1 on 1: Gavin Gough

The Travel Photographer blog will occasionally post interviews with both travel and editorial working photographers. The first interview of 2008 is with Gavin Gough, a full-time freelance working photographer from Great Britain.

TTP: When did you decide to become a photographer? Who or what influenced your decision?

GG: I've entertained ambitions of being a photographer since leaving school but followed a more mainstream career until a sabbatical in 2003. That year off gave me the opportunity to change track and became the launching point for my new career. Realizing just how quickly time is passing is a great motivator and once I had made the decision I knew that the remainder of my working life would be devoted to photography.

TTP: Do you have any formal training regarding photography?

GG: I attended a series of classes many years ago, some of which were taken with a really inspiring teacher who was the most observant person I have ever met. He was the first person to teach me that seeing things with a “photographer's eye” would reveal different viewpoints and perspectives. Other than those early classes, I am entirely self-taught.

TTP : if you had the choice, where is your favorite place to live and work as a photographer in the world and why?

GG: I am lucky enough to be able to work anywhere in the world but I especially enjoy working in the Indian sub-continent and South East Asia. Nepal feels like a home from home, and away from the beaten track, it is still very unspoiled and the local people are charm personified.

India is a photographer's dream but like a world apart. Impossible to sum up in a few sentences, it is a chaos of contradictions, and remains one of the most hospitable places I know.

Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos are a delight to visit. I once owned a rickshaw in Cambodia and thought I might use it to show tourists around Angkor if the photographic work didn't take off. I've been completely seduced by Vietnam and it is a place where I can easily imagine living.

My main base, however, remains in England as it really is one of the few places in the world where you can get a decent cup of tea. The Uruguayans are enthusiastic tea-drinkers too so I'm always happy to go back to Uruguay.

TTP: Describe your own favorite image, and describe how you went about creating it.

GG: I really struggled to find an answer to this question. Perhaps because I find it easier to talk enthusiastically about other people's photo's (I try to maintain the stereotype of a self-deprecating Englishman), although it's really just that my favorite photo is different on any given day.

So, for today at least, I have selected one of a Hindu religious teacher or “Swami” taken in Varanasi in northern India as a recent favorite. I was walking along the bank of the Ganges shortly after sunrise and turned a corner to be confronted by the sight of this man standing on his head, performing his ritual morning yoga routine. I obviously didn't want to interrupt him so discretely snapped a couple of frames before he turned himself, with great elegance, up the right way, at which point I asked if I could continue to take photographs.

He was a charming man and we talked for some time before he offered to show me the nearby ashram where he was staying. It was another example of how photography can open doors and help make friends.

I like this particular picture because it tends to make people do a quick double-take when they first see it. Although his face is obscured, I love the round spectacles lying on the ground, carefully placed there before he began his exercises.

This photo will form part of a panel that I'm exhibiting in London in February '08.

TTP: Describe a day in your professional life.

GG: On location I'll be up and out before sunrise, ready to catch the first light. I will often stay out all day, shooting details and interiors if the light becomes harsh and I will be back at a pre-chosen location at dusk and for an hour after sunset. I'll spend the evening uploading the day's photos to a laptop, making my first selections and beginning the process of cataloging.

I love waking up with the knowledge that if I want to pack a bag and go to Belgium, Bolivia or Bhutan then that's my call. I hesitate to paint too rosy a picture though as “Travel Photographer” is a title that many people assume brings with it equal measures of glamor and wealth, neither of which is true.

TTP: Tell your funniest, scariest, most bizarre, most touching story from a photoshoot!

GG: I've been mugged in Rio (who hasn't?), robbed in Florence (I still maintain that my best-ever pictures were lost that day), held by Maoist rebels in Nepal (they were very polite) and chased across Saharan sand dunes by shadowy masked men (I think they were probably only trying to sell me a night's accommodation), all of which sounds much scarier than it was in reality.

