your guide to everything photo april / may 2019your guide to everything photo december / january...

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IF YOU TRAVEL THE WORLDCAMERA IN HAND, WELCOME HOME.

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APRIL / MAY 2019_V. 44, N. 3CONTENTS

EXPOSURE04 EDITORIAL

06 CONTRIBUTORS

06 THIS AND THAT

14 THE COMMUNITY UNDER THE BIG SKY TURNING TO PRAIRIE RANCHERS FOR INSPIRATION AND SOLACE

20 MISADVENTURES IN PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTOGRAPHING A LEGEND50 THE LIVING ROOM

VISION22 WISDOM, WIT AND OTHER TIDBITS EXCERPTS FROM OUR INTERVIEW WITH PAT MORROW Pat Morrow has travelled all over the world documenting canyoneering,

backcountry-skiing and mountain- culture stories. 26 THE EKTACHROME REVIVAL AN INTERVIEW WITH PHOTOGRAPHER BRJÁNN BATISTA BETTENCOURT ON ANALOG

PHOTOGRAPHY, THE REVIVAL OF EKTACHROME, AND THE MAGIC OF SLIDE FILM After six years of being unavailable, Kodak Alaris has brought back Ektachrome film,

and analog photographers like Brjánn Batista Bettencourt are pretty excited.

34 PHOTO EVENTS, WHY ATTEND? WHAT YOU SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE YOU COMMIT There are hundreds of photo-related trade shows, conferences, expos and fairs that

take place each year around the globe, begging the question—why attend?

42 SHOWTIME PORTRAITS

TOOLBOX44 PRODUCTIVITY FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS KEEP PROCRASTINATION AT BAY WITH THESE PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY TIPS It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that creative pursuits require less discipline than

traditional work, but there’s a lot of effort required to sustain a photography business.

ON THE COVER26 THE EKTACHROME REVIVAL AN INTERVIEW WITH BRJÁNN BATISTA BETTENCOURT

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THE EKTACHROME REVIVAL AN INTERVIEW WITH PHOTOGRAPHER BRJÁNN BATISTA BETTENCOURT ON ANALOG

PHOTOGRAPHY, THE REVIVAL OF EKTACHROME, AND THE MAGIC OF SLIDE FILMBY INGRID FORSTER

Ektachrome is well known by analog photographers for its fine grain, great tones, contrast, vibrancy, and excellent colour reproduction. The colour-reversal film has been around since the 1940s and was once available in numerous formats and variations for both still photography and motion pictures. By 2012, all Ektachrome film was phased out due to a dramatic decrease in sales. After six years of being unavailable, Kodak Alaris—now an independent company—has brought back Ektachrome film, and professional analog photographers like Brjánn Batista Bettencourt are pretty excited.

Brjánn is a Toronto-based professional documentary photographer and visual storyteller and highly sought after by clients for his analog work. To say that he is an analog photography enthusiast would be an understatement—he shot and processed over five hundred rolls of film in 2018 alone.

How long have you been making photographs?I started making photographs in high school but have shot professionally for about eleven years now. I completed my journalism degree at Ryerson University and began working as a photojournalist for Metroland Media and then The Globe and Mail and, following that, The Toronto Star. After that, I started to branch out into more commercial work and also wedding photography.

What kind of work do you do now?Most of my professional work is in commercial, editorial or wedding photography, but I approach everything with a storyteller’s eye. I get hired to do a lot of commercial work in the form of creative documentation.

How did you become sought after for your analog work? I have always loved film and have enjoyed shooting it for personal projects. I wanted to move away from the often-mundane action of shooting numerous digital images. I really wanted to challenge myself

and put my skills to the test shooting film for clients and working under a bit of pressure. I shared some professional projects I shot on film, and people responded really well to it. I think people are starting to appreciate the craftsmanship behind analog photography again and the beauty and nuances of film. I get contacted regularly now to shoot work entirely on film, including weddings. This year almost all of my wedding inquiries and bookings are for my analog work.

Why film? Can you expand on that?Photography is becoming really homogenized, and people are becoming somewhat desensitized to imagery now because they look at so many photos on a daily basis. You could be scrolling by amazing photographs, but your brain doesn’t want to process them anymore because you are just fatigued from this constant barrage of images. Analog photography has a nice way of slowing you down, making you think and appreciate the craftsmanship and thought behind image making. Film, in general, makes me work with greater intention.

What cameras do you use for your analog work?I mostly work in medium format, and my primary camera is a Hasselblad 501CM. I also use a Mamiya 645 AFD, which is a more modern medium-format film camera that is great for weddings, commercial and editorial work. My number three camera is a Yashica T5.

What lab do you use to process your film since there aren’t really too many around anymore?Downtown Camera here in Toronto. Almost exclusively. They really care about and support the analog community. It’s fun to work with people who care about film. What they do is so important. It’s easy to forget, but you are leaving the destiny of your creation in their hands—and that of your clients—so to be able to have a good relationship with and also trust a lab is huge. They currently don’t offer E6 processing on-site but have a partnership with Boréalis Photo Lab in Montreal, so it gets sent there.Continued on page 32

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PHOTO EVENTS, WHY ATTEND?WHAT YOU SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE YOU COMMIT

BY MICHAEL ERNEST SWEET

Most photographers have heard about the “big bash” photo event, Photokina. The largest photo trade fair of its kind, Photokina takes place annually in Germany. Many photographers lust to attend, as this is where the photo industry unveils the latest and greatest equipment of the year. Given that we live in the age of gear acquisition syndrome, one can imagine all the fun that can be had at such an event by wandering around and gawking at all the brand-new photo equipment on offer. But Photokina is merely one of the hundreds (possibly thousands) of photo-related trade shows, festivals, conferences, expos and fairs that take place each year around the globe, begging the question—why attend? Are all these events worth my hard-earned cash, something that isn’t always so easily earned in the photography business? For me, the answer is yes, with just a few caveats. Here are some of my top reasons for attending photo events, along with a couple of thoughts for pause.

