Φωτογράφος Steve Grogan

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

—Oooooh crikey, that is a very good question. There are many that I admire from my home city, but I'll plump for Pete Farrell of Pixies in the Cellar. His eye for composition is just ridiculous!

—Έχετε φωτογένεια;

—No. I absolutely hate having my photograph taken as I have a head like a thumb.

—Πώς ξεκίνησες να ασχολείσαι με τη φωτογραφία;

—If you'd have told me 5-6 years ago that I'd be a wedding photographer I'd have laughed at you. I believed that all wedding photography was contrived nonsense and it didn't appeal to me at all. However, once I'd photographed a couple of weddings as a second shooter I realised that wedding photography could be whatever you wanted it to be. So I took the plunge!

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

—For me it's all about the moment and composition. I'm not overly technical and don't stress about a little over/under exposure. The moment is so important to me.

—Σας αρέσει να ταξιδεύετε;

—Yes. I love it. Thankfully I've been able to travel rather a lot and being my own boss has enabled me to do more than ever.

—Τι σας αρέσει περισσότερο στο επάγγελμά σας;

—Perhaps a little cliched, but I like the idea of leaving behind images for future generations to enjoy. Plus I get to work alongside some amazing people. I've made friends for life since I started out.

—Τι σας αρέσει λιγότερο στο επάγγελμά σας;

—Of course, there is always going to be something. The only part I don't enjoy is doing the staged group photos, but that's only a tiny percentage of the wedding so I can live with that.

—Ποιο θα είναι το μέλλον της φωτογραφίας;

—I honestly have no idea. Who knows what the future holds?

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

—Wedding photographers have to deal with a myriad of changing lighting situations throughout the day. This is definitely one of the most challenging aspects, especially when there are restrictions placed on you by churches for example, where you are rarely allowed to add any flash.

—Πώς αντιμετωπίζετε την κριτική;

—I take it on the chin. If it's unsolicited then I'll always question it, but any constructive feedback I get is valued as it'll help me to improve.

—Υπάρχουν τάσεις στη φωτογραφία;

—A lot of weddings in the UK do follow a similar pattern, so it's quite easy for your images to eventually become repetitive.

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

—If I was looking for a wedding photographer then I'd obviously be looking for someone whose images connected with me in some way. Once you've established that you like the images then I would advise any future newlyweds to meet up with the photographer, go for a beer/coffee/cake, have a chat with them, see if you like them as they are going to be around for pretty much all of your day.

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

—For me, not much. I'd photograph anything if it happened at a wedding. Obviously, if someone objected for any reason then I'd stop. But I'd also use my common sense and gut feeling.

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

—One thing I learned quite early on was to step away from the couple for most of the day. There is so much going on around them that you can miss if you are too focussed on photographing just the couple. My couples seem to appreciate that I can show them images from moments they had no idea happened on their wedding day.

—Τι επηρεάζει την αξία της φωτογραφίας; Ποια στοιχεία;

—Any photo can hold value to anyone. I've probably taken thousands of "average" simple photos that could be so valuable to my couples and their families/friends. For example, someone who has recently passed away. Those photos then become priceless.

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

—Mark Zuckerberg, undoubtedly.

—Ποιον θέλετε να φωτογραφήσετε;

—Easy one. I'd love to spend some time photographing and chatting with Sir Alex Ferguson.

—Τι σας ανησυχεί και γιατί;

—Yes, the constant wars all over the world. Utterly awful.

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

—Bananaman.

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

—Happiness is the only measure of success. People who equate money to success are totally missing the point, in my opinion.

—Είναι προτιμότερο να είστε αρεστός ή να σας σέβονται;

—A bit of both.

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

—I travel light.

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

—Practice, practice and practice. Take photos, thousands of them. And if you don't like them or they don't look right, figure out why that is, and then work on it. That's pretty much how I managed to become an established full-time professional. I lived and breathed photography until I was confident I'd reached a certain level of competency to be able to charge money for my work. Oh, and practice more. Did I mention practice?

—Ποιανού δουλειά σας έχει επηρεάσει περισσότερο ως φωτογράφο;

—There are a few whose work I admire and these were inspiring for me when I was first dipping my toes into the world of wedding photography. Andrew Billington, Alan Law, Steven Rooney, Adam Johnson, Two Mann Studios & Pete Farrell are all wedding photographers that I admire. There are more, but these are the ones off the top of my head.

—Τι σας παρακινεί να συνεχίσετε να τραβάτε φωτογραφίες;

—The genuine love for what I do. Being surrounded by happy people is infectious and good for my soul. I rarely do negativity.

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

—Possible more strict, especially at meal times as I have a lot of mental blocks to certain types of food.

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

—I'd probably have traveled more in my late teens/early twenties.

—Τι πιστεύετε για τη ζωή σε άλλους πλανήτες;

—Based on the laws of probability, I'd say yes.

—Τι κάνετε στον ελεύθερο χρόνο σας;

—With my family and friends plus lots of napping with my dogs, reading, traveling and being idle.

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

—My insecurities tend to be kept under lock and key. But I worry myself to sleep most nights.

—Κάνετε εύκολα φίλους;

—Yes, I like to think so.

—Που θα θέλατε να ζήσετε;

—Reykjavik, Iceland.

—Έχετε ένα αγαπημένο ανέκδοτο; Πείτε το μας.

—Why was the sand wet? Because the sea weed.

—Συμπαθείτε τα σκυλιά ή τις γάτες;

—Dogs.

—Ποιον ή τι μισείτε;

—Hate is a strong word. Wow. That's a hard one. Perhaps Donald Trump or Theresa May could fall into that category.

—Αύριο θα πάω και θα κάνω...

—I'm going out with some fellow photographers for drinks in Manchester. Our weekends tend to be during the week given what we do for a living.