The downsides to my work are easily outweighed by the positive experiences though and they are too numerous to recount. Photography is a great ice-breaker and, if approached with the right attitude and with sensitivity, carrying a camera can offer ways to quickly break down barriers.

I am frequently touched by the generosity of strangers and the hospitality shown by those who often have much less than I do. Time and time again I have seen that it is often those who have least who offer most. Making friends via photography is a rare privilege and I have been fortunate to have made many friends during my short career so far.

TTP: What types of assignments are you most attracted to?

GG: Ones that pay the biggest daily rate! Seriously, the money is a big incentive. I have a mortgage to pay and new equipment to buy. I know that sounds mercenary but it's a real luxury to be able to pick and choose assignments based purely on your own whims. I am a working photographer after all.

Having said that, whatever the assignment, I will try to put some time aside to shoot just for myself. Of course, I love to arrive in places that are new to me most of all so would prefer to go to those places first but you should see how much I spend with Canon, Adobe and Apple every year! Believe me, I go where the money takes me!

TTP: How would you describe your photographic style?

GG: This follows on from the last question in that I'm usually showing the best of a location for the benefit of travel companies and stock libraries. So there are lots of blue skies and smiling faces in my commercial work as these wholesome, unspoiled views are the best sellers.

However, I've always been a great admirer of the more gritty, editorial style and although I am a million miles from being in the company of those well-known editorial shooters, It is clear that I am now tending towards a more editorial style in my personal work.

TTP: Who or what would you love to shoot that you haven't already?

GG: The winner of this year's Travel Photographer of the Year competition won an opportunity to photograph the Dalai Lama and I would gladly have swapped all of my other awards and successes for that chance.

TTP: Describe the photo gear, as well as (if digital) your computer hardware and software you use.

GG: I use Canon EOS 1Ds MKII bodies with a selection of Canon 'L' series lenses ranging from 16mm to 200mm. The Canon IS f/2.8 70-200mm is a gorgeous lens. I carry gear in either Lowepro or Crumpler backpacks although I'm still searching for the perfect camera bag.

I work with a MacBook Pro on location, backing up to LaCie All-Terrain external drives. I process RAW files with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop CS3 and I manage my photo library with iView MediaPro.

WPost: Praying for Benazir

The Washington Post has featured a short video by Travis Fox on the gatherings following Benazir Bhutto's assassination in December.

Her assassination hasn't only caused enormous havoc on internal Pakistani politics, but it also created considerable resentment between the dominant Punjabis and the remaining tribal and ethnic minorities. Many Sindhis (like Benazir) believe that she wasn't assassinated because she opposed extremism and advocated democracy, but that she was killed because she was a Sindhi.

According to the Washington Post: "Few believe the country is in imminent danger of fracturing again. But Bhutto's death has exacerbated ethnic tension in at least two ways: It has angered non-Punjabis because of her status as a member of a minority, and it has eliminated one of the few Pakistani politicians whose reputation transcended ethnicity."

As Gust Avrakotos (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman in the excellent movie Charlie Wilson's War) says: "We shall see".

TTP Recap of the Week

For your convenience, here's the past week's (December 31- January 6) most read posts on TTP:

Update on Batteries
Revamped Photo-Expeditions Website
Heathrow's New Baggage Rules

News: Heathrow's New Baggage Rule

According to the BBC, most UK airports are preparing to let passengers take more than one piece of hand luggage on flights from Monday, to coincide with extra security checks.

Heathrow, which is an absolute disgrace in terms of passenger service, is one of the airports where two hand luggage pieces will now be permitted. It seems that new scanners have now been installed, and this will facilitate security checks. The other restrictions regarding liquids etc are still in effect.

For those of us who travel from New York to London and back, British Airways will allow two pieces of hand luggage per passenger, while Virgin Atlantic will allow one piece of cabin luggage per passengers in Economy and Premium Economy Class (plus laptop, handbag or similar); and two pieces of luggage per passenger traveling first class.

