Photographe Steve Grogan

—First and foremost – whom can you name as the best photographer in Manchester, Royaume-Uni? :)

—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!

—Êtes-vous photogénique ?

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

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

—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!

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

—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.

—Aimez-vous voyager ?

—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.

—Quel aspect de votre profession préférez-vous ?

—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.

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

—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.

—Quel est le futur de la photographie ?

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

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

—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.

—Comment gérez-vous les critiques ?

—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.

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

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

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

—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.

—Quels sont les interdits lors de photographie ?

—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.

—Quels détails seul un photographe peut-il remarquer ?

—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.

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

—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.

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

—Mark Zuckerberg, undoubtedly.

—Qui aimeriez-vous prendre en photo ?

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

—De quoi vous inquiétez-vous, et pourquoi ?

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

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

—Bananaman.

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

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

—Préférez-vous être aimé ou respecté ?

—A bit of both.

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

—I travel light.

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

—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?

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

—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.

—Quelle est votre motivation pour continuer la photographie ?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—Que faites-vous pendant votre temps libre ?

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

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

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

—Vous faites-vous facilement des amis ?

—Yes, I like to think so.

—Où aimeriez-vous vivre ?

—Reykjavik, Iceland.

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

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

—Préférez-vous les chats ou les chiens ?

—Dogs.

—Qui ou que détestez-vous ?

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

—Demain, je vais aller faire...

—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.