CONNECT WITH OLD FRIENDSAND MAKE NEW ONESThis is perhaps the most worthwhile reason to attend photo events. In fact, I think I have made at least one new lasting friend at every single photo event I’ve attended over the years. Photography can sometimes feel like a very isolated hobby, and, indeed, it is often just that. Trade shows, conferences and festivals provide great opportunities to enjoy both your passion for photography and the company of others. If the particular event is an international one, you stand the chance of running into some “famous faces” also. By this, I mean you might meet some of those people whose work we all are familiar with but haven’t yet met or perhaps even seen. Many photographers like to hide, preferring to have their work in the spotlight instead, but this is less easily done at big photo events. Go find your hero!

DISCOVER NEW ARTISTS AND THEIR WORKThere are so many photographs to see in the world, and so many new photographers to discover. Unfortunately, as we often tend to live in our social-media bubbles, uncovering these new artists and their work can be challenging. An added complication is that everyone (I really do mean everyone) makes photographs these days. The sheer number of images in the world today has not made it any easier to ferret out good work by unique photographers. Another result of social media, and the Internet more generally, is that fewer and fewer “gatekeepers” exist to guard against silly snapshots. Unfortunately, this ephemeral work now sits beside some of the best photography in the world. My Instagram feed will feature my teenage neighbour one second, and then Joel Meyerowitz the next.

One way to cut through all this clutter and find new, high-quality work is to attend photo events. These events still retain an element of “gatekeeping.” Now, I don’t mean to suggest that snapshots aren’t worthwhile—or that photography requires gatekeepers everywhere. Rather, it’s only that sorting out great enthusiast and professional work from all the other photographs in the world has become difficult to the point of potentially obscuring our view of noteworthy photography. Attending an event where photography is curated and physically organized in a way that leads us to learn about new work that fits in our wheelhouse is a huge benefit.

Additionally, another downside of our social-media existence is that we often don’t see work displayed as intended. Looking at 1 x 2 inch photographs has its place, surely, but doesn’t often do a lot of justice to the artist’s original intent. Getting to see work displayed in person at its full size can often be remarkably refreshing. Break free of the social- media echo chamber and its miniature photos, and visit a photo event to discover new photographers and their work.

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PRODUCTIVITYFOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

KEEP PROCRASTINATION AT BAY WITH THESE PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY TIPS

BY MARIUS MASALAR

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that creative pursuits require less discipline and time-management skill than traditional work. After all, if we’re doing something that we love, time should fly, right?

That’s part of the problem: it’s too easy for time to get away from us when we’re enjoying ourselves. While much of the professional photographer’s workload can be fun, there’s a lot of crucial effort required to sustain a business that’s often much less fun: bookkeeping, contracts, website updates, networking, email and so on.

To be productive, we don’t just need a system for keeping track of our tasks; we also need to have a good understanding of our own work habits so that we know how to divide bigger assignments into chunks we’ll find manageable. Knowing if we’re easily distracted or if we’re good at focusing but not for long periods of time, for example, means we can break down tasks in a way that makes sense for both how and how well we work.

For professional photographers, it helps to think of productivity in terms of managing three interconnected aspects: time, tasks and clients.

TIME MANAGEMENTWhat do you spend your time doing? Are you careful about avoiding distractions? Too often we leave time management to chance, trying to flow freely from one thing to the next and hoping to stay productive.

SCHEDULE TIME FOR THINGSBeing intentional about the time we dedicate to our tasks has a transformative impact on how much we can get done. I find that it’s easier, especially at first, to use a calendar to literally schedule blocks of time for things like checking email, working on important tasks for the day, and even enjoying social media. It makes it harder for time to get away from us since

we’re seeing clearly how each thing eats away at the 24 hours we have in a day. Scheduling is like budgeting; that’s why it’s called spending time.

As we proceed further into the hyper- connected modern world of push notifications and smart devices, experts are busy studying the effects of that stimulation on our ability to focus. The results are unsurprising: the cycle of constant interruptions is bad for productivity. It instils a sense of anxiety in us when we stop the flow, a phenomenon that’s been called Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).

In my case, I discovered that I’m generally at my most productive when I set aside blocks of about two to three hours at a time. Others find that shorter bursts of productivity are preferable, which has been codified into an approach called the Pomodoro Technique. This approach separates time into discrete blocks: 25 minutes of uninterrupted work, followed by a short break (to get a cup of coffee, for example) and then another work session.

While I don’t follow the Pomodoro Technique myself (I find that my productive periods fluctuate—25 minutes always feels too short or too long), I do something similar. Whenever I have an important task, I deliberately wrap up any communication and idle browsing beforehand so that I can put my phone/computer/tablet into Do Not Disturb mode and just work…for however long I can.

If I don’t activate the Do Not Disturb mode, then I’m beset by interruptions and never reach the “zone” of productive focus where things really get done. Every email notification could mean a glance at my phone and a desire to “quickly check” Instagram, Twitter, or any of the other time traps dwelling in my phone. This works both ways: dedicating time to managing email and other administrative tasks keeps the focus on those, allowing us to get through it faster.

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