19.07.10
Advice on how to photograph abroad
Magnum photographer and Reportage Master Ian Berry is well travelled. His projects over the years have taken him to places far and wide. A veteran of airport etiquette and working from hotel rooms, his images have recorded numerous cultures and pivotal moments in history. Here he advises on photographing abroad.
Research prior to any trip is vital for my projects. I need to be aware of any political implications or cultural sensitivities that may exist so I am prepared for whatever the climate might deliver. It’s also essential to have an idea in advance about the attitude of local people to photographers and photography, as this, in an ever-changing world, will influence my approach to people and the amount and type of equipment to carry.
Having spent half my life in Africa and hot climates, going to South Korea in midwinter to shoot in the snow for a Magnum book was an opportunity not to be missed, even though it meant bulky suitcases of layered clothing to cope with the December climate of just below zero in Seoul to -20C in the mountains.
One of the real problems every photographer faces these days is how to get onto an aircraft with a ton of equipment while seeming to be carrying cotton wool. I gave up using specialist camera rucksacks a long time ago as I found them to be too obvious, and now carry on a simple lightweight case into which goes a second smaller Domke bag holding extra lenses, a laptop and various electronic bits. A couple of small Metz flashguns and a lightweight Gitzo tripod, which I hardly ever use, go into the checked bag. In my main Domke, carried over my shoulder under a coat, go a couple of Leicas, two Nikon bodies and half a dozen lenses. All of which I can just about lift.
At the time of shooting this project, I had not yet mentally made the transition from film to digital and being aware of the potentially freezing conditions, decided to do the winter shoot with M6 film Leicas and F6 Nikons rather than recently acquired M8s and a Nikon D700. I subsequently discovered my worry was totally unfounded as both Leica and Nikon digital cameras work down to extreme temperatures without any problems. As it transpired, I visited South Korea during one of the mildest winters on record, with temperatures hovering just below zero.
When travelling, it’s essential to have a camera around my neck from going down to breakfast to retiring at night. I like to shoot with a couple of Leicas with short lenses, 28mm and 50mm equivalents, from around my neck, a Nikon with a 24mm-120mm on one shoulder and on the other shoulder my camera bag containing another Nikon with either a light 70-300mm lens or, if I’m feeling strong or know the light is going to be lousy, a 70-200mm F2.8. I’m afraid I rarely have the confidence to go the Henri Cartier-Bresson route of one camera with a 50mm lens, but I do follow his school of working: shoot first and discreetly.Shooting digital, there is the added incentive of not changing lenses too often, which avoids dust on the sensor.
The bulk of my shooting is done on the hoof with the Leicas because I know from experience exactly what is going to be in the frame without fine-tuning a zoom. The Nikons come into their own in more considered situations. For me, the moment the subject becomes aware of my presence, it’s time to move on. A great deal depends on one’s approach, and even if the subject does become aware of me, a smile nearly always eases the situation.
Setting up pictures is not for me because it nearly always results in a stilted response. I rarely bother to look at the image on the back of a digital camera while shooting, on the principle that if you haven’t got it, it’s too late anyway. The plus side is that you can, of course, download images at the end of the day and keep track of progress. I download onto a laptop and two lightweight separate hard drives. This ensures I have back-ups and don’t lose images.
My way of working on the street works in two ways. The first is spotting interesting people doing interesting things and trying to put them into a good shape and seize the moment. The second is finding a potentially interesting situation, perhaps a landscape or architectural, and waiting for people to be in the right place to make up the composition. My aim in South Korea was to try to get a flavour of the people, the high-tech capital city of Seoul and the less frenetic countryside. I spent the first few days in Seoul getting the hang of the place and could happily have spent my whole time there as it’s such a vibrant city with a whole suburb devoted to electronics.
After my initial orientation period, I decided to concentrate my efforts on subjects involving water, starting at a magnificent water spa. Visually, it was great fun, but tricky due to the high humidity, necessitating waiting 15 or 20 minutes, even with constantly wiping lenses and viewfinders, before it became possible to shoot. Of course even greater care was needed when I returned to the freezing outdoors. I returned later in the year to give a talk at the opening of the Magnum exhibition in Seoul and the timing coincided with the mud festival in Boryeong.
While shooting in a steamy mud sauna, I broke one of my cardinal rules of not photographing people looking at the camera, but couldn’t ignore a guy staring at me with green handprints all over the wall behind him. Another fascinating scene was a group of bankers on a company bonding day trying to do army exercises in thick mud.
After a couple of hours I was as exhausted as they looked, trying to stay upright and not dump cameras in the mud. On this trip I shot digital. Both Leicas and Nikons stood up to being inundated with mud without problem even though frequently the target of enthusiastic revellers. I noticed that local photographers wrapped their cameras in clear plastic bags. It just goes to show you can learn all the time.
Ian Berry’s advice for successful reportage photography
Get the right equipment for what you want to do and stick with it. Know it inside and out. There is no time to second-guess a potential shot. Also, don’t depend on a technical gimmick to impress — extreme lenses, oversighting etc. Rather, deliver your own eye and vision. I’ve found to my surprise that a bag of digital cameras weighs more than a film bag.
Nevertheless, when travelling on a long digital shoot, back up, back up, back up. Be sure you know exactly what you want and, within reason, try to fulfil that expectation. Don’t underestimate the value of research, but don’t get bogged down in preconceptions.
