Neil has some fantastic shots and I’m glad he threw in a model shoot or too. He’s also worried you won’t read all his words because he’s more verbose than the average guest post. Humor the man and take a look at his thoughts as well as his words. Then keep track of Neil on these sites of his:
Website – http://www.neilalexanderphotography.com
Blog – http://blog.neilalexanderphotography.com
Facebook Page – http://www.facebook.com/NeilAlexanderPhotography
Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/MancTog
1) Explain a bit about who you are and the type of photography that interests you most.
As far back as I can remember, I’ve always had an interest in the still image. I remember when I was about 5 or 6, a serving uncle came to visit and presented me with a series of prints of a helicopter approaching and landing on a Royal Navy vessel that he had taken and then gave me the camera he had taken then with. The camera has long since disappeared, but as a young boy I was fascinated with the pictures of the helicopter and had them for many years. I had assorted cameras during my formative years, and then persuaded a friend to sell me his Olympus OM10 and a couple of lenses for the princely sum of £10 when I was 17. I loved this camera, and still have it and use it today.
My interest in photography waned somewhat whilst I pursued my love of music and DJing that for many years fulfilled all my artistic wants and needs. However the arrival of the pitter-patter of tiny feet forced me to abandon this rather hedonistic way of life, and I needed an artistic outlet that was a little more conducive to keeping my feet on the ground. So in 2003 I bought my first DSLR, and I was hooked once again.
There is something about the ability to stop time, to capture a single never to be repeated moment and then to be able to print that moment and hold it in one’s hand that fulfills a need unlike any other.
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about photographic styles, but finding mine (if I’m even close to forming one) very hard to define. Some photographers are drawn to a particular genre and stick to – I’ve never seen a Helmut Newton landscape, or a John Davies portrait, so I think that if you are drawn to a particular field then it is much easier to define your own style as such. I could recognize a Newton portrait from 50 paces solely because his style was so unique. However other equally great photographers prefer not to pigeon-hole themselves. One of Rick Sammon’s catchphrases is that his specialty is in not specializing yet his work has won him many awards including the acclaimed Canon Explorer of Light title and I believe he would find it very hard to define his “style”.
Personally, I love images that have a degree of drama in them, be it landscapes or people. One can create drama in an image with lighting and / or composition. When I’m making landscapes, the light is one of the first things I will look for. I’ll generally only shoot around sunrise or sunset or possibly immediately after a storm has passed when the contrast between the tempestuous clouds and the sun peaking out behind can often produce imagery with a much greater depth of feeling. As for portraiture, I’ll use the ambient light as a starting point, but often by adding a little additional artificial light one can create a much more affected outcome. Elements of drama can also be brought into an image with the careful use of composition; by placing elements of different importance strategically around the frame one can manipulate the viewer’s eye around the image and thus effect how they “see” the overall outcome.
2) If you could have a paid trip for 4 weeks anywhere in the world just to photograph and report back, where would it be?
There are so many amazing places and wonderful cultures across the globe to discover, that it’s very hard for me to pick any one place. Never a truer word was spoken than the old adage that "travel broadens the mind", and I find my constantly consuming inspiring imagery from all over the world. I guess if I had to limit myself to one country, then it would have to be Japan. The culture and landscape is so vastly different from deepest Cheshire in the UK, that it holds all manner of attraction for me. Fortunately, I’m actually planning a trip there at some point next year, but it’s unlikely I’ll have the luxury of spending a whole 4 weeks there!
3) Name two of your photography inspirations
There are so many inspirational photographers from which to draw influence from and in this digital age, the ease of access to inspiration provides me with a never-ending stream of stimulus. I find myself drawn to the works of the masters; such as Eugene Atget, Andre Kertesz and Henri Cartier-Bresson for street photography, Ansel Adams, John Davies and Fay Godwin for their wonderful capture of the landscape, and Helmut Newton, David LaChapelle and Richard Avedon for their ability to produce iconic portraiture.
As far as other photographers go, I try to maintain a list on my blog of the photographers that I regularly go and look at for inspiration – you can find it here: http://blog.neilalexanderphotography.com/photographic-references/
4) What do you hope to convey to others through your photography
With my travel and landscape work, it’s important to me to attempt to evoke a feeling of being there – to experience a sense of the place. If you like, a visual attempt to whisk the viewer away momentarily and place them in the scene.
Without being able to convey sound and smell, sight is the only sense I can attempt to reproduce so it means that the images I make have to encapsulate all that is necessary to evoke those feelings with just the one faculty. Sometimes it’s down to what I include in the frame, but it can also be driven by what’s left out. Though often certain elements become key.
They say that a picture can speak a thousand words – which is great for me as vocabulary has never been my forte. It is also said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and those two proverbs for me are what photography is all about.
