Fotógrafo Steve Grogan

—En primer lugar, ¿quién puede llamar el mejor fotógrafo en Mánchester, Reino Unido? :)

—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!

—¿Es usted fotogénico(a)?

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

—¿Cómo empezó a trabajar en la industria de fotografía?

—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!

—¿En su opinión, cuáles son los elementos más importantes de una buena fotografía?

—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.

—¿Le gusta viajar?

—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.

—¿Qué le gusta más de su profesión?

—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.

—¿Qué le gusta menos de su profesión?

—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.

—¿Cuál será el futuro de la fotografía?

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

—¿Qué tiene de especial el género fotográfico en que trabaja?

—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.

—¿Cómo gestiona las críticas?

—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.

—¿Existe alguna tendencia en la fotografía?

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

—¿Qué criterios debería tener en cuenta una persona a la hora de elegir a un fotógrafo?

—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.

—¿Qué no está permitido de ningún modo cuando realiza una fotografía?

—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.

—¿Qué detalles que normalmente no tenemos en cuenta puede un fotógrafo captar?

—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.

—¿Qué influye en el valor de una fotografía? ¿Cuáles son sus elementos?

—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.

—En su opinión, ¿qué persona podría ser un símbolo del siglo XXI?

—Mark Zuckerberg, undoubtedly.

—¿A quién le gustaría fotografiar?

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

—¿Qué le preocupa y por qué?

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

—Si fuera un personaje de animación, literario o cinematográfico, ¿quién le gustaría ser y por qué?

—Bananaman.

—¿Cómo definiría el éxito? ¿Cómo lo mide?

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

—¿Qué prefiere, gustar o sentirse respetado?

—A bit of both.

—Cuando va de viaje, ¿qué lleva consigo y por qué?

—I travel light.

—¿Cómo se forma para tomar las mejores imágenes?

—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?

—¿A quién pertenece el trabajo que le ha influenciado más como fotógrafo?

—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.

—¿Qué le motiva a continuar tomando imágenes?

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

—¿Cree que sus padres deberían haber sido más o menos estrictos?

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

—¿Si pudiera volver atrás en el tiempo, qué haría de forma diferente?

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

—¿Qué piensa de la vida en otros planetas?

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

—¿Qué hace en su tiempo libre?

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

—¿Cuál es su lado desconocido que la gente nunca quiere ver?

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

—¿Hace amigos con facilidad?

—Yes, I like to think so.

—¿Dónde le gustaría vivir?

—Reykjavik, Iceland.

—¿Tiene un chiste favorito? Cuéntenoslo.

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

—¿Le gustan los perros o los gatos?

—Dogs.

—¿A quién o qué odia?

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

—Mañana voy a hacer...

—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.