Always have an open eye and mind for the unexpected. Stories frequently take a total twist in the field. Of course, in these days of limited and underfunded assignments from all but a handful of magazines, you have to suggest and promote ideas yourself. The chances are initially that you will have to fund your own ideas.
Be prepared to travel and live cheaply.
I know one famous Magnum colleague who slept on the office floor for years and seemed to eat nothing but bread and cheese. Research your potential markets and by all means enter contests aimed at reportage to build your reputation.
The cynic in me, however, suggests you study the tastes of the judges and sponsors rather than the rules. Don’t mess around with the image. I don’t even believe in cropping. Remember that reportage photography should be fun, even when working 18 hours a day, week after week for a pittance.
If you don’t enjoy it, you’ll never be successful. Last, but certainly not least, I remember vividly from when I first joined Magnum some advice from Elliott Erwitt: Never give up your copyright.
Ian's Words of Wisdom:
Ian Berry was born in Lancashire, England. He made his reputation as a photojournalist reporting from South Africa, where he worked for the Daily Mail and Drum magazine. He was the only photographer to document the massacre at Sharpeville in 1960, and his photographs were used in the trial to prove the victims’ innocence. In 1962, while based in Paris, he was invited to join Magnum by Henri Cartier-Bresson. He moved to London in 1964 to become the first contract photographer for the Observer Magazine. Since then assignments have taken him around the world. He has documented Russia’s invasion of Czechoslovakia; conflicts in Israel, Ireland, Vietnam and the Congo; famine in Ethiopia and apartheid in South Africa. He has been published in National Geographic, Fortune, Stern, Geo, Esquire, Paris-Match, Life and several national Sunday magazines.
www.ianberrymagnum.com
History of Magnum Photos
In 1947, two years after the Second World War ended, Magnum Photos was founded. Amazed the world had survived, four photographers — Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David ‘Chim’ Seymour — were driven to record what was left. Capa was the driving force and greatly influenced the others.
In an interview at the time with French newspaper Le Monde, Cartier-Bresson revealed how Capa helped him to set aside his surrealist approach to photography and concentrate on photojournalism. With the invention of smaller, portable cameras and more light-sensitive film, Capa recognised the fast and quiet qualities these cameras had and that, coupled with the sensitivities acquired during the years of conflict, as photographers, they were well placed to document human nature. So began Magnum’s mission to not just take photographs, but to tell stories.
All four men had endured incredible ordeals during the war. Rodger, renowned for his images of the Blitz, had had to escape Japanese soldiers in Burma. An experience in a concentration camp would lead to him giving up war photography after he realised he was composing his shots using dead bodies. Cartier-Bresson spent much of the war as a German prisoner. He also served in the French Resistance. Polish-born David Seymour received a medal for his work in American intelligence, but lost his parents to the Nazis. Capa, already renowned as a war photographer for his work from the Spanish Civil War, captured the memorable photographs of the D-Day invasion.
Both Capa and Chim would die within a decade covering other wars.
The creation of Magnum allowed photographers to work beyond the traditional structure of magazine journalism. The agency, formed with offices in Paris and New York, was different in two ways. The staff, including co-founders Maria Eisner and Rita Vandivert, would support rather than direct the photographers and copyright was held by the photographers. It was not granted to the magazines that published the work.
This meant a photographer could decide to cover an event, publish the pictures and have the agency then sell the photographs to publications in other countries. This enabled the photographers to work on projects that inspired them regardless of whether they had an assignment or not. The agency divided the world into areas of coverage. Chim focused on Europe, Cartier-Bresson was based in India and the Far East, Rodger worked in Africa, and Capa roamed at large and in the US. He also took over from Bill Vandivert; an American photographer who had helped found Magnum but soon left the co-operative.
In those days large areas of the world had not been photographed and magazines were desperate for images. This meant it was possible for the photographers to go almost anywhere they wanted for as long as they liked. This approach was of vital importance to them. None of them wanted to endure the rules of a publication and its editorial staff. They believed photographers had to have a point of view that went beyond simple editorial coverage. The group had some early successes. Capa recorded life in the Soviet Union behind the Iron Curtain with the writer John Steinbeck. It is reported he was paid $20,000 for his images compared to Steinbeck’s $3000. Cartier-Bresson enjoyed notoriety for the images he captured in India at the time of Gandhi’s assassination.
From here the agency quickly grew and within five years Magnum had added to its stable several up-and-coming young photographers such as Eve Arnold, Erich Hartmann and Marc Riboud.
Today as well as offices in Paris and New York, Magnum operates from London and Tokyo with a network of 15 sub-agents. The group carries the work of 79 photographers and meets once a year during the last weekend in June to discuss the direction of the group and to review photographer portfolios for potential new members. Those that get past this stage are invited to become a nominee member of Magnum, which is an opportunity for both the agency and the photographer to get acquainted without a commitment from either side.
In the last five years, up to four new nominees have been invited to join the group each year. This stage takes two years at the end of which the photographers present another portfolio if they wish to apply for associate membership. If this is granted, the photographer is then bound by the rules of the agency. They can also use all the facilities including the offices and worldwide representation.
An associate member differs from a full member in that they are not appointed a director of the company and do not have voting rights in any corporate decisions. After another two years, associate members can apply for full membership by presenting yet another portfolio. Once elected as a full member, the photographer is so for life or as long as they choose. It is interesting to note that no members of Magnum have ever been asked to leave.
www.magnumphotos.com
This feature is from the June 2010 issue
Back issues can be ordered by calling 01858 438840 or by sending an email to photographymonthly@subscription.co.uk
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