This will provide some relief to photographers who have lots of gear to carry on board. Of course, weight considerations for carry-on luggage are still in place, but at least one hurdle has been removed.

Streets Eats In Bangkok

Image © Josef Polleross /New York Times-All Rights Reserved
To compensate for my irascible Sunday rant on Manhattan brunches, here's a slideshow from the New York Times on Street Eats in Bangkok. The photography is by Josef Polleross, and the accompanying article is written by by Joshua Kurlantzick who has experienced Bangkok street restaurants for a decade.

He writes on what most frequent travelers to Thailand know well; the best food in Thailand is served by street vendors and at small neighborhood restaurants. What I didn't realize however, is that it's because of historical reasons that Bangkok has some of the best street food in the world. It has long attracted migrants from all over Asia, so its street cuisine, both from street carts and in tiny eateries, blends many Asian and South Asian styles of cooking.

The article provides information as to the names and locations of these eateries, so the next time I'm in Bangkok, you'll find me there.

Sunday Rant V

Here's a non-photography related rant, and it's about Sunday brunch. Yes, brunch...the meal that is neither fish nor fowl...neither breakfast nor lunch and neither this nor that...the hideous meal that's supposed to combine breakfast and lunch.

Living in an area of Manhattan that seemingly has more restaurants and cafes than people, I'm getting increasingly ticked off by this in-your-face scam which restaurants love to heave on its patrons every Sunday. Why do restaurants love brunches? Because it's a breakfast with the price tag of a decent lunch. You do the math: a couple of eggs, a bunch of left-over reheated spinach (if you order eggs Florentine), maybe a few dry rashers of bacon, and worst of all a glass of orange juice mixed with plonky champagne called Mimosa, or some other revolting variation. Moreover, anyone can cook a brunch. On Sunday, the higher-paid chefs can stay home, have a proper lunch, and leave the "understudies" to cook on brunch days.

The argument for the brunch scam is that people wake up late on Sundays, and take their time before having their first meals. I have no problem with that. These people can have a late breakfast wherever and whenever they want. What I have a problem with is that the majority of restaurants in the area do not offer lunch on Sundays...just brunch at lunch prices. In fact, I've sat down in restaurants on Sundays a few times and got haughty looks because I asked for a "lunch" menu...snotty up-and-down looks as if I had just walked in from the Gobi desert.

You want to know why they don't offer you a lunch menu and a brunch menu on Sundays? Because a three-year old would immediately realize that brunch is a scam...and would order from the lunch menu. The restaurant owners wouldn't like it and the chefs would hate it.

I admire whoever started this brunch scam...I really do. Charging lunch prices for a three-dollar breakfast and getting away with it is chutzpah with a capital C.

That's my rant and that's why I don't do brunches.

One Shot: Vinayak Das

Image Copyright © Vinayak Das-All Rights Reserved
Vinayak Das was born in Calcutta, and according to his biography is completely self taught as a photographer. He specializes in documentary and people photography. He particularly enjoys honing his current skills in working with natural light and subjects of social and cultural interest.

His biography also tells us that he is currently working on a project called 'Bangalore Markets'( A look at the traditional heritage market places in Bangalore). Yakshagana ( A look at Karnataka's traditional Folk Art Form ) and Reflections of Life are two of his new projects that will be ready in this year. He is a contributor to Visage, one of India's leading stock photography agencies. Vinayak has been involved closely with several TV shows in India. He also writes for The Economic Times, The Times of India, The Statesman and The Telegraph.

For this One Shot feature, I chose Vinayak's image of a Yakshagana dancer in his stunning costume and make-up. Yakshagana is a traditional theater form combining dance, music, spoken word, costume-makeup, and stage technique with a distinct style and form, performed in India's Karnataka state.

For more of his skilled imagery of the Yakshagana and other projects:

Vinayak Das