Before you start reading the interview, let me say I am a big fan of Art Wolf and I am very glad that I got the chance to publish his interview.
How do you keep yourself motivated and your photography fresh?
I photograph without prejudice, just about anything can be a subject for me thus when I’m in the field looking for Snow Leopards I am just as happy to be finding wonderful abstracts in the rocks, scenic landscapes and cultural and religious shots in the local villages. I generally have 2 dozen different projects in my head at a single time, books I’m thinking of, presentations, new angles to teach from and I’ll photograph where ever I am in the world finding subjects that will work with a variety of projects. I’ll also challenge myself to return to old subjects that I’ve shot many times before and look at them with fresh eyes – I’ll try and find new ways to photograph them with the equipment available today. Years ago ISO 100 was “fast film”, ISO 400 was often too fast for my work even… Today where the circumstances dictate I’ll shoot at ISO 1600 and have no problem going up to 6400 and even beyond on occasion. This has opened up whole new worlds of photography for me that were previously untouchable – such as hand holding a 400mm lens while sitting in a small boat going down a river photographing Jaguars in the underbrush who are hunting for monkeys. Or photographing macaws in flight where you have less than a second to see the bird, focus on it and get the shot before it’s out of view again and back in the trees – these shots just weren’t possible 10 years ago.
I constantly evaluate my own work and I am always learning, always improving. What I do is create art, I’m not just trying to record the world exactly as my eyes saw it, I’m trying to create art and thus I can return to past subjects and discover new ones all the time with fresh perspectives.
What advice do you have for photographers just starting out?
If you have a passion for photography, follow that passion, just don’t try and turn it into your sole living and pay all of your bills with photography from the start. That is a very difficult path and one that has burned out many a passionate artist far too soon. Most of the people I find coming to my seminars and workshops are professionals who have followed a traditional career path and they are looking to exercise their creative and artistic sides. Find a balance in your life, one that allows you to fuel your passion without putting so much stress on you that it becomes a burden and a “job” that eventually burns out.
As you start to acquire the tools of your trade invest in the best quality lenses you can buy and a slightly lesser quality camera back than you can afford. Quality glass will last you years, a decade even before you want to upgrade – where as the camera you buy today will be obsolete in a year or two as they come out with better and improved models all the time. At this time I still shoot with a traditional Canon DLSR but don’t overlook the mirrorless systems, as they improve the lenses that are offered in these systems you’ll see more professionals turning to them in the future. These days, at over 60 years old, I’m all about smaller and lighter if the quality is there.
Continue reading Interview with Legend Art Wolfe
