot by Beth Garrabrant. In a nod to the original 1989 album cover the 1989: Taylor’s Version imagery features flying seagulls in the background, but shows a head and shoulders portrait of Swift. Garrabrant had previously shot the black & white cover of Swift’s 2020 lockdown album Folklore, which shows the musician sleepwalking
in woodland in a nightgown.

Such was the initial worldwide reaction to the original Taylor Swift album cover that, in March 2022, the US music industry bible Billboard ranked the 1989 cover artwork as number 50 in its countdown of the 50 greatest album covers of all time. Despite its comparative newness, 1989 has clearly already carved out its own unique niche in album cover history.

Taylor Swift, 1989 – Quick facts:

• Released: 27 October 2014 (Big Machine Records)
• Best chart performance: No. 1 in 13 countries, including the US and UK
• Sales: Over 10,000,000 certified sales worldwide
• Fascinating fact: The cover concept and execution for the album quickly gained plaudits and spawned a host of parodies and imitators. One of the most entertaining was by the residents of Sydmar Lodge Care Home in London who, during the first 2020 Covid lockdown, recreated several iconic album covers. The Taylor Swift cover was mimicked by resident ‘R.C.’ with 1922 replacing the 1989 birth year. The project was masterminded and creatively directed by Robert Speker (activities co-ordinator at Sydmar Lodge), with sales proceeds going to the Alzheimer’s Society and the residents. See carehomealbumcovers.com

Lowfield

Lowfield is the professional name for the photography and directing duo of Sarah Barlow and Stephen Schofield, who are based in Los Angeles. They originally met in Nashville with Schofield seeing potential beyond Barlow’s wedding photography work. Lowfield’s first official paid job was shooting the cover of Taylor Swift’s 2012 album Red. The duo has subsequently also shot record covers for Pharrell Williams, Wilder Woods, Grace Mitchell and Hailee Steinfeld. www.low-field.com

Panel feedback:

Andy Cowles: ‘Taylor Swift is famous for her sense of control. This cover might suggest a casual approach to stardom, but nothing could be further from the truth. The handwriting is cute, but the power comes from the crop. The only thing that matters here are her lips. These are what we are being invited to buy into.’

Kevin Cummins: ‘Though this cover is well-crafted and glamorous, it has a DIY feel. It’s as if it was shot on a cheap Polaroid as a reference print for continuity on a video, rather than an expensive album sleeve shoot. I love the framing of the subject and the scribbled Sharpie title. It intrigues. It’s the perfect package.’ 

Rachael Wright: ‘The Sharpie-written title makes it feel personal; in keeping with Swift’s “Dear Diary” song-writing style. The choices reflect her growing confidence as an artist – the use of initials, the loose sweater, the undone hair and the face crop, which draws viewers’ eyes straight to her signature red lipstick.’

Leading lights of photography, music and design chose their favourite album covers. The panel includes: Janette Beckmann, Jason Bell, Harry Borden, Ed Caraeff, Andy Cowles, Kevin Cummins, Dr Andy Earl, Jill Furmanovsky, Christie Goodwin, Peter Hook, Simon Larbalestier, Gered Mankowitz, Dennis Morris, Peter Neill, Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell, Rankin, Jamel Shabazz, Mat Snow, Howard Wakefield, Kirk Weddle, Rachael Wright.

Further reading:

• Nirvana’s Nevermind album cover voted ‘most iconic of all time’
• Greatest Album Photography: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
• Greatest album photography: Sticky Fingers by the Rolling Stones
• Greatest album photography: Quadrophenia The Who

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The post Taylor Swift, 1989 – the story behind the iconic album cover by LOWFIELD appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

Subjects can be found anywhere from inside our own homes, gardens and of course, the great outdoors. We share some of the best close-up photographs as inspiration for your next close-up or macro shots:

The Best Close-Up and Macro Photographs

Hemitriachia calyucata by Nathan Benstead

Nathan Benstead. Hemitriachia calyucata. Sony A7R IV, Laowa 100mm f/2.8, 1/200sec at f/8, ISO 200.

Nathan was the Young Close-up Photographer of the Year winner of the CUPOTY 04, 2022 competition.

Last winter, I was walking through my local woodland, inspecting rotten logs and sticks, when I came across a log covered in slime mould fruiting bodies or sporangia. I set up my camera gear and focused on a small cluster among the moss.

@nature.magnified

Little Predator by Viktor Lyagushkin

Little Predator. Photo credit: Viktor Lyagushkin/CUPOTY. Nikon D850, Nikkor 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5 Fisheye, 1/80sec at f/13, ISO 3200.

Viktor was the ‘Underwater’ category winner of the CUPOTY 04 (2022) competition.

This is a Lucernaria quadricornis (Stauromedusae), a stalked jellyfish, photographed beneath the ice of the White Sea in Russia – the only freezing sea in Europe. The green colour of the water is a sign of spring as algae grows. ‘The “leg” of the jellyfish helps it to attach to a stone or seaweed. Its tentacles project up or down, waiting for prey. If its hunt is successful, it catches the prey and collapses its tentacles into a fist. If the hunting site is no good, Lucernaria walks away on its “leg” or sometimes its “hands”.

@viktor_lyagushkin

Batrachospermum Algae by Marek Miś

Batrachospermum red algae. Photo credit: Marek Miś. Pentax K-1, Olympus 4x S-plan Apo objective, 1/5sec, ISO 100.

Marek was the ‘Micro’ category winner of CUPOTY 04 (2022 competition).

I took a sample of Batrachospermum (a kind of red algae) from a small river in Wigry National Park, Poland. Although it has natural beauty, it doesn’t look great using bright-field illumination. However, by combining polarised light and darkfield techniques I managed to get a colourful and interesting picture.

‘It was challenging to show more than one or two “twigs” of algae, because even a 4x microscope objective shows too small a part. To capture it properly, I made a panorama consisting of nine images stitched together during post-processing. To expand the depth of field, which is very shallow using a microscope, each of the nine images consist of several frames combined in one output image in Helicon Focus. The final image is the result of combining more than 100 separate shots. 

@marekmisphotography__

Nature’s Pitfall by Samantha Stephens

Nature’s Pitfall. Photo credit: Samantha Stephenson. Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Laowa 15mm f/4 macro lens,1/100sec, ISO 1250.

Samantha was the Overall and ‘Animals’ category winner of CUPOTY 04 (2022 competition).

Northern pitcher plants (Sarracenia purpurea) are carnivorous, allowing them to survive in nutrient-poor bog environments. Here there is no rich soil, but rather a floating mat of sphagnum moss. Instead of drawing nutrients up through their roots, this plant relies on trapping prey in its specialised bell-shaped leaves, called pitchers.

Typically, these plants feast on invertebrates – such as moths and flies – but recently, researchers at the Algonquin Wildlife Research Station discovered a surprising new item on the plant’s menu: juvenile spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum). This population of northern pitcher plants in Algonquin Provincial Park is the first to be found regularly consuming a vertebrate prey. For a plant that’s used to capturing tiny invertebrates, a juvenile spotted salamander is a hefty feast!

