Lenswork Interview

This past week, I had a very engaging telephone interview with Brooks Jensen, the publisher of Lenswork. The interview is slated for release sometime this month or in October. I'm not exactly sure.

If you don't know much about Lenswork, then I would strongly urge you to seek it out. There are not that many interesting photography related magazines or on-line subscriptions which focus on the art and creative aspects of being a photographer. In fact, I think it's telling that most of the sites out there are predominantly focussed on gear. So it's really refreshing to have Brook's magazine available.

Anyway, the interview with Brooks was covered by himself recording his own audio while he chatted to me on Skype, and I recorded my own segment with my handy Sony PCM-D50 audio recorder (I love taking a little audio recorder with me on my travels as I think sound is a further dimension in which one can creatively explore their surroundings and it's been very useful for adding a richness to some of my podcasts).

In his interview, Brooks covered many things with me, but I think the area that interested him the most was how I've managed to make a living from photography and in which mediums I've managed to do this (we discussed e-books, printed books and also my podcasts). I think he's very interested in photographers thinking more outside the box, and not being too constrained by the ideas that they should try to sell images or prints only.

Anyway, Brooks was very nice to talk to. He came over very much as he does in his audio podcasts. You should really check out his magazine. Yes, there is a predominant focus on black and white photography, but he also has a Lenswork 'extended' edition which covers colour photography and how best to illustrate or show your work to others.

Very highly recommended.

Everywhere feels like home

Well, it's been a long time coming. I do podcasts on iTunes if you don't already know;  you can subscribe to my podcast on iTunes here and have them automatically downloaded onto you iPod or iPad. I'm a little self conscious of putting these podcasts together, but I often get folks asking me when I'll do some more, and the responses I've seen on my guestbook and on iTunes has confirmed that folks love em.

[embed width="400" ] https://vimeo.com/48290279 [/embed]

I've had a lot of "recharging" time at home these past few weeks, which is why the blog is quite prolific at the moment. I'm enjoying very much the process of working through most of the films I've shot this year.

Being home is good. Very good. I feel a need for a sense of balance in what I do: I love the traveling, and I've found the world has become smaller for me over the past few years. I've got some very dear friends in Australia, Canada, America, Portugal, Norway, Switzerland, Japan, Easter Island, Chile, Argentina....

It's amazing to discover that with a little bit of travel (or maybe quite a lot!), strangers become friends and exotic landscapes have become familiar haunts.

I'm aware I lead a very privileged life doing what I do. So with this in mind, here's a little podcast about that, with some music by the extremely talented Dustin O'Halloran titled 'An Ending, a Beginning', which i find very apt.

Many thanks to Dustin and his Management team for allowing me permission to use his very beautiful music. I feel very strongly that the arts should be supported, and I've made sure that a royalty fee has been incurred for the use of Dustin's music. If you'd like to find this music and buy it, it's on the 'Transcendentalism EP'.

I hope you enjoy the podcast, and I do wish to create many more. It's just that time is so precious to me now - it's the rarest commodity that I possess.

Lofoten Islands Podcast

I don't do many podcasts. They're quite time consuming, but above all, I can only do them when I have something to say. Sometimes, what I have to say, isn't immediately obvious and in terms of the Lofoten islands, which I visited this March, it took me a good month to figure out what it was, about this place, that made a big impression on me.

Speaking to a friend of mine recently, we discussed my trip and it became apparent that what had affected me the most was how the seasons felt very out of step.

Let me explain. In Scotland winter tends to come to a drawn out close around April and sometimes as late as May. But when I was heading off to Lofoten in March, there were sure signs of Spring in the air here. The sun was out and it was t-shirt territory. I even felt I had a 'spring in my step' too (not bad for a 43 year old!).

Lofoten Islands, Norway from Bruce Percy on Vimeo.

Now consider that just shortly after arriving in Lofoten, I stood in a petrol station in the town of Leknes, waiting for my bus to arrive to take me to Reine, and outside, all I could see was a snow blizzard hammer relentlessly against the window. I do remember thinking 'oh, what have I got myself into this time?' and I wondered if I'd been really foolish to come to such an amazingly desolate environment (I use this term with no exaggeration - Norway, above the arctic circle at this time of year is an extremely harsh place to live).

Anyway, as the podcast shows, it's also a very beautiful place and I certainly felt as though I'd taken a step back in time a few months, right into the depths of winter.

It was an absorbing experience to feel like an outsider, looking in on a season that was very much alive and real to the friends and locals I met in Lofoten, but had become very much a thing of the past for me.

I'll be releasing my future podcasts (including this one) on Vimeo, because it allows me to give you an HD version with nice viewing controls. You can also find my other podcasts on Vimeo as well in 720 HD mode, so enjoy (and if you'd like to leave some nice comments on Vimeo - even better :-)

I do hope you enjoy this podcast. Lofoten is an extremely beautiful place. It has two faces, a stunningly beautiful summer face and a dramatic winter face. That is why I am headed back there this mid-summer, to photograph the night (11 till 5am brings beautiful light). Now where did I put my eye-patches?

Lalibela Podcast

Situated in the northern foothills of Ethiopia, lies Lalibela, an important spiritual mecca for orthodox christians.

