In Talks with John Rawson
Getting up close and personal and being as candid as somebody like him can be is surely not an easy task . Here is a short interview where KAMANA SINGH from Chiiz gets in talk with John Rawson .
Being one already , what role do you think a hair stylist plays in getting the right picture that you look for ? Do you sometimes find it a little difficult to choose even the right model for a shoot ? It ’ s all about team work on shoots – we have , over the years , built fantastic relationships with hairdressers / stylists / make-up artists and models so when we receive a brief it ’ s easy for us to co-ordinate the right people for that specific brief . Every single element is equally important so if one thing is not in line the ‘ everything ’ would fail .
With the rapid pace of advancement in technology , is it hard to keep up with the amount of energy and time you have to put into your work ? Tell us some really significant change that you have experienced from the time you started working , something that you really miss about the 90s ? Technology is amazing , however , it doesn ’ t make good pictures ! We were sold a dream when the digital revolution happened and it really just meant far more work than when we shot on film . In many ways , it makes
36 Vol 7 people lazy and reliant on retouch . I love the new camera ’ s etc . but they are in constant flux and very expensive ! i . e . the current system we use cost somewhere around £ 40,000 and that is hard for many to recoup . I think the 90 ’ s was a very liberating decade and lots of what occurred was groundbreaking and will be looked back on with great fondness but when you revisit a time , which seems to be happening more and more from an inspiration point of view , it ’ s never the same .
When I see your photographs , I see a form of poetry flowing through all of them . Is it something that you want to acknowledge to ? Which is your favourite one ? I don ’ t have a specific favourite image – other than the most current one I ’ m working on at the time . We constantly try and move forward so don ’ t like looking back too much ! Poetry ? Well we do try always to make it beautiful – even if it ’ s extreme and radical . I want it to have a flow and move where possible .
From a hairdresser to a world renowned photographer , such a transition is an outcome of hard work , and absolutely not just some smart luck . Some advices to the budding artists out there . Funnily enough , it happened by mistake ! I never thought I ’ d be able to make it as a photographer but worked hard and took many risks and it paid off !! Being “ safe ” and comfortable is not a state that ’ s creative – so gamble and see where it takes you .
How much time do you generally spend on retouching a photograph when you are not satisfied with the outcome ? Or you go for a totally different alternative ? Retouching is a large part of an image but the concept and lighting must be right or the retouch can ’ t fix it ! I have an amazing team that retouch for me and we spend as much time as it needs !
What , according to you , makes a perfect photograph ? I doubt there is a ‘ perfect ’ one and if it was it probably wouldn ’ t be very beautiful – perfection rarely is ! A great team / models etc . is probably the closest you ’ ll get to it !
The Rawson Partnership is a photographic consultancy which specialises in the fashion and hair & beauty industries . They are a committed team who prides itself in developing and understanding your brief . They organise every stage of the shoot process from concept to booking models and castings through full post production and high end retouch and print . You can check out their website : therawsonpartnership . net .
Kamana Singh kamana @ chiiz . com Kamana Singh is a 2nd year Literature Student at Delhi University . She is a self-proclaimed wanderer . You will find her mostly shuffling books in the library or binge watching some netflix series . Mostly writes to calm herself and never to share it with the world .