7 Questions with David duChemin
“Don’t shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like.”
I am a photographer. I know that. Undeniably, and without a doubt. And it’s not because I own a camera. And a few lenses. Or because I’ve been taking pictures for a long time. I know it because I look at the world with my left eye closed. Every scene in front of me is a story unfolding, waiting to be captured, framed and told. I think photography, I breathe photography, even though it’s not what I do for a living. I spend on photography much of what I save. And when I’m not out there taking pictures, I’m thinking of being out there taking pictures. I’m mentally composing. I’m always learning, I’m always trying to get better at this craft. I’m studying the pictures that others have made, the work of those who’ve started this journey before me, of those who are further along this road than I am, of people I look to for light and inspiration.
My guest on this post is one of those people. David duChemin. He doesn’t know it, but I’ve been following him, stalking him online, for over a decade, and have probably studied more pictures taken by him than by any other photographer. He calls himself a world and humanitarian photographer, but to me he’s more than that. I first started reaching out to him years ago, tentatively and anonymously at first, a comment here or a question there in response to one of his pictures, videos, blog articles or newsletters, and eventually signing up for his courses, his instructional videos and his books. And if you’ve watched his videos, read his writing, or taken one of his courses or workshops, you’ll understand why I think he’s so much more than the humanitarian photographer he calls himself. He’s friendly (well, he IS Canadian, after all), articulate, engaging, passionate and funny (he was a stand-up comedian before he became a photographer. No, I’m not kidding), he really knows how to take a picture and tell a story and, over the years, has become one of the biggest influences in my photography journey.
It was on a long flight to the United States a few years ago that I had the idea of an online interview series for my blog and started putting a list of questions together to pass the time. The first question I wrote down was the first question in this interview, and I knew straightaway what MY answer to that question was. David duChemin himself. When I asked him if he’d agree to be a guest on my blog, I expected him to (politely) decline, so I was over the moon when he said yes!
Here we go, then.
SD: If you had the opportunity to sit next to another photographer on a very long flight, who would you wish that photographer was? Why? What is the number 1 question you would want to ask him/her? How has this person influenced your thinking and photography?
DdC: I’ve always been incredibly fond of Elliott Erwitt and he has the advantage of still being one of my favourite photographers that is still alive and likely to provide good conversation. There’s something not only exquisite about his photography but I think he’s probably got an extraordinary sense of humour. I think he’d be fascinating to spend time in long conversation with and while I don’t really have one question that stands out, I’d like to hear his stories, the back stories of spending time with people like Robert Frank and Marilyn Monroe, as well as his travels. I doubt you’d look at my work and see his influence but it’s there in the way he has encouraged me to be no one but myself in my work. Erwitt is unmistakeably himself and no one else and I hope the same will one day be visible in my own work.
Elliott Erwitt
SD: You call yourself a humanitarian photographer. What are your photographs about? What is it you’re trying to say through your pictures? Have you found that your pictures have changed something for the people you photograph?
DdC: I’m increasingly uneasy with the label of humanitarian photographer as I do less and less of it. But humanist photographer, certainly. There’s a quote from Robert Frank that always floats around the photographic part of my brain, “There is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment. This kind of photography is realism. But realism is not enough - there has to be vision, and the two together can make a good photograph.” I think my photographs are about the humanity of the moment, or the human experience of the moment. I’ve always wanted them to be about hope, and the brighter side of things, even when I’m photographing in very challenging contexts. As to whether they’ve changed things for the people I’ve photographed, I’m certain they have, though I often wonder if those encounters change me more. They’ve opened my eyes.
David duChemin
David duChemin
SD: What do you think makes a great photograph? Of the pictures you’ve taken, which one is your favourite and why?
DdC: I think many things can make a photograph great for either the photographer or the one viewing it. But probably it’s connection. Something in the image connects with the one looking at it. It could be a memory, a strong theme or story, beautiful colours, symbolism, great choice of moment. Emotion. Anything that connects us and provides more than a passing visual experience and goes deeper for us, can make a great photograph. Of my own work I have a photograph of my father that I included in my latest book, The Heart of the Photograph. It’s one of my favourites, because of the memories and the reality that I’ll never make another of him .
David duChemin
SD: What is one aspect of photography you wish you were better at? What have you done about it?
DdC: This is going to sound arrogant but right now, there’s nothing. It’s certainly not the case that I’ve learned it all, but that I’m increasingly comfortable with the constraints of my craft and what I want is not more technique or skill but more time to make the kind of photographs I love making. I’d love more time in India, more time underwater with whales and sharks. I’d love a season in Italy. But there have been times when I’ve really pushed hard at technique. I once spent a whole year just focused on learning about light. Natural light, off camera flash, studio light, all of it, just so I could master that one raw material. Too many photographers are really, really good at the technique but have no story to tell and nothing to say, so that’s perhaps why I’m a little more suspicious of gear and technique than I ought to be. But there’s nothing you can’t learn, especially these days.
David duChemin
SD: There are some places you’ve travelled to several times. Year after year. Venice, Lalibela, Jodhpur, Kenya. What is about these places or the people that keeps you coming back?
DdC: Fascination. They’re all very much their own place. I live in what feels to me to be a very homogenous culture. It’s all the same. Some photographers would photograph that, but I have no interest. I’m interested in the differences. I find those in Italy and India and Kenya. And somehow opportunities came along to bring me back to those places time and again.
David duChemin
David duChemin
SD: What is the one thing you wish you knew when you first started taking pictures? In today’s world of social media, influencers, short attention spans and instant gratification, what advice would you give a photographer who’s just starting out?
DdC: I wish I had been encouraged to say something with my photographs, but I think the years in which I floundered were important ones while I learned my craft. We all make photographs for different reasons so I hesitate to be prescriptive, but I’d tell a younger me to focus on storytelling, composition, emotional use of light and moment and the stuff that really connects us to photographs, and to stop buying so much gear and looking for magic combination, the sharpest lens, or the stuff the pros use. I’d encourage him to concentrate on the photographs, not the gear, and on making images that are uniquely his own, and not worry whether others like them or give them any heed at all. It’s nice when they do, but the photographer for whom that is too important will always be looking over their shoulder and missing the important stuff.
David duChemin
SD: You take pictures, you travel, you run workshops, you teach, you write books. What’s next for David duChemin? What’s the next new thing you’re looking forward to starting?
DdC: Right now is a hard moment in which to answer that. There’s so much that’s uncertain. But I’m writing another book about creativity. I’d like to publish another book of photographs, this time my encounters in the wild with bears, sea lions, sharks and whales. I’m dying to get back to India, which I hope to do in October. And I started a project photographing the shepherds in Lesotho that I’d like to continue.
David duChemin
David duChemin
So, there you have it, folks. David duChemin! World and humanist photographer, best-selling author, international workshop leader, and accidental founder of Craft & Vision. You can find more of his work here.
But wait! There’s more. David just published his new book, The Heart of the Photograph, and he’s giving one personally signed copy away to one of you lucky readers of this blog. Just leave a comment below with your email address, and I’ll have a draw and contact the lucky winner to let him or her know that a copy of The Heart of the Photograph in all its hard-bound beauty will soon be on its way over!
Thanks for checking in. As David would say, now go make something beautiful.