On the day I made this image, I was following researchers on their daily surveys of the plants. Pitchers typically contain just one salamander prey at a time, although occasionally they catch multiple salamanders simultaneously. When I saw a pitcher that had two salamanders, both at the same stage of decay floating at the surface of the pitcher’s fluid, I knew it was a special and fleeting moment. The next day, both salamanders had sunk to the bottom of the pitcher.

@samanthastephens_

Ice Encrusted Comatricha by Barry Webb

Ice Encrusted Comatricha. Photo credit: Barry Webb. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro, 1/15sec at f/4, ISO 200.

Barry was the ‘Fungi’ category winner of CUPOTY 04 (2022) competition.

In January last year, following two days of freezing fog and sub-zero temperatures, I found some mature Comatricha growing on an old fence post lying on a pile of discarded, rotting timber. I was attracted to the way the ice had encased the slime mould, creating strange, windswept, leaf-like shapes. The tallest one was only 3mm high, including the ice. The final image is the result of 55 focus-bracketed images combined in Zerene Stacker.

@barrywebbimages

Mayan Derriere by Jamie Hall

Mayan Derriere. Photo credit: Jamie Hall. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 lens, 1/100sec at f/10, ISO 320.

Jamie was the ‘Invertebrate Portrait’ category winner of CUPOTY 04 (2022 competition).

This triangular spider species (Arkys curtulus) is an ambush predator, not a web-based hunter like most. To hunt its prey, it sits compact and curled up on a leaf, mimicking bird poo or other bio-debris. Balanced abdomen-side down, eyes up, it looks to the sky and watches for an unsuspecting fly or other insect to wander onto the leaf.

The abdomen on this species has some very pronounced and interesting markings, which reminded me of the Mayan carvings on rocks and stone. This individual was photographed in a conservation park in Brisbane, Australia.

@jamie_hall_definitive_imaging

Veiled by Wim Voojs

Veiled. Photo credit: Wim Voojs. Sony A7III, Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra-Macro, 1/500sec at f/2.8, ISO 500.

Wim was the ‘Butterflies & Dragonflies’ category winner of CUPOTY 04 (2022 competition).

I found this dew-covered male banded demoiselle on a reed stem among the streams near my hometown, Ede in the Netherlands. Banded demoiselles are easy to approach as they rest and dry in the early morning. I tried to find an angle that would produce bokeh bubbles in the warm light, creating the atmosphere that I desired in the picture.

I like to emphasise the beauty of these insects by showing their strength and vulnerability. I’m not after a record shot, more an emotional portrait – maybe this is due to my background as a portrait photographer.

@wimvooijs

Macro photography: how to shoot insects

Oil & Water 44 by Matt Vacca

Oil & Water 44. Photo credit: Matt Vacca. Nikon D850, Nikon AF-S Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 lens, 1/160sec at f/5, ISO 200.

Matt was the ‘Manmade’ category winner of CUPOTY 04 (2022 competition).

This picture was captured as two drops of oil were merging. I’m intrigued by polarity and experimenting with oil and water has become a rich source of abstract expression. The symbiotic relationship that evolves from naturally opposing elements has become metaphoric for me. I am constantly learning and finding new inspiration, as I watch and continue to be fascinated by the dance that plays out through a macro lens.

@mattvacca_

Everyday objects as alternative macro subjects

Next to my Tree by Sébastien Blomme

Next to my tree. Photo credit: Sébastien Blomme. Pentax K-1, Pentax DA 300mm, 1/250sec at f/4, ISO 800.

Sébastien was the ‘Plants’ category winner of CUPOTY 04 (2022 competition).

Snake’s-head fritillary is one of my favourite flowers. This one was taken in the city of Toulouse, France. It usually grows on wet meadows but can also be found in forests. In this image, I wanted to introduce some context, but keep the flower as the centre of interest. I managed to get a tree in the background and decided to keep it out of focus so that its shape is only suggested.

@sebastien_blomme

Top macro flower photography tips

Intruder by Anirban Dutta

Intruder. Photo credit: Anirban Dutta. Nikon D500, Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6 lens, 1/5sec at f/32, ISO 800.

Anirban was the ‘Insects’ category winner of CUPOTY 04 (2022 competition).

Before the start of the monsoon every year, some species of termite swarm in the late afternoon and early evening – this behaviour is known as nuptial flight. One day, I witnessed this event near a petrol pump in the town of Cooch Behar, India.

There were thousands of termites drawn to the powerful street light, and one black drongo. This bird spent almost 20 minutes swooping through the termites, snatching and eating them as it went. ‘I shot multiple exposures to capture this event, which I had never seen before. Three frames were recorded and combined in-camera. The first one with a high shutter speed and in Kelvin white balance, the second with a high shutter speed isolating the drongo and the third with a slow shutter speed in Tungsten white balance.

@duttaanirban50

Frequency by Mike Curry

Frequency. Photo credit: Mike Curry. Sony DSC-RX100 VI, 24-200mm (fixed), 1/250sec at f/4.5, ISO 125.

Mike was the ‘Intimate Landscape’ category winner of CUPOTY 04 (2022 competition).

This is a reflection of a building at Canary Wharf in London taken in November. The water was moving in a very fluid way and I was there to try out my new Sony DSC-RX100M6 – I was particularly keen to test the camera’s fast burst and slow motion video modes. I was struggling to get it to focus on the water’s surface, but after about two hours of failed attempts it suddenly worked, and the results were amazing!

@mikecurryphotography

Porcelain Fungus by Guy Edwardes

Guy Edwardes. Porcelain Fungus (Oudemansiella mucida), New Forest National Park, Hampshire, England. Canon EOS 5DS R, 100mm, 1/6sec at f/11, ISO 100

‘These porcelain fungus were in nice condition, but I came across them late in the day. I used my 100mm macro lens to shoot them from beneath against the distant treetops, so their gills were clearly visible. I exposed to keep the sky dark and then used my two LED light panels to backlight them from above.’

See more fantastic examples from Guy here: How to take fantastic photos of fungi

@guyedwardes

Anemone by Sue Bishop

Sue Bishop

Sue Bishop’s macro photograph of a Anemone flower draws us to the intricate details at the centre of the flower, capturing a richness of colour and each individual element with spot on focussing surrounded by the softness of petals.

Sue Bishop specialises in flower and landscape photography, is an author and has exhibited her work many times and sold her images worldwide. You can see more of her top macro flower photography tips here.

@suebishopphotos

From the series Plant Scars by Tracy Calder

This mark in the leaf made me think of a butterfly balancing on a tightrope 2.3 sec at f/16, ISO 200. Tracy Calder

Tracy Calder co-founded Close-up Photographer of the Year – a competition celebrating close-up, macro and micro photography – with her husband in 2018. She has written numerous photography books and her work has appeared on the walls of The Photographers’ Gallery and The National Portrait Gallery in London.

She recently was awarded a RHS Gold Medal at RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show with her portfolio Plant Scars.

‘In June 2021, when the first coronavirus lockdown ended in the UK, I paid a visit to Ventnor Botanic Garden on the Isle of Wight. This location has provided solace for me many times – I swear there is some sort of magic in the ferns, palms and herbs there. Walking through the Arid Garden (home to desert-loving plants like agaves and aloes), I spotted the leaf of an agave drooping over the path.

