”I was living in Osaka, this huge megalopolis in Japan surrounded by millions
of people and quite frequently, my friend Simon and I would talk about
escaping the glass jungle for the comparative freedom of Mongolia (2
people per square kilometre), though admittedly, it was an idea that hung
around for longer than it should have. In the finance days, I rode horses
fairly often and eventually I just decided to combine the two and go”
Naturally the notion of fear is brought up and being the pragmatist that he
is, informs me of the necessity of fear and how you manage it, how it keeps
you alert and focussed. “become paralysed with fear and problems scan
escalate so the right amount of fear is quite important but it’s something
that comes with experience and time, it does not come from one day to
another. Managing that fear with you head makes the different of getting
out or troubles or getting lost.” Iif the risk is too high, I don’t see the point
of taking the photo but if I have the right environment I’ll push it a lot till I
get a good photograph, but never ever push it too much, every time that
people push it too much things go wrong. Keeping a balance is the clever
thing to do.”
Having recently returned from documenting the refugee crisis in Lebanon,
he tells me at length about the impact of two million refugees flooding
into a country with a population of four million “Though it’s widely
acknowledged,we probably won’t change the world with a photograph
but for me is quite necessary for different reasons. People need to be
aware there are other ways of livings, that we are no different as humans,
people suffer in the same way no matter where they live. Being informed
could change your mind informing your actions such as how you vote.
Information is power right? Photography is visual communication and one
communication that last as long of the effects of the photograph. So the
better the photograph the best of the message.”