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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
WITH DAVID LESLIE ANTHONY
ANETTA G.
HELLER
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Copyright Declaration
All images and media contained in this communication are protected by International Copyright Law
and by the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988. All images are the 'intellectual property' of David Leslie Anthony
In this exclusive interview Camerapixo published all materials including photos by written permission from David Leslie Anthony.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DAVID LESLIE ANTHONY
I would record my mistakes as well, and learned from them. I made friends
with the people at the lab I went to, and they would teach me more about
why certain things happened, and what it created. To me, mistakes were
simply wonderful opportunities to make better photos. Later, I bought another
Canon and would shoot with one camera, and hock the other so I could pay for
film and processing. I began photographing my own work for the magazines,
and feeling that I had accomplished all I could in the beauty industry, decided
I wanted to embark on a whole new career. I would buy magazines and study
various photographers work who inspired me, and made me see new things.
In the fall of 1989, I discovered what happened when you cross-processed
film, by accident. I had been learning about developing films, and was at the
photo store to buy developer for colour chemistry. I was developing E6 film
and bought the wrong developer for C41 neg film. I was in the darkroom, and
suddenly found myself with weird, wonderful colours! So I went to my friends
at the Lab and they told me what I did wrong. I was so fascinated by what
I was getting, I bought and experimented with every type of film and filters I
could get my hands on. From fresh film from every manufacturer, to finding
outdated films in stores and Pawn shops.
I learned how to control the colours and the skin tones, how to bend the look
to my way of thinking through understanding and knowledge of light AND the
quality of light. At this time, only a handful of photographers were doing
this kind of work. Two such people were Javier Vallhonrat, a Spanish fashion
photographer who was just doing amazing work in cross-processing, and an
english photographer Nick Knight. I studied all the work I could on these people!
I studied the black & white work of Peter Lindbergh, the energy of Arthur Elgort,
the clean lines of Herb Ritts, etc. By this time I had retired from hairdressing
and became a photographer. Friends who were photographers I had met,
began teaching me more things and model agencies gave me people to test
shoot to build my viewpoint and style. In 1990, I got hired to shoot the
national Z. Cavaricci campaign shooting it in my cross-processed style.
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The ads I shot ran in magazines like Glamour, Madamoiselle, Vanity Fair, etc. All
with my name running down the side! This was followed by campaigns for Kad
Clothing Company, Khaki & Whites, and a handful of various denim companies
shooting their advertising. I traveled to New Orleans where I shot a few jobs
down there, and up to Vancouver, Canada shooting some work there. In
1994, I returned to Los Angeles, and sat down and began seriously thinking
about all that had happened thus far in my new career. Unlike MANY of the
young photographers today (who have huge egos and legend in their own
mind attitudes), I realized I had JUST been lucky and that I really didnt know
a damn thing. I realized that IF I really wanted to earn the right to call myself
a photographer, for me, I needed to relocate to Europe and train and assist
under some of the best photographers I could find. I packed some clothes,
packed my two cameras, and took what monies I had saved and moved
to Paris. I needed to be in the heart of fashion and photography IF I truly
wanted to be where I wanted to be in this profession. I sacrificed a lot at the
beginnings of my career. I got a job assisting one of the top photographers
in the business, but I had nowhere to stay. I learned another valuable lesson
once in Paris. Before you travel somewhere, make sure you know what the
true value of your money IS in the country you are going to. I discovered
that due to the exchange rate, my money was now worth half of what I had
brought.
So I lived in a hedge grove in a park, bathed in the park restroom, allowed
myself one(1) Franc a day for a meal, and worked until I had enough to get a
small cheap room in the 14th Arrondissement in Paris. I lived and worked in
Paris and Madrid for just over 5 years. It was the best education I could get,
and provided the foundation for where I am today in my career. I learned
about technical aspects of photography, the business side and how to work
with budgets, how to work with clients, and how to make a photograph feel,
to say what I wanted to say. FINALLY, I felt I could call myself a photographer.
By the way, I STILL keep a one(1) Franc coin in my wallet to forever remind me
of the struggles I overcame to get to the point I am now. Trust me, it keeps
you humble.