There was a gash in the leaf, lined with tooth-like notches. Just above it was a patch of circular damage that looked like some sort of all-seeing-eye. At that moment, the seed of a photographic project started growing in my mind. As I stood in the shadow of this beautiful, but damaged, plant I wondered if it had its own language, and whether there was anything I could learn from it.’

See Calder’s advice for creating a successful photography portfolio here.

@tracy_calder_photo

True Love by Alex Pansier

Alex Pansier. Sony A9, Sony 400mm f/2.8, 1/500sec at f/3.5, ISO 400. Tripod

Alex Pansier won the 2021 CUPOTY Two of A Kind challenge!

‘European ground squirrels are classified as vulnerable, mainly due to habitat loss. These two were busy eating a faded poppy on a lawn in Vienna. I really enjoyed watching them working together, like father and son. For me, observing and photographing nature is a great way to unwind and share the beauty that’s all around us. I prefer compositions that are simple and pared back, and I usually shoot on dark and moody days, although this image has a lighter feel.’

@alexpansier

Close-up tips from Two of a Kind CUPOTY Challenge winners

Mature Comatricha by Barry Webb

Barry Webb. Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro (with extension tubes and Raynox 250), 1/5sec at f/4, ISO 200. Gitzo Explorer tripod and cable release

Barry Webb came second place in the 2021 CUPOTY Two of a Kind challenge with this duo of slime moulds.

‘These tiny (2mm tall) slime moulds were found on a dead apple branch, from a log pile in my back garden in Buckinghamshire. The spores have dispersed, leaving the delicate, thread-like capillitium. I carefully lifted the branch onto a garden bench and arranged some moss behind it to create a pleasing, natural background. The picture was taken in natural light and is the result of a 56-shot focus stack.’

@barrywebbimages

Close-up tips from Two of a Kind CUPOTY Challenge winners

The Kiss by Angi Wallace

Angi Wallace. Nikon Z6, Sigma 105mm f/2, 1/200sec at f/4, ISO 50. Mini tripod and fill flash

Angi Wallace was a finalist in the CUPOTY Two of a Kind challenge.

‘The details and pretty textures on the buds, leaves and unfurling flowers of the cyclamen in my garden really appealed to me. In this instance, the little nodding heads were forming a wonderful heart shape. I decided to isolate the blooms while keeping the surroundings soft and dreamy.’

@angiwallacephotography

Insect Diversity by Pål Hermansen

Pål Hermansen. Hasselblad H3D 39, Hasselblad 120mm f/4 macro, 8secs at f/ 25, ISO 50

Norwegian photographer Pål Hermansen won CUPOTY 03 (2021 competition) with this insect flat lay.

‘In the autumn of 2020, I discovered that one of the lamps on the side of my house in Norway had a defect and had acted as a light trap for insects. I emptied the lamp and spread the contents onto a large light-table I had left over from my days shooting slides. I used a weak flashlight to light the details from above.

I wanted to express the chaos and diversity of this discovery, but also to find some kind of composition. To me, it’s a visual reminder of the important and extreme diversity of animals around us that we take for granted.’

Technical Editor, Andy Westlake, selected Hermansen’s photograph as his favourite of 2021. Talking about the photograph he said, on the surface this photo is ‘a perfectly constructed still-life flat lay, that invites us to consider the readily overlooked beauty and variety of some of the smaller animals with which we share the planet. The artist has worked wonders in extracting order from chaos, with the carefully constructed composition complemented by a subtle colour palette of yellows and ochres.

But a deeper level of meaning is added by the revelation that all of these insects were trapped in a lamp at his home. It’s a timely reminder for us all to take a step back and contemplate the impacts our lives and habits might have on the natural world, inadvertent as well as deliberate, and to consider what we might do better in future.’

@hermansenpal

Behind the scenes of Close-up Photographer of the Year 03 Images

Urban Beach Day by Jennifer McKinnon

Urban Beach Day – 6.30am. Olympus OM-D E-M5 II, 60mm Macro, 1/160sec at f/7.10, ISO 640

Jennifer McKinnon spends much of the year searching the streets of Atlanta for dumpsters, the subject of her macro photographs. At first, she was attracted to them due to their unusual (and aesthetically pleasing) markings – a result of natural and unnatural weathering – but over time she came to realise that her images could be used to highlight the impact that waste and consumption has on the natural world.

Her early ‘dumpster abstracts’ such as this have instant graphic appeal: bands of colour sweep across the frame giving them the air of contemporary paintings. You certainly wouldn’t expect this to be a close-up photo of a dumpster!

www.jennifermckinnon.com

Everyday objects as alternative macro subjects

Circular Octopus by Alessandro Grasso

Alessandro Grasso. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye, 1/13sec at f/22, ISO 160

Alessandro Gasso was the Underwater category winner of CUPOTY 03 (2021 competition) with his Circular Octopus photograph.

‘In the past three years, the bacterium mycobacterium sherrisii has caused the mass death of pinna nobilis (noble pen shell) throughout the Mediterranean Sea. Most of the empty shells of the large bivalve have been colonised by other marine species.

In this case, an octopus has taken advantage of the large shell to create its den and protect itself from predators. I used a slow shutter speed and circular panning motion to give dynamism to the image and emphasise the subject.’

At a quick glance the photograph could also be mistaken for an eye, before looking closer to see the octopus looking right back at us.

@alessandro.grasso73

Behind the scenes of Close-up Photographer of the Year 03 Images

Eel Larva by Galice Hoarau

Galice Hoarau. Olympus E-M1 Mk II, Olympus 30mm Macro, ISO 400, f/16
1/320sec. Accessories: Nauticam underwater housing, 2x Inon Z-330 strobes, 2x Sola lights

Hoarau was the overall winner and took first place in the animals category of CUPOTY 02 (2020 competition)

‘I spotted this eel larva off the island of Lembeh (Indonesia) during a blackwater dive. Blackwater diving is essentially diving at night in the open ocean, usually over deep or very deep water. Divers are surrounded by darkness, with only a lit downline as a visual reference.

Peering through the darkness with your torch can be stressful the first time you do it, but it gets fascinating quickly’ explains Hoarau, a professor in marine molecular ecology. ‘After sunset, small pelagic animals (like this larva) rise close to the surface to feed where the sunlight has allowed planktonic algae to grow. At sunrise, they dive into the depths and stay there during the day to escape predators.’

@galice_hoarau

Close-up Photography of the Year winners revealed

Little Ball by Tamas Koncz Bisztricz

Tamas Koncz-Bisztricz. Canon EOS 7D Mk II, Canon MP-E 65mm Macro, ISO 800, f/4.5, 1/250 sec. LED torches

The Young Close-up Photographer of the Year in 2020 attracted some strong entries with Tamás Koncz-Bisztricz winning the overall title for a shot of a springtail in a meadow close to his home in Hungary. ‘One frosty winter’s morning I headed out to take some extreme macro shots at the surface of some frozen water that had pooled in the tracks left by a tractor, he explains. ‘Crouching down, I spotted some yellow globular springtails which were feeding in the sunrays reflected from the ice. I used LED torches to illuminate one of them, and came away with a picture that celebrates this tiny creature.’

@kbtamas

Close-up Photography of the Year winners revealed

Namib’s Gaze by Emanuele Biggi

Credit: Emanuele Biggi. Nikon D810, Nikon AF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro, ISO 100, 1/250sec at f/16. Accessories: Flashes with custom-made diffusers, flash bracket.

