Φωτογράφος Annabelle Agnew

—Πρώτον και κύριον – ποιόν μπορείτε να ονομάσετε ως τον καλύτερο φωτογράφο στην πόλη σας; :)

—Excluding myself, I admire the work of a lot of talented photographers globally. In Montreal: Brent Calis, Laura Regev, Ella Mack & Micheal Beaulieu are some of my favorites. In Ottawa: Agatha Rowland, Joel & Justyna, Rubicon and Age of Indie.

—Έχετε φωτογένεια;

—At the right angles and if I'm not being a goof... yes.

—Πώς ξεκίνησες να ασχολείσαι με τη φωτογραφία;

—My mother is a painter, my step-father a theatrical and architectural lighting designer. I was surrounded by art, artists, and so forth my entire life. My mother's best friend is a professional photographer and I remember taking my first "real" photograph at 8 years old with my mother's Olympus Rangefinder. Even then... it was a very circuitous route, even after I got my BFA in Photography at Concordia. But I am very certain of my path now that I found it.

—Ποια είναι τα πιο σημαντικά στοιχεία μιας καλής φωτογραφίας κατά τη γνώμη σας;

—Light is the most important — then composition. After that comes artistry and understanding how your settings can capture moments that evoke how they felt. Sharpness and bright lighting are over-rated and feel unnatural to me a lot of the time.

—Σας αρέσει να ταξιδεύετε;

—Yes. Adore it. One of my favorite trips that I ever took was to Nicaragua. We go to Ireland (at least prior to the pandemic) yearly because my husband is from there. The last place we traveled to prior to the pandemic was Mexico.

—Τι σας αρέσει περισσότερο στο επάγγελμά σας;

—I love that what I do captures some of the most important moments of a clients' lifetime and that the history of that photo will shift over time to mean different things. I know how valuable my family photo albums have been for me and that's my driving force for every wedding I photograph.

—Τι σας αρέσει λιγότερο στο επάγγελμά σας;

—I'm a workaholic, it's hard to turn my brain off and find balance, being passionate about my craft verges on obsessive. It's important to hit pause, look back and appreciate work that I have done and so I've learned to do this — rest is equally important to make good work.

—Ποιο θα είναι το μέλλον της φωτογραφίας;

—Just like anything else, it will evolve and yet it's essence will remain the same.

—Τι το ιδιαίτερο υπάρχει στο φωτογραφικό είδος στο οποίο εξειδικεύεσαι;

—I'm not sure I understand this question.

—Πώς αντιμετωπίζετε την κριτική;

—I went to art school where our work was critiqued daily — so I am open to it and frankly wish I heard it more often now in my professional life. It's important to get external feedback in order to grow. That said, I am probably my own worst critic.

—Υπάρχουν τάσεις στη φωτογραφία;

—Lots of them. A lot of photographers buy presets and apply them to their work – I find this makes their work all look the same. The standouts always have a strong sense of color, light, composition and a connection with their subjects.

—Με ποια κριτήρια θα πρέπει ένας πελάτης να επιλέγει φωτογράφο;

—Connect with the work and the photographer.
Ask for full galleries.

—Ποια πράγματα δεν επιτρέπονται σε καμία περίπτωση κατά τη φωτογράφηση;

—Too much posing, going to "hotspots", shotlists that are formulaic to wedding pinterest boards.

—Ποιες λεπτομέρειες που συνήθως περνούν απαρατήρητες μπορεί να παρατηρήσει ένας φωτογράφος;

—It's the in between stuff. For instance — this summer I photographed a wedding where I did a giant group photo of all that attended. Once the group dispersed the bride & groom each took a big swig of their drinks in hand (which I took a photo of) and then each realized that it was too big (which I also took a photo of) — this sequence brought a lot of joy to all of us later.

—Τι επηρεάζει την αξία της φωτογραφίας; Ποια στοιχεία;

—Emotion, Light, Artistry.

—Ποιο πρόσωπο αποτελεί το σύμβολο του 21ου αιώνα κατά τη γνώμη σας;

—I have no answer for that!

—Ποιον θέλετε να φωτογραφήσετε;

—Anyone who wants me to.

—Έχετε επαγγελματικά ταμπού;

—I don't think so?

—Με ποιους σας αρέσει να τραβάτε φωτογραφίες;

—Erik Madigan Heck; Annie Liebovitz; Roger Deacon; Joel & Justyna; Samm Blake; Leann Weston; John Dolan; Cinzia Bruschini; Sarah Falugo; Corbin Gurkin; Danijela Gorley; Thierry Joubert; & Jamie Beck

—Τι σας ανησυχεί και γιατί;

—Equipment functionality – having something breakdown in a wedding is possible and you need backup strategies in place
Data Storage – you need a lot of storage and backups in place when working on photographs, losing something would be horrible
Money – who doesn't worry about this?
Health – it's very important to my wellbeing and my job

—Ποια ήταν η πιο εντυπωσιακή στιγμή στη ζωή σας;

—Giving birth to my babies

—Εάν ήσασταν ένας λογοτεχνικός ή κινηματογραφικός χαρακτήρας ποιος θα θέλατε να είσαστε και γιατί;

—A lot people liken me to a cross between Tina Fey, Elaine Benes, Winona Ryder and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

—Τι σας εμπνέει στη ζωή σας και γιατί;

—That's too hard to define. I am inspired by a lot of things – art, comedy, movies, friends, family, landscapes etc.

—Ποιος είναι ο ορισμός της επιτυχίας; Πώς μετριέται η επιτυχία;

—Good sleep, peace of mind. Someday living by the ocean.

