Got interviewed by Vincent for We Love Photo (French Online Photo Magazine)
We Love Photo – Could you tell us more about you as a photographer and your style: what’s your background in photography? When did you start and why? Who are the photographers who inspire you the most? What specific material did you use for this photo set?
I am basically a self-taught photographer. Having worked as a Graphic Designer and Art Director in Europe, I had access to the latest digital cameras, (5MP DSLR at the time) which truly fascinated me and I fell in love with this art form. About 7-8 years ago I became seriously driven to become a photographer and set out to photograph the beauty of far away lands. Since then I have travelled to: Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, Turkey, Mexico, Peru and Costa Rica. Today, I take photos with my Canon 5D Mark II camera and post process them in Photoshop SC6. I mostly love taking photos in nature with natural lights, but I like to accentuate certain parts of an image and create dreamy painterly landscapes and portraits. To me, photography is all about the final image, regardless of the journey, whether it is through a traditional medium or digital post processing. To capture the perfect image, there should be ‘no limitations’ on one’s creativity. Although I like to see and admire other photographers’ work, I cannot pick only a few who inspire me —there are so many great photographers. Besides I try to evolve my own style.
We Love Photo – What’s the inspiration behind the photo set in your book: why did you start this project? What message did you want to convey? What inspired you?
Nature inspires me the most. I can’t get enough of the beauty that our planet offers us, so I travel when I can, to places unknown to me to capture the uniqueness of each place. It’s amazing how much I can learn about imagery from animals, plants and other cultures in the world and I try to share that knowledge with my photos. I like it when my pictures can tell a story, but at the same time I enjoy showing the unique and beautiful details of my subjects. There is too much ugliness in the world. Beautiful images of nature can be a delightful escapism —and as restorative as being there.
We Love Photo – Could you tell us about your experience publishing books? What criteria did you use to select pictures and define the structure, etc.? Why self-publishing? What steps would you recommend others follow when creating a new book?
I use Blurb to publish my photo books. (http://www.blurb.com/user/store/fesign)
They print good quality books and offer very professional services. Also Blurb is cost effective and environmentally friendlier, since they just print a book when someone actually buys it —it doesn’t just sit and collect dust on a shelf somewhere in a bookstore. Online book publishing is so easy nowadays. Of course, at the same time, we see lots of poorly designed books, because now anyone can do it from their home. Since I am a professional graphic designer, it was much easier for me to design books. All I would recommend for people who are not designers is to not forget that quality matters more than quantity. Less images on a page with some free space, can look much more pleasant for the eyes.
We Love Photo – What are your next steps: do you have any future photography or publishing projects in the pipeline?
Right now I am working on my Costa Rica and Peru images and hopefully very soon I can publish my new set of travel books, where I can share what I have seen from these amazing countries.