Emanuele Biggi was the first-ever Close-up Photographer of the Year overall winner, and came first place in the Animals category. This photograph looks like a beautiful array of crystals and glitter until you clock two well camouflaged eyes looking back at you.

‘Finding a Peringuey’s adder (Bitis peringueyi) in the Namib Desert isn’t easy. I followed its tracks during the early morning, and eventually found one under a shrub with its eyes poking out. This adder is small – the diameter of each eye is about 2-3mm, so even though I knew it was there, it was still hard to spot! This species relies on camouflage to hunt and uses a sit-and-wait technique, leaving its nostrils and eyes above ground for breathing and scanning around. When prey comes near, the snake strikes and delivers a venomous bite.’

@emanuele_biggi

Expert tips for award-winning macro shots

Winter Oakmoss by Jane Simmonds

Jane Simmonds. iPhone 7 Plus, 1/17 sec at f/1.8, ISO 100

‘I enjoy using my phone to make abstract images of the things I collect on my daily walks in the Forest of Dean. Back in January, on a dreary winter’s day, I was drawn to the delicate, branched shapes and silvery colour of the oakmoss lichen I saw on the twigs and branches. I picked up a few pieces that had been blown to the ground and took them home.

I normally use a light pad to photograph the things I collect, but this approach didn’t work with the lichen so I placed it on a piece of slate tile (which produced a nice textured background) instead. I made a series of images using my iPhone and then experimented with blending them “in-camera” using the PhotoSplit app, which has a multiple exposure mode. I tried various blending modes before achieving this look.’

An impressive and creative capture on a smartphone, proving the best camera you have is the one you have on you!

@janesimmonds31

Expert tips for award-winning macro shots

Stormy Skies by Rachel McNulty

Stormy Skies. Olympus E-M1 Mk II, 60mm f/2.8, 1/15sec at f/2.8, ISO 400

Rachel McNulty embarked on a home-based project to create abstract ‘seascapes’ using colourful glass bottles, a macro lens and daylight. The dining room table became her studio and the sunlight entering the room enhanced the colours and created incredible reflections inside the bottles.

‘When I looked through the viewfinder, I suddenly saw waves crashing on a beach, storm clouds out at sea and dramatic sunsets,’ she told us. ‘No two images will ever be the same: the light changes, the position of the bottle moves and the reflections shift, just like a real seascape constantly alters.’

This photograph shows details in a glass bottle but gives the impression of a dramatic sky above a calm blue sea.

In 2021 her image ‘Waves Crashing’ (featuring a section of a blue gin bottle) won the Manmade category of Close-up Photographer of the Year, which was also selected by Technique Editor, Hollie Latham Hucker for our best photographs of 2021 list.

@rachelmcnultyabstract

Everyday objects as alternative macro subjects

Clouded Beauties by Henrik Spranz

Henrik Spranz. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, Sigma 180mm f/2.8, 1/250 sec at f/3.2, ISO 400

Henrik Spranz won our Close-Up round of APOY 2021. About the image, guest judge Tracy Calder said: ‘This image ticks all the right boxes for me: excellent fieldcraft skills, beautifully balanced composition, superb technical ability and wonderful storytelling. The butterfly in the foreground is staggeringly sharp, which works brilliantly against the soft, dreamy bokeh.

The background butterfly has enough detail for us to know that it’s a second clouded yellow and the inclusion of the plant stems stops the insects from looking as if they are floating in mid-air. The gap between the two butterflies is perfect and the way that they are facing each other seems to imply there is a silent exchange going on.

The picture feels like a true celebration of this particular species – there are some beautiful shapes and highlights in the frame, which make it feel as though the butterflies are stars on a grand, natural stage. It’s an absolutely beautiful image that makes me extremely jealous it’s not mine!’

@henrik_spranz

Nigella Flower in Evening Light by Molly Hollman

Molly Hollman. Sony RX10 III, 8.8-220.0 mm f/2.4-4.0, 1/160 sec at f/5, ISO 320

Molly Hollman was awarded sixth place in our APOY 2021 Close-Up round.

Some flowers simply demand to be studied in close-up, and nigella – or love-in-a-mist – is one of them. Molly has done an outstanding job of drawing our attention to the tutu-like shape of the petals and stamen, and has chosen just the right angle to frame it with the delicate green bracts.

By chance, the background was provided by her son, whose T-shirt provided the perfect complement to the flower. Molly spotted its potential as her son walked past, which demonstrates a well-tuned and responsive photographer’s eye.

@mollyhollmanphotography

Peek-A-Boo by Gustav Parenmark

Gustav Parenmark

Gustav Parenmark was our Young APOY 2021 Close-up round winner.

Positioning the lacewing in the bottom right of the composition works wonderfully here, as does the striking colour combination. The damage to the insect’s antenna makes no difference to the impact of the picture – in fact, it signifies this is a living breathing creature, with all its flaws and scars. Beautifully observed and expertly captured.

@macrogp

All things texture at the beach by Billy Hughes

Billy Hughes

This golden sand photograph was shared with us by Billy Hughes on Instagram. The colours and contrasts are beautifully captured whilst composed perfectly as an intimate landscape which could also looking like larger sand dunes across a larger landscape.

The footprint in the sand is a subtle detail, as we leave our mark.

@billy_hughes_photo

Portrait of a ruby-tailed wasp by Matt Doogue

Matt Doogue. Canon EOS 6D, MP-E65mm, 1/160sec at f/9, ISO 320

A macro lens allows you access to a hidden world the human eye never sees, a world full of detail, colour and design. Focus stacking particularly enables you to see intricate details of tiny subjects. Matt Doogue’s image is a great example of the details you can achieve.

Find out how you can get started here with Focus stacking: How to achieve pin sharp macro shots.

Bonnie’s Eye by Nick Pollard

Nick Pollard. Sony A6400, Sony 70-350mm lens at 207mm with NiSi Macro Filter, 1/200 sec at f/14, ISO 3200

Nick Pollard’s photograph was included in our Good to Share section of the magazine in our 15th January 2022 issue.

‘Photography and I have had a love/hate relationship. I love it, it hates me… until recently, when after an impulse buy on an Sony A6400 I finally made sense of the whole exposure triangle (thanks YouTube) and started getting some reasonable shots. My partner and I ‘collect’ cats and we have 8 living with us which gives me a constant stream of opportunities to take photographs. Armed with a recent purchase of a NISI Macro Filter I ascended on Bonnie who was pleasantly sitting by the window in our Kitchen and I started taking shots. After managing to get the focus and DOF just right luck was on my side and photography finally loved me back’

@harmony_house_cats

Get more inspiration & tips

Feeling inspired? View our Top close-up photography tips, and learn how to light your subject so you can get shooting some spectacular shots!

If you are new to macro photography, check out our beginners guide to Macro Photography.

Related Reading:

• The top 20 best landscape photographs
• See the top 20 best travel photographs!
• Using your smartphone for macro photography

Follow AP on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

The post Top 31 best close-up and macro photographs appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

Shirley Baker (1932-2014) was an accomplished social documentary/street photographer, and although she deserves a much higher profile, her work is right up there with the best. Shirley focussed on working class inner-city areas in her native Manchester and also in London from 1960 until 1981, leaving behind a valuable record of post-war British culture.