—Είναι προτιμότερο να είστε αρεστός ή να σας σέβονται;

—Respected. Too hard to make everyone like you – and I am not sure I'd want everyone to like me.

—Ποιο είναι το μεγαλύτερο σφάλμα που έχετε κάνει ποτέ στη δουλειά σας;

—Underselling myself. Doing a lot of work for too little. Not noticing "red flag" clients — I've learned the signs and avoid these types now. A word of advice: don't go into meetings with photographers assuming we're trying to "rip you off".

—Όταν πρόκειται να ταξιδέψετε, τι παίρνετε μαζί σας και γιατί;

—My camera, my kindle, and a lot of earrings and shoes.

—Σε σχέση με τον εξοπλισμό που σας ανήκει, υπάρχει κάτι που εύχεστε να μην το είχατε αγοράσει. Γιατί;

—That's a constant thing — right now I am considering selling the only zoom lens I have. I never use it. I also have too much lighting equipment I never use.

—Πώς εκπαιδεύετε τον εαυτό σας για να μάθει να παίρνει καλύτερες φωτογραφίες;

—I have a degree in film photography, but now I take online courses through Creative Live; Masterclass; Youtube and so on — sometimes it's photography or business related, but other times it's just something I am interested in. I'm convinced that external interests influence your work in a lot of beneficial ways.

—Ποιανού δουλειά σας έχει επηρεάσει περισσότερο ως φωτογράφο;

—Showing up everyday to do it.

—Τι εύχεστε να γνωρίζατε όταν ξεκινήσατε να τραβάτε φωτογραφίες;

—Patience.

—Τι θέλετε να πείτε με τις φωτογραφίες σας;

—I want them to be evocative of the moment.

—Τι σας παρακινεί να συνεχίσετε να τραβάτε φωτογραφίες;

—My pleasure in taking them.

—Οι γονείς σας θα έπρεπε να είναι περισσότερο ή λιγότερο αυστηροί;

—Less strict.

—Εάν μπορούσατε να πάτε πίσω στο χρόνο, τι θα κάνετε διαφορετικά;

—I would not have strapped some lighting equipment with a bungee cord. It's a very long story.

—Τι πιστεύετε για τη ζωή σε άλλους πλανήτες;

—It's there probably?

—Ποιοι είναι οι ήρωες σας;

—My Mom; My husband & kids; and then a lot of other artists, writers, comedians, politicians, scientists and so forth.

—Για ποιον δεν έχετε καθόλου σεβασμό;

—I don't think it's a Who, but rather personality traits: those who feel entitled; who are not open to listening/do no ask questions; choose fear.

—Τι κάνετε στον ελεύθερο χρόνο σας;

—Improv; Kitchen Dancing; Reading; Running

—Ποια πλευρά του εαυτού σας δεν βλέπει ποτέ το κοινό;

—I can be hyper-focused in a way that's detrimental to life balance; I talk to my cat like he's a real person; I need hugs

—Πότε είστε τελείως ικανοποιημένος με τη δουλειά σας;

—Generally right after shooting and the initial edit. Before my critical brain starts to micro-inspect and take over in the edit.

—Πιστεύετε στους παραδοσιακούς ρόλους για τους άνδρες και τις γυναίκες;

—No

—Κάνετε εύκολα φίλους;

—Yes

—Που θα θέλατε να ζήσετε;

—I'm going to retire someday and live along some rough coastline either in Eastern Canada, Ireland, or the South of France.

—Ποιο είναι το πιο ανόητο πράγμα που έχετε δεχτεί ποτέ να κάνετε;

—A coffee drinking challenge one night when I was a waitress in a diner in Banff. There was a snow storm and we were young, stupid and bored. I ended up calling poison control because "I won" the competition and boy did that feel bad.

—Υπάρχει ζωή μετά το γάμο;

—Yes, it's pretty good too. I won't lie — it's work — but I would take this over a lot of connections without depth.

—Έχετε ένα αγαπημένο ανέκδοτο; Πείτε το μας.

—Too many. I am a comedy nerd/junkie. My best friend is a standup comedian and in school I used to drop in to the club on Open Mic nights to watch my friends tell jokes.

—Συμπαθείτε τα σκυλιά ή τις γάτες;

—I like both, but I have a cat named Steve.

—Ποιον ή τι μισείτε;

—Too complicated to answer.

—Το καλύτερο πράγμα στη ζωή είναι:

—good food, laughter, sleep, the water, sunsets, fresh air, snuggles.

—Το πιο ενοχλητικό πράγμα στη ζωή είναι:

—noises like chewing?

—Υπάρχει κάτι γύρω σας που θα θέλατε να αλλάξετε;

—I mean, yes. But hey, life is a process.

—Τι θα θέλατε να αλλάξετε στον εαυτό σας;

—A lot of things, like I said, life is a process — and I have learned recently that accepting myself is just as important to changing.

—Τι θα θέλατε να αλλάξετε στον κόσμο;

—Fast fashion; greed; hustle culture; the direction of the climate

—Μπορείτε να δώσετε μερικές συμβουλές για τους φωτογράφους που ξεκινάνε να φωτογραφίζουν;

—Show up everyday, take a lot of photographs and edit them. Rinse and repeat. And look at other Art, not just other photographs.

—Εάν έρθουν εξωγήινοι στη γη και είστε ο πρώτο άνθρωπος που συναντήσουν, τι θα τους πείτε;

—Hello? I haven't given this much thought.

—Εάν σας ζητήσουν να γυρίσετε μια ταινία, τι είδους ταινία θα είναι;

—Romantic Drama (think The English Patient)

—Αύριο θα πάω και θα κάνω...

—Website editing; run; laundry; help my kids with online school