Photographe Annabelle Agnew

—Tout d’abord, qui pouvez-vous désigner meilleur photographe dans Montréal, Canada ? :)

—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.

—Êtes-vous photogénique ?

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

—Comment avez-vous commencé à travailler dans la photographie ?

—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.

—Selon vous, quels sont les éléments les plus importants d'une bonne photo ?

—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.

—Aimez-vous voyager ?

—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.

—Quel aspect de votre profession préférez-vous ?

—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.

—Quel aspect de votre profession aimez-vous le moins ?

—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.

—Quel est le futur de la photographie ?

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

—Qu'est-ce que le style de photographie dans lequel vous travaillez a de spécial ?

—I'm not sure I understand this question.

—Comment gérez-vous les critiques ?

—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.

—Y a-t-il des modes dans la photographie ?

—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.

—Quels devraient être les critères pour qu'un client choisisse un photographe ?

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

—Quels sont les interdits lors des photographies ?

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

—Quels détails seul un photographe peut-il remarquer ?

—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.

—Qu'est-ce qui influence la valeur d'une photo ? Quels en sont les éléments ?

—Emotion, Light, Artistry.

—Quelle personne peut être le symbole du 21ème siècle selon vous ?

—I have no answer for that!

—Qui aimeriez-vous prendre en photo ?

—Anyone who wants me to.

—Avez-vous des tabous professionnels ?

—I don't think so?

—Avec qui aimeriez-vous faire une séance photo ?

—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

—De quoi vous inquiétez-vous, et pourquoi ?

—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

—Quel a été le moment le plus impressionnant de votre vie ?

—Giving birth to my babies

—Si vous étiez un personnage de dessin animé, de livre ou de film, qui seriez-vous et pourquoi ?

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

—Qui vous inspire dans votre vie et pourquoi ?

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

—Comment définissez-vous le succès ? Comment le mesurez-vous ?

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

—Préférez-vous être aimé ou respecté ?

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

—Quelle a été votre plus grande erreur professionnelle ?

—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".

—Quand vous partez en voyage que prenez-vous avec vous et pourquoi ?

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

—Est-ce que vous regrettez d'avoir acheté un de vos gadgets ? Lequel et pourquoi ?

—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.

—Quelle méthode utilisez-vous pour améliorer vos prises de photo ?

—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.

—Qui vous a influencé le plus en tant que photographe ?

—Showing up everyday to do it.

—Quelle chose auriez-vous aimer connaître avant de vous lancer dans la photographie ?

—Patience.

—Qu'aimeriez-vous dire avec vos photos ?

—I want them to be evocative of the moment.

—Quelle est votre motivation pour continuer la photographie ?

—My pleasure in taking them.

—Pensez-vous que vos parents auraient dû être plus stricts ? Moins stricts ?

—Less strict.

—Si vous pouviez revenir dans le temps, que changeriez-vous ?

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

—Que pensez-vous de la vie sur d'autres planètes ?

—It's there probably?

—Qui sont vos héros ?

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

—Pour quelle chose n'avez-vous aucun respect ?

—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.

—Que faites-vous pendant votre temps libre ?

—Improv; Kitchen Dancing; Reading; Running

—Quel aspect de votre personnalité le public ne voit pas ?

—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

—Quand êtes-vous complètement satisfait de votre travail ?

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

—Croyez-vous en le traditionalisme des rôles de l'homme et de la femme ?

—No

—Vous faites-vous facilement des amis ?

—Yes

—Où aimeriez-vous vivre ?

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

—Quelle est la chose la plus stupide que vous ayez accepté ?

—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.

—Existe-t-il une vie après le mariage ?

—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.

—Avez-vous une blague préférée ? Racontez-la.

—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.

—Préférez-vous les chats ou les chiens ?

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

—Qui ou que détestez-vous ?

—Too complicated to answer.

—La plus belle chose de la vie est :

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

—La chose la plus ennuyeuse de la vie est :

—noises like chewing?

—Changeriez-vous quelque chose autour de vous ?

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

—Que changeriez-vous chez vous ?

—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.

—Que changeriez-vous dans le monde ?

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

—Auriez-vous quelques astuces pour des photographes débutants ?

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

—Des extraterrestres arrivent sur Terre et vous êtes le premier à les rencontrer. Que leur dites-vous ?

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

—Vous êtes appelé pour tourner un film. De quel genre serait-il ?

—Romantic Drama (think The English Patient)

—Demain, je vais aller faire...

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