Shirley Baker. Image credit: Estate of Shirley Baker

One of the few women in post-war Britain to receive formal photographic training in Manchester and London, she first worked at Courtaulds the fabric manufacturers, as an in-house factory photographer, before branching out as a successful freelancer.

Her work was published in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including Amateur Photographer, but her gritty street images didn’t become more widely known until she had her first exhibition, Here Yesterday, and Gone Today, at Salford Art Gallery in 1986. In 2015, her first London exhibition, Women and Children; and Loitering Men, took place posthumously at The Photographer’s Gallery.

The director of Life Through a Lens, Jason Figgis, is an award-winning IFTA nominated film and TV director who’s already made a memorable documentary about the acclaimed infrared photographer and ghost hunter, Simon Marsden. Jason explains more about the Shirley Baker documentary below, which premieres at the Centre for British Photography in London on May 18th.

Don’t forget to check out our full guides to street photography and the best cameras for street photography, as well as street photography law and how to take great street shots in black and white.

Manchester, England, 1968. Picture credit: Estate of Shirley Baker

Jason, how did you get the idea to make the movie about Shirley Baker?
I’d seen the famous documentary about Vivian Maier and I thought, you know what, I’d have loved to make a film about a woman street photographer, too. I felt Shirley Baker wasn’t getting the credit she deserved – indeed, her pictures weren’t even credited in some articles I saw – so I decided I wanted to find out more. I have always had a romantic notion of the North of England, where Shirley was from, mainly because Lowry is my favourite painter.

The film includes dozens of her colour and black and white images, and we have the actress Samantha Beckinsale – sister of Kate – as narrator. Hopefully, Life Through a Lens will bring Shirley’s work to a much wider audience, both in the photographic community and beyond.

Salford, England, 1964. Image credit: Estate of Shirley Baker

Did Shirley’s family get behind the project from the beginning?
I contacted her daughter, Nan Levy, who runs the Shirley Baker estate, and had several phone conversations with her. The family were curious to know what would the angle of the documentary would be. As I explained, my only angle was to tell Shirley’s story and celebrate her work.

The photographs are beautiful, people look right into Shirley’s lens, and there is no artifice. I wanted the movie to explore who Shirley was, where she came from, and what made her want to go out and document all the social upheavals going on in Salford and Manchester during the 60s and 70s, before moving on to photograph in London and France. She once said in relation to the Manchester slum clearances, ‘my sympathies lay with the people who were forced to exist miserably, often for months on end, sometimes years, whilst demolition went on all around them.’

Shirley was also a keen early exponent of colour film. Hulme, Manchester, 1965. Image credit: Estate of Shirley Baker

What do you hope to achieve with the film – and what can modern photographers learn from Shirley Baker’s work?
I hope it will raise the profile of her fantastic street and documentary photography, and get her the platform she deserves. Shirley was mainly working in the pre-digital age, and obviously in some ways things are a lot easier for street photographers these days. She had no instant digital replay and had to really understand the type, and the speed, of the film she was using – as well as all aspects of exposure.

I think it’s easier for street photographers to shoot from a distance now, while Shirley had to get right up close to her subjects and earn their trust. I think a lot of modern photographers can learn from developing this kind of intimacy, learning those social skills, getting that trust and relationship going with their subjects.

I am really glad that the film will be shown in recognised centres of photography, in both London and Manchester – James Hyman, the Director of the Centre for British Photography, is a big fan of her work.

Shirley also found London a regular source of inspiration. Camden, London, 1986. Image credit: Estate of Shirley Baker

Shirley Baker: Life Through a Lens gets its London premiere at the Centre for British Photography on May 18th. Tickets costs £6 and a limited number are available. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Shirley Baker’s daughter, Nan Levy, and James Hyman, the director of the centre. There will also be a second showing on May 24th, and the northern premiere take places at Manchester Art Gallery on May 23rd. Life Through a Lens will also be available on DVD and Video on Demand later in the year.

Further reading
Street photography guide
The law around street photography
The best cameras for street photography
The best lenses for street photography
Smartphones for street photography
Black and white street photography
Top international women photographers to follow

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The post New film celebrates pioneering street photographer, Shirley Baker appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

And now he has officially become a legend himself, being named ‘Legend of the Year’ at the inaugural So.Co Music Photographer of the Year awards last month.

Mick Jagger and Amy Winehouse on stage at the Isle of Wight Festival 2007 (Credit: Dave Hogan / Getty Images)

Hogie appreciates that being there is half of the battle – ‘99% of my job is access,’ he admits. ‘You can be the world’s greatest photographer, but if you’re not in the room it doesn’t matter. And trust me, there are a lot of much better photographers than me who are not in the room. I’ve just been doing it a long time. And there are a lot of people who just never trust anybody else to go and photograph their artists.’

It’s well known that at most gigs the ‘three songs no flash’ rule applies, where photographers only get to shoot the first three songs, but if it’s an act that Hogie has a good relationship with, like The Rolling Stones, he is allowed to shoot the whole show. ‘The deal is that the first three numbers I can do what I want with, and then everything after that is by approval. But often the best pictures happen in the first three numbers anyway, because they’re not sweaty.

Madonna performs onstage at the first London concert of her “Confessions” World Tour at Wembley Arena 2006 (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

‘I look at gigs in a purely visual way. People will ask, “How was the gig?” and I’ll say, “It was brilliant.” Then they’ll ask me what numbers they played, and I’m like, “I’ve no idea, mate.” I’m just viewing it through the camera, thinking about light and shapes and compositions. That’s how my brain works.

‘There’s nothing worse than going along to a gig and there’s no light. But the great thing about modern digital cameras is that you can take pictures in almost total darkness, which has changed from a lot of the early days where you’d be pushing black & white film two stops and hoping you’ve got it.

Prince performing on stage at Wembley Stadium, London, August 13th 1986. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

A classic example is the Brit Awards.

‘A classic example is the Brit Awards. It’s very low light and with someone like Harry Styles, he doesn’t stand still. So you’ve got to be on at least 1/500sec or faster to get him sharp. So I’ll be shooting at ISO 5000. ‘I got a picture of Harry at the Brits that got used really well. I checked on the back to be sure I’d got it then I said to my assistant who was with me in the pit: ‘That’s the picture, go and move that now.”

Bear in mind there are 50 other photographers in that pit, good photographers, shooting the same thing. So it’s all about speed. Harry Styles was the first act that was on, and we got probably five national newspapers the next day with that picture. Because I got the shot, and then got it out there first.’

Harry Styles performs on stage during The BRIT Awards 2023 at The O2 Arena (Photo by Dave J Hogan)

‘We have come a long way from having a dispatch rider sitting waiting outside for you to give him a bag of films. When I first started I’d go off to New York on a shoot and fly home with the films. I used to love shooting Kodachrome 64 and would send it to Paris to get processed. Imagine that! There was no real sense of urgency.’

“I take the picture and 30 seconds later it has gone around the world.”

‘Now nobody waits for anything, it has to be available immediately because we’ve got Twitter and so forth. I have a 5G box connected to my Nikon D6. I take the picture and 30 seconds later it has gone around the world. It really is that quick. I have an assistant to remotely edit, and we’ll pre-write the captions.’

