Valokuvaaja Mark Wallis

—Oletko valokuvauksellinen?

—Not really, mainly because I pull stupid faces when I find myself on the wrong side of the camera.

—Miten päädyit valokuvausalalle?

—The old story of the couple with no money, an old uni friend with a decent camera and a firm agreement that there’d be no posed photos.

—Mikä on sinusta tärkeintä hyvässä kuvassa?

—For me it’s all about the genuine moment, captured without any intervention by the photographer. A moment that would have happened even if the photographer wasn’t there. A moment of action, emotion, great light, etc.

—Tykkäätkö matkustamisesta?

—I do, but in comfort. I’m more of a city person than a wilderness person.

—Mistä pidät eniten ammatissasi?

—Working for myself and (kinda) gatecrashing parties.

—Mistä pidät vähiten ammatissasi?

—The assumption by some that I’m at the wedding to take control of everything and to take boring, posed photos of the guests.

—Mikä on valokuvauksen tulevaisuus?

—Not sure I even know what the ‘present’ of wedding photography is. I just do what I do and hope enough people each year want that.

—Kuinka suhtaudut kritiikkiin?

—Depends who it’s coming from and how constructive it is.

—Onko valokuvauksessa trendejä?

—Always somebody doing something that everybody else copies until something else comes along. Trends get old quickly (see ‘couple in rain with flashgun’, etc.)

—Minkä kriteerien perusteella asiakkaan pitäisi valita valokuvaaja?

—Approach is key for me. They either want to just get on and enjoy their wedding and have a record of it, or they want to spend the day modelling for pieces of art or fashion photography (or somewhere in between). A connection with the photographer’s portfolio, and a desire to see themselves in those images, is a good guide.

—Mitkä yksityiskohdat, jotka yleensä jäävät huomaamatta, valokuvaaja voi tallettaa?

—I don’t think there is anything specific. A good wedding photographer will have an eye for a moment or an interesting composition or great light that most won’t have, but the key thing is that when you’re employed to shoot a wedding you approach it from a different angle to a friend or family member who is there to enjoy the wedding. I am paid to be observant. Plus, I see what the common people are doing. I’m there to photograph everybody, not just the couple.

—Kuka on sinun mielestäsi 2000-vuosisadan symboli?

—For me, whoever does the most to increase education and encourage the use of reason and logic in decision-making from the top to the bottom of social and political hierarchy.

—Ketä haluaisit kuvata?

—Anybody that trusts me completely and who will ignore me.

—Onko sinulla ammatillisia tabuja?

—I won’t work for people or companies that I perceive to be helping to make the world a worse place.

—Kenen kanssa haluaisit kuvata?

—Nobody. I like working alone.

—Mistä huolehdit ja miksi?

—Time and money and my misguided perception that I have a shortage of both.

—Mikä on ollut elämäsi vaikuttavin hetki?

—Completing this interview.

—Jos olisit animoitu, kirjallisuus- tai elokuvahahmo, kuka olisit ja miksi?

—Butthead from Beavis & Butthead, because he.. he… he. You said would. He.. he…

—Kuka sinua on inspiroinut elämässäsi ja miksi?

—I’m not good at absorbing or recognising inspiration.

—Haluaisitko olla mieluummin tykätty vai kunnioitettu?

—Depends who is doing the liking and respecting.

—Mikä on suurin virheesi, jonka olet tehnyt työssäsi?

—Running up the stairs of Marylebone Town Hall with a zoom lens precariously perched in a jacket pocket didn’t end well.

—Kun lähdet matkalle, mitä otat mukaasi ja miksi?

—Clothes, money, phone, a camera of some sort.

—Oletko koskaan toivonut, ettet olisi ostanut jotain omistamistasi vempaimista? Miksi?

—A Panasonic GF1 that I barely used and that my wife dropped and damaged after I’d had it for a couple of weeks. I don’t get on with cameras without viewfinders.

—Miten opettelet ottamaan parempia kuvia?

—Take more pictures.

—Kuka on vaikuttanut eniten ammattiisi valokuvaajana?

—Nobody specific, but seeing in 2004/2005 that a documentary approach was a viable option for wedding photography was the push I needed to start doing it myself.

—Mitä haluat ilmaista valokuvillasi?

—The truth.

—Mikä motivoi sinua jatkamaan kuvausta?

—People keep paying me to come to their weddings.

—Olisiko vanhempiesi pitänyt olla tiukempia tai päinvastoin?

—My mum got it pretty much spot on.

—Jos voisit palata ajassa taaksepäin, mitä tekisit eri tavalla?

—I would make better use of my enquiring mind and study science or engineering, so that I could be of more use to the world and future generations.

—Uskotko, että muilla planeetoilla on elämää?

—Presumably, but we’ll wipe out life on our own planet before we make contact with life on others.

—Ketkä ovat sankareitasi?

—I don’t really have any. They’d only ruin it at some point.

—Ketä et kunnioita?

—Those who promote fear, intolerance and lies to feed their own greed.

—Mitä teet vapaa-ajallasi?

—I do DIY, or I play my ukulele, or I go to (mostly metal) gigs or I do a crossword.

—Mitä puolta yleisö ei koskaan näe sinussa?

—Most of my sides. I’m a fairly private person.

—Milloin olet täysin tyytyväinen työhösi?

—Dunno, it hasn’t happened yet.

—Uskotko miesten ja naisten perinteisiin rooleihin?

—Like most traditions, best left in the past. Live and let live.

—Saatko helposti ystäviä?

—I really don’t. I’m friendly and approachable and I get on with most people, but I’ve been burnt too many times so I keep most people at a few arms’ length.

—Missä haluaisit asua?

—In a huge warehouse apartment in NYC, or in a cosy old manor house surrounded by a few acres, or on top of a hill in Scotland.

—Jatkuuko elämä avioliiton jälkeen?

—It’s just a certificate and a great party. As you were.

—Onko sinulla suosikkivitsiä? Kerro pois.

—“Some people like cats and some people don't. Apparently the Pope's a cataholic.” Milton Jones

—Pidätkö koirista vai kissoista?

—I prefer cats to dogs, but I don’t like the damage they do to your house, so am currently resisting my family’s desire to own one.

—Ketä tai mitä vihaat?

—Overuse of hate.

—Parasta elämässä on:

—Freedom. And Five Guy’s Bacon Cheeseburger, All The Way.

—Ärsyttävintä elämässä on:

—Procrastination. And people constantly changing speed on the motorway when I’m using cruise control.

—Mitä haluaisit muuttaa itsessäsi?

—I’d like to have more self-belief.

—Mitä haluaisit muuttaa maailmassa?

—I’d like to ensure everyone gets a quality education and eradicate dependence on myth, legend and violence.

—Haluaisitko antaa vinkkejä aloitteleville valokuvaajille?

—Take your own (decent) food, and wear comfortable shoes.

—Jos Maahan saapuisi avaruusolioita ja he näkisivät sinut ensimmäisenä, mitä sanoisit heille?

—That I want a ride in their spaceship.

—Jos sinut kutsuttaisiin kuvaamaan elokuvaa, mitä tyylilajia se edustaisi?

—A very dark and gory horror film.

—Huomenna aion...

—…something less boring instead.