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Trade Insights Victor Aberdeen - part 2 of 1 2

Published 01/04/2014

This photo of Leonard Bernstien rehearsing at London's Royal Festival Hall has an interesting story behind it, a brief version of which is here:

I was sent by the news editor of Thames News with strict instructions to tread softly as he had never allowed a rehearsal to be photographed. And I recall John Mahoney's comment, 'He'll never agree! Well I like a challenge and with the PR person looking terror struck, into the concert hall I walked. Fortunately they had not yet started, so against everyone's advice, I asked Mr Bernstien: 'Sir, may I photograph you?...no not a portrait, l want to capture your music in my picture.' The answer was swift and negative, with mention of noise and distractions. My retort was just as quick and challenging, if you see or hear me, kick my ass out of here, but do give me the chance to photograph you. A rumble of approval from the orchestra and I was in. This was a wonderful experience and with the assistance of the musicians who helped hide the noise of my Nikon F (Oh, if I had had a Leica then), I got an amazing set of photographs, one of which graces my set here.

Life Photography

'My photography is about showing life,' Victor tells me enthusiastically.

'I want to show people something that maybe they've not seen before.'

We've all heard the term 'street photography, but Victor prefers to call his own work 'life photography'. 'I don't go seeking out things to photograph in my own work,' says Victor. 'In fact I see 10 times more than what I actually get a chance to photograph. Sometimes though you get the opportunity to capture a moment that unfolds in front of you and the more you practise, the easier it is to see situations building and evolving around you.'

No one can deny that photography can be a powerful medium with the ability to help create change, but to what extent does Victor think that photographers can affect the world? 'I don't think that photography on its own has the power to change an opinion, but what it can do is enlighten someone. It opens doors and it can show something new. This can be a double-edged sword and I became quite aware of this myself during Thatcher's election campaign. An image produced by one person to show an individual who needs help and support can be used by another person to show something much more negative.'

But what makes Victor choose one of his photographs over another for his portfolio? 'There has to be depth to my pictures. I will reject an image if it doesn't have depth, something happening beyond what is immediately obvious.' It's this depth that Victor believes allows people to connect with his images. 'If you look at the picture I took with the man walking with the umbrella, there are things about it that make it work for people. We've all walked along in a hurry, there's motion there, it's horrible weather, it's wet and cold and you can start to imagine yourself doing it. All of a sudden you've connected with the picture and put yourself in the subject's place. Most of my pictures have three or more elements to them and people will usually find a way to connect with at least one.'

It is also important to Victor to be respectful of those he photographs; 'It's very easy to make someone look stupid with a camera and very hard to make someone laugh out of empathy with a person.' There are often questions raised around the ethics of a photographer's behaviour, especially in tense situations, but this is where his news agency experience kicks in and he begins to think through his options. 'I'm always balancing all the elements of what the story is, what's going on and how I can portray that visually without detaching from the person.'

Victor's unique blend of journalism and life photography can be seen on his website where he documents many of his unique projects. He can also often be found at the various trade shows for photographers and conventions representing Eizo, as well as giving talks on colour workflow and telling you why your monitor might not be showing you everything in your pictures.

www.abovofoto.com
www.eizo.co.uk

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1st Published 01/04/2014
last update 09/12/2022 14:50:44

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