The Clash in New York (Credit: Dave Hogan / Getty Images)

David Bowie backstage at Glastonbury, 2000

While live gigs form the bedrock of his work, Hogie takes every opportunity to get maximum coverage from an event. ‘I’ll shoot the concert but I’ll usually set up a little studio and try to get some pictures beforehand,’ he says. ‘One of my classic pictures was David Bowie backstage at Glastonbury, 2000. He wanted some pictures in his Alexander McQueen coat, and we were in a field in Glastonbury. So I took the bedsheet off my bed, and put it on a clothes line backstage (because in those days it wasn’t the big corporate thing it is now) to use as a background. You have to think on your feet and make something happen.’

Hogie also enjoys shooting backstage dressing room shots. ‘There’s an intimacy with those, and you know that you’ve created an image that nobody has and is going to last. It’s part of history.’

David Bowie poses backstage at the Glastonbury festival, June 2000, in a coat designed by Alexander McQueen, (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

‘If they say “You’ve got five minutes”, then you normally know you have two minutes.’

Even pre-arranged portrait shoots are usually shot under time pressure. ‘With a band like The Rolling Stones, if they say “You’ve got five minutes”, then you normally know you have two minutes. But that doesn’t stop you getting there two hours beforehand, setting up and testing with a couple of people so that when they walk in the room you know you’re going to get something decent straight away. On digital, you can shoot really quite quickly, check the back of your camera to make sure you’ve got something, and then maybe suggest a different pose or move to another background, but you’ve got what I would call your banker.

The Rolling Stones (Credit Dave Hogan /Getty Images)

Working for Hello magazine

‘I love working for Hello magazine. Because you’ll be given a few hours to take pictures which is just a dream. You can take lots of kit, everything you’ve got. You can put up a backdrop and use different lighting set-ups. You can take more breaks where you get hair and make-up to come in and check everything. And you come away with an incredible set of pictures.’

The Rolling Stones: Dave Hogan

Digital vs film

Despite the sense of urgency that the job demands nowadays, in other ways working with digital is much less stressful. ‘In the old days with film, it was a lot more pressure. Because in the back of my mind I’d be thinking, “Oh my god, they’ve flown me to Japan to get this shot, don’t mess up.” So I’d always have two or three cameras. One would be a safety camera, and I’d shoot maybe ten frames just to cover myself, just in case there’s that “what if” moment.

Even now, with digital, a camera could go down or a card could be corrupted (it has happened) so I’ll always shoot something on a back-up camera, just to make sure. Because the people employing you don’t want to hear you had a technical problem, they don’t want excuses, you have to deliver.’

Tina Turner poses with James Bond’s gun during publicity shoots for the film Goldeneye, for which she sung the main theme. (Credit Dave Hogan / Getty Images)

Starting out ‘I went to art college’

Hogie didn’t start out with ambitions to become a photographer. ‘I went to art college and did a ceramics degree – so I could make a nice ashtray,’ he jokes. But I did some photography blocks and Jill Furmanovsky was my photographic tutor for one of them. And it was that block with Jill that made me decide I don’t think I want to do ceramics any more.’

Hogie decided to take a year out from college and went travelling around America with his Nikkormat, and a bag of Kodachrome 64. By the time he returned he knew where his future lay.

‘My first job as a photographer was at the Butlin’s Holiday Camp at Barry Island in South Wales, which was a great way to learn your trade because you were photographing Miss Lovely Legs and Glamorous Granny, and you had to sell these pictures. Then I came to London, saw an advert for a job as a photographer at Stringfellows and thought, “I could do that.” This was during the ’80s, before it was a strip club, when it was the nightclub to be seen in. I was, like, 20 at the time.

Diana Ross dances at the Embassy Club in London circa 1983 (Photo by Dave Hogan / Getty Images)

‘Peter Stringfellow would basically give a free bottle of champagne to any star that came to his club.’

‘Peter Stringfellow would basically give a free bottle of champagne to any star that came to his club. So if you’re on a promotional tour, it was always good to end up there, get given a carousel for you and your mates. The only thing they had to do in return was have their picture taken with Peter. It was a sort of you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours thing. You had all the pop stars and page three girls and showbiz personalities, and they could go there and not be hassled. Nobody had personal security back then.

Elton John (Dave Hogan / Getty Images)

‘I had a pager, and I’d get a message from the front desk. “Oh, George Michael’s in, or Elton John is here.” There were no mobile phones, obviously. I’d go down and take a few pictures of them on the dance floor, or whatever, and do the whole social thing. Then at about 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning I’d drop a bag of films off at The Sun’s office in Bouverie Street, then go home and sleep. Then I’d wake up a few hours later, call the picture desk and it would be “great pictures, we’re using so and so”.

U2 performing at Live Aid, 1985 at Wembley Stadium (Credit Dave Hogan / Getty Images)

‘It was an amazing job but at the time it wasn’t seen that way. All the other photographers wanted to be the next Don McCullin and be a news or war photographer. Why would you want to be a music photographer if you had to work late at night?’

Dave’s visits to The Sun led to him being asked to cover other events for them, and this eventually led to him moving to The Sun full time as their youngest photographer, doing showbiz pictures for their ‘Bizarre’ column. Then through that he developed relationships with the record company execs, managers and the artists themselves.

Hogie backstage at Live Aid, Wembley Stadium, 1985 (Credit Dave Hogan / Getty Images)

‘In those days, if Michael Jackson or Madonna or whoever were on tour they would call The Sun because there was no social media, and if they got a page three picture or a spread in the paper that helped them go up the charts. It was a very different time. Nowadays they don’t need newspapers any more, they just tweet it or do an Instagram post.’

Amy Winehouse rehearses on stage prior to the BRIT Awards 2007 at Earls Court (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

Record companies paid.

To anyone who loves music and travel Dave had an enviable lifestyle. ‘I went around the world five or six times, filled my passport five or six times. Record companies paid. Somebody else picked up the bill up and I just went along. It was: “Do you wanna go to Japan tomorrow?” Or “Do you want to go to America?” And I just said yes. I mean, it wasn’t always the best thing for your relationships, but I did what needed to be done. If they’d called up and I said no, or “I’m just going to check with the family” they’d have gone to the next person, and they don’t come back. You have to be their first choice. The moment they have to start going through their Rolodex you’ve lost them.’

Michael Jackson backstage, 2006 (Credit Dave Hogan / Getty Images)

Throughout this period Hogie was a freelancer, on a retainer, so he owned his pictures. When the world went digital he sold his company to Getty Images so then, instead of his work just going to The Sun it went everywhere, thanks to the subscription agreements Getty had with all the newspapers.

Hogie’s Kit ‘I love my Nikons’

Hogie has used Nikon cameras pretty much exclusively throughout his entire 40 year career. ‘I love my Nikons,’ he says. ‘In the 1980s I used the FE. Now I use Nikon D6s for most of my work. The file size is great, and the electronic sending with my 5G is really good, but I also have their mirrorless camera, the Nikon Z6, which is a lot smaller, and I love that too. I need to know when I pick up my camera that it’s gonna work a certain way, and I don’t have to think about it.’

