jonasv
has no mustache
Good morning folks... wanted to share something, I had a very absurd photography experience yesterday, and now I need to vent it 🙂
I work for the university paper, and there's going to be an interview with Robert Fisk in the upcoming issue. The interview was already done, but we needed three or four photographs to accompagny it (the text was several pages long). We (me, plus interviewer/assistant/driver) were supposed to meet Mr. Fisk for an hour while having tea (he's British allright!), but there was a last moment change of plans (can't blame him, the man was in Beirut, London, Belgium and New Zealand, all in one week), so we were supposed to meet him yesterday an hour before his lecture on the Middle East - "The Great War of Civilisation" - at the concert hall in Ghent, Belgium. We were supposed to meet him at 7 pm - the lecture started at 8 - and we would have ten-fifteen minutes to take some photos and to clear up some last issues about the interview. I thought I could take the man to a few different rooms/hallways and set up my flash for some varied photographs.
Well, we waited there for about an hour - the man arrived at 7.50 pm. Even worse, the organisers didn't notify us (which they were supposed to). We called Robert Fisk on his cellphone and he said we could have three minutes if we were really fast. The way to get to him through the backstage was blocked so we had to work our way through the crowd, and at 7.55 finally found him right in front of the stage, reading to climb up and start his lecture. Since he was five minutes early, and not all of the public was seated yet, we figured we could take still try to get to him. We rushed across the concert hall (passing by some surprised security guys) and when we reached him he was a bit a surprised but very friendly.
So, I started taking some pictures. In advance I had planned to get some intimate pictures to best suit the interview. Now, we were there, standing right in front of the stage - some technicians to our right, and about 1500 people to our left, watching his and mine every move. Talk about intimate! After shooting about ten pictures I realised I of course couldn't get three or four varied photographs in that same spot, so I politely asked if he could step out into the hallway for just a minute, and so he did. I quickly took some more photos... there was one more photo I wanted to take, of him seated on the ground, but I didn't dare to ask since the ground was quite dirty and he was in a hurry to get on stage. He said "You're not taking the picture I would take. Y'know what I would do?" and he sat down on the ground. Great!
So, I'm happy I don't get nervous quickly. I wasn't nervous at all, though I couldn't think quite clearly either because of the rush and the speed everything was happening at (we spotted him at 7.55 pm, he climbed up on the stage at 7.58 pm, everything we said and the photos I took all happened in less than three minutes). No clear thinking, no thinking of technical and compositional rules... the subject and the light was everything I could think of...
I'm developed the negatives and I'm now scanning them. I know I didn't get anything great, but I did the best I could under the circumstances, and that's that. I will post some results in an hour or so. Sorry for the rant, I guess I just needed to share some of the vibe running through my veins when something like that happens...
I work for the university paper, and there's going to be an interview with Robert Fisk in the upcoming issue. The interview was already done, but we needed three or four photographs to accompagny it (the text was several pages long). We (me, plus interviewer/assistant/driver) were supposed to meet Mr. Fisk for an hour while having tea (he's British allright!), but there was a last moment change of plans (can't blame him, the man was in Beirut, London, Belgium and New Zealand, all in one week), so we were supposed to meet him yesterday an hour before his lecture on the Middle East - "The Great War of Civilisation" - at the concert hall in Ghent, Belgium. We were supposed to meet him at 7 pm - the lecture started at 8 - and we would have ten-fifteen minutes to take some photos and to clear up some last issues about the interview. I thought I could take the man to a few different rooms/hallways and set up my flash for some varied photographs.
Well, we waited there for about an hour - the man arrived at 7.50 pm. Even worse, the organisers didn't notify us (which they were supposed to). We called Robert Fisk on his cellphone and he said we could have three minutes if we were really fast. The way to get to him through the backstage was blocked so we had to work our way through the crowd, and at 7.55 finally found him right in front of the stage, reading to climb up and start his lecture. Since he was five minutes early, and not all of the public was seated yet, we figured we could take still try to get to him. We rushed across the concert hall (passing by some surprised security guys) and when we reached him he was a bit a surprised but very friendly.
So, I started taking some pictures. In advance I had planned to get some intimate pictures to best suit the interview. Now, we were there, standing right in front of the stage - some technicians to our right, and about 1500 people to our left, watching his and mine every move. Talk about intimate! After shooting about ten pictures I realised I of course couldn't get three or four varied photographs in that same spot, so I politely asked if he could step out into the hallway for just a minute, and so he did. I quickly took some more photos... there was one more photo I wanted to take, of him seated on the ground, but I didn't dare to ask since the ground was quite dirty and he was in a hurry to get on stage. He said "You're not taking the picture I would take. Y'know what I would do?" and he sat down on the ground. Great!
So, I'm happy I don't get nervous quickly. I wasn't nervous at all, though I couldn't think quite clearly either because of the rush and the speed everything was happening at (we spotted him at 7.55 pm, he climbed up on the stage at 7.58 pm, everything we said and the photos I took all happened in less than three minutes). No clear thinking, no thinking of technical and compositional rules... the subject and the light was everything I could think of...
I'm developed the negatives and I'm now scanning them. I know I didn't get anything great, but I did the best I could under the circumstances, and that's that. I will post some results in an hour or so. Sorry for the rant, I guess I just needed to share some of the vibe running through my veins when something like that happens...
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