Entrevisté a uno de mis mayores guías en fotografía de retrato y esto fue lo que me contó. Mantendré el idioma original en el que fue hecha la entrevista y aquí la pueden leer.

1. How do you consider yourself a portrait or fashion photographer?
That really depends, there are times when I try to focus more on one or another. But I would say that portrait is my main photographic « genre », I would really like to do more documentary stuff in the future, still with a lot of portraiture involved. 

2. If I want to be a famous photographer “I need to live in an important city”, is that something you consider a fact?
I think it depends on the « genre » of photography. It can always help to live in a big city because it allows you to be close to people that can help you to get a higher production value or help you showcase your work. But it can also mean that you’re one photographer among thousands of them in the same city. I think doing significant work in remote places can also put your work apart from the rest. Big cities are just really good for network/buisness-related stuff.

3. Is important for you to be on a social platform, such as instagram?
I see it as a valuable tool, a nice and more lively complement of my website’s portfolio and good place to send DMs to tons of great people. Sometimes I think I can loose too much time browsing it and watching stories. I also think it’s sad that people feel so much « connected » with each other through instagram but less and less people really dare talking to each other in real life or even on the phone !

4. Do you retouch your images with a single filter? Yes / No …why? I do not use filters. I do all of my postproduction with photo-editing softwares and publish my pictures with the same output on every platform. I like to shoot on film and I only work on the contrast most of the time. I like to be « limited » to one certain look and compose with what I have. Having less parameters to fiddle with, gives me more freedom and consistency.

5. How important is to have a style in photography? It can be very important. Focusing on one style or rather « building » a style can take a lot of time. The benefits are clear, it allows you to gain confidence and consistency. It’s always easy to walk when you know where you’re going. Consistency definitely brings a higher level of quality to your work and helps people recongizing your voice and encourages them to work with you or hire you. It can also encourage you to go further and work harder in one direction if you think you’re on the right tracks. There are tons of photographers out there, it’s very important to be personnal and do stuff only you can do.
4. What do you think is the secret of your successful account?
I don’t know if I can consider my account as successful, I’ve never tried too hard. But I think being consistent and using relevant hashtags helps a lot. At the end of the day, it just has to be fun and help you connect with interresting people.

Créditos: Jean Mare F.