The famous Madonna and Britney Spears kiss (Credit: Dave Hogan / Getty Images)

In the early days of digital, cameras like the Nikon D1 and Nikon D100 were still very much a work in progress, and this fact became all too apparent during a now-iconic moment at a Madonna gig in 2003. ‘I forget which camera we were all using at the time but if you kept your finger on the shutter it would keep taking pictures, but then you’d hit like the 10th frame and it would just stop and you’d have to wait for the memory card to catch up.

The technology wasn’t quite there yet.

So anyway, Madonna came out with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera on either side of her and they started walking down this runway. When they got to the end of the stage they stopped and Madonna turned to kiss Britney. Everyone’s cameras went mad – bom bom bom bom – to capture that split-second moment when their lips connected. Then Madonna turned the other way and kissed Christina, but everyone’s cameras were buffering all the Britney pictures, and nobody got that shot. But you know it was the same with film. You’d have your 36 exposures and the amount of times something would happen while you were changing your film.’

Stormzy performs on stage at The BRIT Awards 2018 at The O2 Arena (Photo by Dave J Hogan/Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

Lens choices

When it comes to lenses Hogie’s go-to optic is Nikon’s 24-70mm zoom, but if he has a bit more time he might switch to a 50mm prime. If he’s shooting a gig he prefers to be at the back with the 600mm f/4, or the 400mm f/2.8.

‘The pictures just look more natural, and you get a nice clean background rather than being in the pit looking up their noses. But I’ll shoot from the pit too, which is good for dramatic wideangle shots with all the lights.’

For studio lighting Dave has always used Elinchrom although more recently he has switched to Profoto Bs. ‘I’ve still got my big 2m square “Annie Leibovitz” softbox, which I’ve had for about 20 years.’

Beyonce and Bono of U2 visit a children’s home in South Africa, 2003, on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. The AIDS epidemic hit South Africa hard, leaving thousands of children orphaned and homeless. (Credit: Dave Hogan / Getty Images)

‘I love Annie Leibovitz, …but my favourite photographers are people like Anton Corbijn’

This brings us round to the subject of which other photographers he most admires. ‘I love Annie Leibovitz,’ he says. I love Bailey’s stuff too. And Rankin’s. But my favourite photographers are people like Anton Corbijn, who did all the old U2 stuff. U2 are my favourite group.

I was in South Africa with Bono, for the Nelson Mandela Foundation. And Anton Corbijn was there too, as a friend, doing his own stuff. At one point there was just me, Anton and Bono, and I said to Bono, “I’ve got to tell you, I may be here to photograph you, but he’s my hero.” And Bono laughed and said, “He’s my hero too.” Anton’s pictures pretty much defined U2. I’m actually going to the Joshua Tree National Park in August with my girlfriend. We’ve hired a Winnebago for a week and I want to go and find where that cover was taken.’

Rita Ora at Heaven nightclub, London in 2022

What about favourite artists?

Surely some are more enjoyable to photograph than others? ‘I get on well with Mick Jagger, obviously. I’ve photographed him a lot,’ Hogie confesses. ‘Tina Turner is one of the best subjects I’ve ever worked with. So professional, and a really lovely lady too. Of the younger artists, Taylor Swift, Rita Ora and Pink are great. Harry Styles is amazing. He’s cool but he’s also a really nice person. I’ve worked with him a lot, been in helicopters with him. Some people can really go off the rails when they get that level of fame, but Harry is just really nice.

I photographed Rita Ora last month at Heaven nightclub. With gigs like that you know that she’s not going to go on stage till 1am, so I’ll take a kip for a few hours in the afternoon. Because you’ve got to be on the ball – you can’t be the old fart in the corner, half asleep. I got the shots and it was used in all the newspapers and magazines because of what she was wearing.’

Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine performs at The Brit Awards 2012 (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

Hogie has no plans to retire any time soon

Music photography may seem like a young person’s game and there are plenty of youngsters snapping at his heels but Hogie has no plans to retire any time soon. ‘I’ve been lucky enough to earn good money from this job, but I don’t do this job for the money,’ insists Hogie.

‘You have to love going out and shooting concerts and award shows or whatever, because it’s really quite antisocial. When everybody else is finishing work, that’s when my work starts. And there are times when you really just want to sit down of an evening and watch TV but you’ve got a gig to shoot. But I never wake up and think, “Oh, my God, I’ve got to go to work today.”’ And I know that very few people can say that.

Bono and Bob Geldof (Credit: Dave Hogan / Getty Images)

Get in touch with Dave Hogan on Dave Hogan’s website, and on Instagram: @hogieaaa__

Related reading:

• Portrait photography guide
• Guide to music and event photography
• So.Co Music Photographer of the Year awards
• Best Nikon mirrorless cameras

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The post Dave Hogan reflects on a lifetime shooting icons of music appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

Around 17 years ago, documentary photographer Peter Caton made a life commitment to reporting on humanitarian causes and amplifying the voices of disadvantaged people. For the last ten he has focused on Africa’s climate-related crisis. The decision to live out of a suitcase means he has sacrificed marriage, having children and building a community of friends to bring him up when he’s feeling isolated and low. On a rare visit home to see his parents in his home town of Scarborough on the UK’s North Sea coast, Caton was at an impasse where to go next? ‘I’m not a God-fearing man or anything but I went to church before Covid, I never do but my dad was going.

He hadn’t been for 25 years, my mum goes every week. I decided I’d pop along as well. At church I prayed and said to God, where would you like me to serve you? Where shall I go next because I have this crazy nomadic life. The prayer finished and then it was hymn time and I opened up this book and there was this tiny flag and I was like Woah! What is that about? I didn’t even recognise the flag. I turned it over and it said South Sudan,’ reveals Caton.

For the past three years, homes and schools across South Sudan have been destroyed by devastating floods. Particularly hard hit were the remote towns of Old Fangak and Paguir, cut off as the rising water, debris and dense vegetation left them hard to reach. According to a UN report, 426,000 people have been affected. The number is expected to increase by more than 50%. In areas like Fangak the number of people affected by the floods is expected to jump from 75% to 100%. The country as a whole has surpassed the mark of 8 million people in dire need.

Bol Kek, 45, from Paguir, collects water lily bulbs to be ground up and made into an edible paste. Without fishing nets, it is the only source of food available. Image credit: Peter Caton

Less than a year after his prayer, working with Action Against Hunger USA (AAH) and accompanied by resilient writer Susan Martinez, Caton arrived in the remote Fangak County in Jonglei state in South Sudan. ‘It was far away from anywhere. A small five-seater aeroplane is the only thing that can touch down there on a kind of cow field that’s been previously inundated with water so it’s really uneven. You have to scare any cows away so you do a swoop and come back up and try your best to land. It’s a bit hairy. As soon as I walked into the first classroom where there were, say, 30 families living in absolute squalor with chickens and dogs, at that moment I thought wow, if that was a message from God this is it, this is the reason,’ he says.

If getting there was difficult, photographing in deep flood water was equally challenging. Caton didn’t shy away, in fact he made it harder. ‘For the last decade I’ve been using an H5D-50c digital Hasselblad which brings its own technique. It’s not fast and it’s clunky. You almost need to be intuitive to get the shot sometimes.’ Because of security concerns, Caton was often restricted to photographing in the relative safety of the middle of the day when the light was at its most blistering.