Please click on the image to play the podcast

I came here in September of this year to photograph the people in the context of the UNESCO rock hewn churches. Unbeknown to me at the time, I was on a pilgrimage of my own. Looking back now, I can see that my entire photographic 'career' has been that - a journey and as with everything in life, we only truly understand how far we've come, by looking back. Everything up ahead of us, is yet to be discovered.

This will be my last podcast for a while. They're very time-consuming to do, even though I do find them very enjoyable. But the problem is gathering enough new material to make one with. Lalibela was the first set of new photographs I made this year. I do have a trip planned to go to Norway in March 2011 to (hopefully) shoot the Aurora and also photograph the beautiful fishing town of A. Who knows what this may bring in terms of a future podcast, but until then, I'd just like to let you know that I intend to make podcasts in future, but only when I have new material and when the time is right to do so.

Eigg Podcast

I've just had some spare time to put together a little podcast about the Isle of Eigg - you will need a decent pair of speakers to enjoy this.

Please click on the image to play the podcast

I have had some very kind permission by Macmaster & Hay to use the title track of their album 'Reason & Love' for this podcast, so if  you enjoy the music, please do give their album a listen at myspace at :www.myspace.com/macmasterhay

Macmaster & Hay tell me their album 'Reason & Love' is available from www.codamusic.co.uk if you would like to buy a copy - which I can recommend very much.

I find the music very appropriate for this podcast. I'd been thinking for a while that if I were to do the isle of Eigg justice, it would be great to use some Scottish music for it and I feel I've found the perfect partner. The sea sounds were recorded on Laig bay while I was making photographs earlier this year (April) and Adam - you'll know just the very moment I made the recording as you were there at the time.

So I do hope you enjoy this podcast. I get such a buzz out of putting them together. They allow me to reflect on my own photographic-journey, where I've been, where I'm at and where I'm perhaps going. Yep, I'm a hippy at heart really.

Assynt : Podcast

Assynt is a special place, situated in the far north west of Scotland. It's not so well known as places like Glencoe, but I think that's more to do with Glencoe's accessibility. While Glencoe has a major trunk road going right through it, Assynt is tucked away from most people and certainly, the photographic press don't cover it much, if at all. Which is a blessing as well as a burden. A blessing because it's not overrun with photographers and a burden, because it takes more effort to convince people to come here!

Please click on the image to play the podcast

This podcast deals with the subject of isolation. Perhaps the biggest thing that bothers me while I'm away making images.

I sometimes find myself feeling too much on my own and in this podcast, I try to ask some questions: is it a wild landscape that makes us feel isolated, or does the landscape more or less amplify our own feelings and reflect them back to us?

I've been pumping out the podcasts lately. I'm sorry for the sporadic publication of these. It takes quite some time to put them together.... but they are a labour of love on my part. I often find I can get round to doing them when I feel inspired to do so. With any 'art', it can't be rushed, and conversely, you have to strike when the iron is hot (take action when you're feeling creative). I've been feeling creative this past few weeks.

Holy Land in Crisis

The reason I got into making podcasts was because I was inspired by a podcast I saw by Jake Warga. He's an independent reporter. I was intrigued by Jake's podcast. There was a great story, good production values and good photography too. I've always been interested in reportage, and so for me, it felt like Jake had shown me how to combine my photography with a story.

I've been talking to Jake for the past two years now. He's in Patagonia at the moment, and he's approached me about doing an interview. I'll let you know if something comes of it.

Anyway, I'd love to show you some new stuff by Jake. I've just been on YouTube tonight and found these. I think they're great. It's interesting stuff.

I know that many of the visitors to my site are interested in Landscape Photography only, but I personally feel that most of us start there and progress to other forms of photography. I love portraiture and reportage. I'd love to do some reportage at some point: to tell a story. Perhaps later this year if I manage to make it to Ethiopia (next place on my list). Until then, why not watch these two podcasts to see someone weave a story with some excellent audio and photography:

India's People Podcast

India was captivating in many ways. In this podcast, I try to convey how overpowering India's culture is and how it affected my approach to portraiture photography.

Please click on the image to play the podcast

Now that I've had some time to reflect on my trip to India and to re-charge my batteries, I'd love to go back. I think we need something to challenge us, to surprise us from time to time and in that respect, India succeeds hands down.

I'm really quite surprised to discover that it's taken me just over a year to get round to putting this little podcast together. I think there was a lot going on for me last year and a lot of travel. It was so satisfying going back to the audio recordings I made whilst in India and listening to them with fresh ears. It took me right back. I'm hoping to record more ambient sound for future podcasts..... it's a much more enriching experience to have sound as well as photos. Perhaps even video at some point, but I feel that involves quite a bit of a leap in technique. For the time being, I'm just going to stick with iMovie for my basic slideshows and an Audio recorder (Sony PCM-D50 which is great by the way) and of course, my photography for the substance to my podcasts.

Podcast : Harris & Lewis

Now available under the podcast section of my web site, I've a new podcast about Harris & Lewis. Confusingly, Harris and Lewis are the same island. The south part is called Harris while the north part is called Lewis.

Please click on the image to play the podcast

I've been twice now - first in May 2009 and then back in November 2009. It's an hypnotic place and the light last November was stunning. Dramatic, changeable and moody. I hope to get back to putting some new podcasts together. I'd like to discuss Assynt and Skye too, perhaps talking about the efforts that I go into making a trip and staying out there for a concentrated time. Until then, I hope you enjoy this little podcast!