Photographe Adam Johnson

—Êtes-vous photogénique ?

—I think everyone is photogenic. Just not everyone appreciates it the first time they see a photo of themselves. I'm the kind of person who grows to like photos of myself over time, rather than instantly loving them.

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

—It just happened. I got married, bought a DSLR for my honeymoon, and became obsessed with it. I thought I was getting quite good, shot a friend's wedding (as a guest) and did a terrible job. So I went away, practised and studied super hard, bought better equipment then tried again. It went much better the second time and I was able to build a portfolio and website. 18 months later I quit my day job.

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

—If we are talking about a wedding photo then it's all about emotion. Light is my obsession, but a beautifully lit emotionless or 'mute' wedding photo is pointless. A photo has to speak for itself, it shouldn't need a caption or an explanation.

—Aimez-vous voyager ?

—Of course. And I love that wedding photography is showing me more of the world than I would ever have seen without it.

—Quel aspect de votre profession préférez-vous ?

—Freedom of expression. The more you shoot, the better you get, the more people hear about you and know about your work, the more freedom you are given to express yourself artistically. That and what I said about traveling in the last question!

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

—I am honestly grateful for this being my profession but of course, when you have young children at school, it can take its toll when you're out most weekends throughout the summer and not able to spend as much time with them as I would like.

—Quel est le futur de la photographie ?

—Who knows?! I just hope I'm able to change and adapt to however it changes. I truly believe there will always be a market for beautiful, well crafted photos – the technology and expectations may change but the product will not.

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

—People. That's what it's all about. People and relationships. Being invited into a private world and asked to document it for a day.

—Comment gérez-vous les critiques ?

—Badly. I do not like to be criticised. Often once it has sunk in I'm able to either reject or accept it and use it to improve, but I don't like it!

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

—Of course! I just prefer to ignore them.

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

—If the photographer's photos of a total stranger's wedding can make you feel something in your heart and soul, you've found your wedding photographer.

—Quels sont les interdits lors de photographie ?

—There are no rules but I think each photographer will have their own principles or boundaries. If someone is crying because they are truly sad then I will not photograph them just to get that 'tear shot' that is so popular with wedding photographers these days. If I do not feel it is appropriate to shoot something, then I won't shoot it.

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

—Can we answer this with 85 years of the century remaining?! I think there are so many medical and technological advances we will see in this century and I expect icons to be created in these areas.

—Qui aimeriez-vous prendre en photo ?

—Ben Folds, Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United.

—Avez-vous des tabous professionnels ?

—Not that I know of!

—Avec quel photographe aimeriez-vous faire une séance photo ?

—Annie Leibowitz, Joey L, James Nachtwey, Don McCullin, Richard Avedon... I love to shoot with other photographers, I think it's a good thing to do regularly.

—De quoi vous inquiétez-vous, et pourquoi ?

—I am a worrier. I worry about a lot of things! Professionally speaking I worry about becoming irrelevant, about getting stuck in a rut and left behind and nobody wanting me to take their wedding pictures!

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

—The births of my two children.

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

—Peter Pan. I want to stay young and always fight pirates.

—Qui vous inspire dans votre vie et pourquoi ?

—I don't know if they inspire me as such but my children are the reason that I do what I do and why I want to continually get better at it. I am inspired by anyone successful – in business, in photography, in sport, in life... Not in an arrogant way but I find my own successes an inspiration to keep trying harder and to achieve more.

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

—For me, people booking me to shoot photos of them, plus the recognition of my work by my peers is probably my yardstick of success professionally. Happiness and contentment are signs of success in wider life.

—Préférez-vous être aimé ou respecté ?

—I don't think it's possible for me personally to respect somebody I don't like, so I don't think you can be one or the other. I can quickly lose respect for someone who turns out to be a huge douchebag.

—Quelle a été votre plus grande erreur professionnelle ?

—I don't remember. I know I've made mistakes but I'm pretty good about moving on from stuff.

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

—My iphone, my kindle, my macbook, my camera and some earphones.

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

—I tend to sell stuff if it doesn't fit into my life or work after I buy it. I remember I once bought a weird step trainer off an infomercial on the TV, it was so rubbish!

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

—Taking pictures is the education. I'm quite analytical so if I see a photo I like I work out what I like and why... I do the same with my own photos, working out how I could've done better or what I could've done differently. I look at other photography a lot – in books, online, instagram and I think that seeps into my work.

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

—I think a turning point for me was doing a workshop with Daniel Aguilar from Mexico.

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

—That there were no rules!

—Qu'aimeriez-vous dire avec vos photos ?

—I've no idea. Good stuff I hope.

—Quelle est votre motivation pour continuer la photographie ?

—The thing I love about taking photos, or any creative pursuit I guess is that it's just that – a pursuit – and you can never catch the thing you're chasing, but you're constantly improving, or changing at least. It's not static, or limited, or constrained. I know I've not taken my best photo, and I may never take it, but I will always keep striving for it.

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

—No comment.

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

—Nothing, I don't think of life this way. I got to this point in my life, a point in which I am extremely happy, because of the choices I made. I don't want to change anything.That, or I'd go back and invest in Apple before they invented the iPod.Or I could invent the iPod.

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

—Maybe, maybe not. I'm not concerned with it.

—Qui sont vos héros ?

—I have no heroes.

—Pour qui n'avez-vous aucun respect ?

—An awful question.

—Que faites-vous pendant votre temps libre ?

—I play piano, play and watch football, watch TV shows and movies, go to the gym, spend time with friends and family, listen to music...I don't see life as spare time and work time. It's just life. I do all this stuff and I work, there's no split time. I work when I have to and I play whenever I can.

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

—The public? As opposed to who?

—Quand êtes-vous complètement satisfait de votre travail ?

—I love my own work. I love seeing progression in my work. I love it when my clients are in love with the photos I give to them. Completely satisfied? Is this possible?

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

—My parents got divorced when I was young. This has skewed my view of tradition in the home... I don't really know what traditional roles are – women raise children, cook and clean and men just earn the money? Then no, I don't believe in that. A family is the sum of its parts, not separate and distinct people or roles.

—Vous faites-vous facilement des amis ?

—Yeah I guess. I'm never the instigator, I'm shy so I tend to wait for people to make friends with me!

—Où aimeriez-vous vivre ?

—If I could have four homes I would have one in the UK, probably near where I live now, one in New York City, a rural house in Southern France and one somewhere in California! Not that I'm greedy.

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

—I'm not sure I've ever agreed to something stupid.

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

—I've been married 8 years... I'm still alive.

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

—What's invisible and smells like carrots?Rabbit farts.

—Préférez-vous les chats ou les chiens ?

—Neither.

—Qui ou que détestez-vous ?

—I hate wasps. Passionately.

—La plus belle chose de la vie est :

—Family time.

—La chose la plus ennuyeuse de la vie est :

—Traffic jams.

—Changeriez-vous quelque chose autour de vous ?

—I want to make my house bigger!

—Que changeriez-vous chez vous ?

—I would like to break my iphone addiction!

—Que changeriez-vous dans le monde ?

—Far too much to list. The world is a broken place.

—Auriez-vous quelques astuces pour des photographes débutants ?

—You don't have to shoot every second of the wedding, you're not making a stop motion movie... Slow down, breathe, let your mind take in what is happening then tell the story with your photos. There are no rules.

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

—You will never feel satisfied after eating a McDonalds...

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

—Slapstick comedy.

—Demain, je vais aller faire...

—I'll go to the gym, do some editing, get ready for Saturday's wedding, kick a football with my children, eat food, drink coffee...