To compensate and deal with the dark complexions of the South Sudanese, Caton uses Elinchrom flash heads. ‘It’s a real logistical challenge. You’ve got a team with you, two guys with you holding flashes on boom arms. One carrying a big battery pack which the Elinchrom needs. In many ways you’re bringing a studio into the field, the Hasselblad lends itself very well to portraiture and that studio feel – you have to work to the strength of your equipment.’

Nyalong Wal, 36, carries her daughter, Nyamal Tuoch, 2, to dry land. Image credit: Peter Caton

Caton and his team had to be very mindful walking in water; standing still for a few seconds meant sinking into the mud and potentially losing your balance. If the camera got broken, he’d have to switch to his back-up Canon EOS R5 and risk losing continuity of style. To lessen the chance of submerging the Hasselblad, he would walk in the water without any equipment. Once deciding where the shot would be, his tall assistants with knowledge and experience of walking through floods, would bring his camera to him.

Caton could have focused his camera on the squalor and horror of the situation with a more photojournalistic approach but decided on a particular style. ‘I really want these people to be dignified. I had a strong sense from the beginning that people didn’t want to run away, they didn’t want to leave this land. It was their home. It was a bit of a rebel stronghold during the civil war [the South Sudanese Civil War 2013-2020 was a multi-sided civil war between forces of the government and opposition forces] so they’re very much connected, they’ve fought and died for this land. They’re not wanting to leave in a hurry. I was very much wanting to convey that.’

The images have a cinematic quality: 36-year-old Nyalong Wal carries her child to safety in a bucket. 70-year-old Nyakeak uses her stick for balance as night falls. Mother and daughter Nyagout Lok, 46, and Nyakoang Major, 28, set up a bed in the water so the mother can sleep outside as her daughter is pregnant and there is no room to sleep inside.

Mother and daughter Nyagout Lok, 46, and Nyakoang Majok, 28, set up a bed in the water so the mother can sleep outside. Image credit: Peter Caton

In the three years Caton has been photographing in South Sudan, relationships have developed and collaborations formed. It’s this sense of community and teamwork that has helped him get the job done. ‘When I work on the droughts in Somalia then I’ll need security. I don’t need security in South Sudan. A lot of that is down to the relationships AAH has built up with the community over years. In South Sudan I feel quite protected. I’m working with locals who are respected, they’re translating, carrying my lights. As soon as I arrive I have a meeting with the local authority who give us their blessing so you’re protected in that respect. South Sudan is a bit unique like that.’

According to a leading relief agency, at least 11 aid workers were killed in South Sudan in 2022 making it the world’s deadliest place to be one. Caton is undeterred. ‘I know there’ve been incidents with aid workers but by and large, it’s a relatively safe place for foreigners as long as you’re respectful. We were there to help. There are bullet holes in a lot of places from extremely heavy fighting. Everyone carries an AK-47 [assault rifle]. I think it’s almost a rite of passage as soon as they become 18. Some 75% of the people that I walk past who are men had AK-47s. There are a lot of revenge killings that still happen.’

At the end of an intense day’s shoot, Caton withdrew to a small compound the organisation had with a generator to charge his batteries and back up his files. It wasn’t unusual for the generator to fail so in the middle of the night he would have to get a boat across the White Nile River to the Médecins Sans Frontières compound to charge them before returning at dawn. Wherever Caton spent the night he was rarely alone. ‘We were basically staying in a mud hut.

A family migrate to higher lands with their livestock. Image credit: Peter Caton

There were lots of snakes and the mosquito situation was absolutely horrific, the worst I’ve ever known working in the tropics for over 23 years. They would be biting your face, your eyelids. As you’re shooting they’re all over your hands. People would slap my face and their hands would be covered in blood from the mosquitos they’re taking off my face. I would charge my gear and jump behind the mosquito net. You’d have your dinner under the mosquito net. You were very much under siege by these aggressive mosquitos.’

The situation got so bad Caton had a tailor make a few suits out of mosquito nets. ‘On the second year there were five of us that came in because the local NGO wanted to bring in some communication people to help us. Within four, five days they were all getting airlifted out due to malaria. There was only Martinez and I left, we thought, who’s next!? We just had to take it one day at a time and if we get sick we get sick, let’s just get as much done as we can. It was quite scary in that way – for some reason or another I’ve never had malaria.’

Nyadiang Gak, 50, from Lakabang Village, stands beside her destroyed maize crops after losing – for two years in a row – her much-needed harvest. Image credit: Peter Caton

Caton’s approach may seem ill-advised but in the context of his profession it makes sense. Ten to 20 years ago he may have been flown in by a client but the preference now is to use someone that’s already there. He carefully chooses regions of the world in which to situate himself that will provide the work he wants to do and it’s working, he receives around 25-30 assignments and commissions a year. ‘I want to be in the field working, that’s my happy place.

To do the jobs I want to do without any compromise, to be there in the field as a humanitarian photographer. That is the only way of doing it so you can work full time; unless you’re affiliated with a top magazine or built a reputation up that you can survive off, that is the only way. I weigh it up, what makes me happiest? Is it having a community around you, having friends, family or is it photographing?

Nyaruot Gatluak, 24, plants rice at the Action Against Hunger rice paddy in Paguir. Image credit: Peter Caton

From 8-19 February 2023, gallery@oxo in the Oxo Tower, London, hosted an exhibition of Caton’s images from South Sudan. Almost 4,500 visitors made the pilgrimage to see Unyielding Floods: Restoring Hope. Using a Hasselblad had borne dividends – the large-scale images of his subjects pinged with critical detail, bringing them face to face with an international audience. ‘I thoroughly enjoyed going to the Oxo Gallery.

It opened my eyes to this idea that I need to be out there a little bit more, physically I need to put it on display, I need to be there networking. It’s difficult to get that balance right. I do believe to a degree that photographs actually help the communities you’re working with; that helps me sleep at night, rather than think I’m taking advantage. It’s consensual – the money my images help to raise can go directly back to those communities,’ he explains.

Growing up, Caton and his two sisters lived in a children’s home run by his parents where they had around 40 other children to look after. Their involvement in social work gave a strong moral underpinning to his early life. His parents are now in their 80s, and his bond with them remains strong. ‘I had nine years living in India where I cut my teeth as a photographer. In those years there were no mobile phones so in those early years my mum was a bit more anxious about me. Nowadays, if she hasn’t heard from me for a few days she just gives me a ring.’ If she can’t get through, she knows God is listening.

Yoak Chatin, 80, rows in his hand-made canoe in Wangkotha Village in Old Fangak. Image credit: Peter Caton

Peter’s website is at www.petercaton.co.uk, and see more about the charity he works with at www.actionagainsthunger.org.

Featured image: An entire family works into the night trying to scoop out flood water that gushed into their land. Image credit: Peter Canton

Further reading:

Documenting the consequences of climate change

Environmental Photographer of the Year 2022 winners announced!

Graeme Chesters – documenting climate change in one of the fastest-warming places on the planet

Portrait of Longyearbyen – Graeme Chesters

Here comes the sun – documenting change in the world’s most northerly town

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The post Peter Caton: Documenting South Sudan floods appeared first on Amateur Photographer.