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The ability to do what I love, and get paid for doing it. The fact that Ive been to
so many countries around the world, met so many wonderful people, stayed
in beautiful hotels, and again got paid for it. The ability to then take the
money Ive been paid, pay my bills, THEN shoot whatever I feel like shooting
and not giving a damn whether anyone likes it or not.
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The sameness and inflated egos the industry seems to be producing today.
Back in 89 when I started, you had to KNOW photography before you could
ever call yourself a photographer, and before anyone took you seriously as
one. Today the photo schools seem to be turning out nothing more than
digital technicians. Ive had some of these people contact me wanting to
be assistants, and they dont know how to work a light meter, have never
shot film, never been in a darkroom, dont know any other camera formats
other than what they used in school, or what their friend has, etc. Today
everyone calls themselves a photographer. They buy a digital camera, do
a 5 minute photo, then make up everything in the computer. That is NOT
being a photographer. That is being a technician. Why spend 5-10 hours
on a computer doing something that with photographic knowledge, in a few
minutes you can do on set? I shoot both digital and film, and I do 90% of
my image on set, at the time of shooting. That includes lighting, metering,
creating any special effects like gels etc, so all I have to do in post is clean up
the skin of the model, boost contrast, and enhance. I think about what Im
going to do in post AT the time of shooting, not after. In the major markets
they now have two schools of thought.
They say there are the Photographers, and there are the digital illustrators
who ONLY know digital and photoshop. Do these people even realize that
the SAME plugins and filters they buy and use are the SAME ones the person
down the street can buy? The argument of oh but I do it different does NOT
hold water.
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Why? Because all the plugins work the same way, giving the same results, at
the same angles for, and to everyone.
Its funny, that now you can look at a photo from so many of these people,
and immediately recognize what plugin or filter they used, and from
what company. The people AT the top of this profession are NOT some 20
somethings, but are photographers who CAME from a film background and
are in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and older. THEY are the creators, the innovators,
the true avant garde! They are the ones creating the looks and visual styles
that the young are trying to copy. They are the ones you always see in the
major magazines such as French and Italian Vogue, W, and numerous others.
These magazines also are (in my opinion) the true avant garde publications. A
great Many of the so-called trendy online publications are nothing but poor
clones of mediocre digital work. Each one looks exactly like the other, with the
same mundane, comatose photographs of some model just standing there
looking blank.
In fact you often have to look for the name to see if the photographer has
even changed from one editorial to the next. Where as, with Photographers
such as Paolo Roversi, Steven Meisel, Mario Testino, Mario Sorrenti, David Sims,
Steven Klein, and many more... you know their style, their viewpoint.
Its unmistakable. I always tell my assistants You MUST know the past,
BEFORE you can create the future. Because it is both the past and the present
together, that make up the future.
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Absolutely.
Interviews and the questions they ask. Giving shit to people and having
them whip it right back. It shows they have a sense of humor and they are
not intimidated.
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You and I could share a meal together the night before, tell jokes, and have a
grand old time. The next day, if you are not giving me your best, Ill be all over
your ass. Friends are friends, business is business. Regardless of how long
we have worked together. Shoots where the make-up artist does what they
want to do, a stylist that shows up with anything, a model who just goes
through the motions and/or pose A and pose B, and photographer who
does not know what they are doing and/or does not know how to direct well
the shoot can be summed up in one word clusterfuck. Ive also been asked
before, and I never allow people to watch a shoot take place. I dont need a
bunch of JAFOS on my shoots.
What does JAFO mean?? Just Another Fucking Observer.
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If you are wanting to work with certain magazines or ad clients, LEARN, STUDY,
and UNDERSTAND that magazine or clients DEMOGRAPHICS (marketplace).
When you are hired by a magazine or company, you are being hired to shoot
for THEIR marketplace. That means you bring only as much art as fits their
demographics. Look at any magazine or ad campaign, both fashion and
lifestyle, and youll see what I mean.
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THANK
YOU
ARTUR J.
HELLER
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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