攝影師 Annabelle Agnew

—首先─您認為誰是蒙特利爾, 加拿大最優秀的攝影師呢？ :)

—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.

—您上相嗎？

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

—您如何開始從事攝影行業？

—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.

—您認為一張好照片裡最重要的元素有哪些？

—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.

—您熱愛旅行嗎？

—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.

—您最喜歡這個職業的哪個部分？

—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.

—您最不喜歡這個職業的哪個部分？

—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.

—攝影的前景如何？

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

—您擅長的攝影類型有什麼特別之處？

—I'm not sure I understand this question.

—您如何應對批評？

—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.

—攝影有什麼潮流？

—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.

—客戶選擇攝影師的標準有哪些？

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

—拍攝時應該避免哪些事項？

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

—通常不會被注意，但攝影師卻能留意的細節有哪些呢？

—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.

—什麼事物會影響照片的價值？它包含了哪些因素？

—Emotion, Light, Artistry.

—您認為哪個人可以被視為21世紀的代表人物？

—I have no answer for that!

—您想拍誰？

—Anyone who wants me to.

—您有任何職業禁忌嗎？

—I don't think so?

—您想和誰一起拍攝？

—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

—您會擔心什麼？為什麼？

—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

—您人生中印象最深刻的一刻是什麼？

—Giving birth to my babies

—如果您是個卡通、小說或電影角色，您想成為誰？為什麼？

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

—誰能在生命中激發您的靈感？為什麼？

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

—您如何定義成功？您會怎麼衡量它？

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

—您是希望被喜愛或是被景仰呢？

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

—您在工作上犯過最大的錯誤是什麼？

—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".

—當您要去旅行時，您會帶什麼？為什麼？

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

—在您擁有的物品中，有任何您希望沒買過的嗎？為什麼？

—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.

—您如何學習拍出更好的照片呢？

—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.

—身為攝影師，誰的作品對您影響最大？

—Showing up everyday to do it.

—哪件事是您希望從開始拍照時就知道的？

—Patience.

—您想用自己的照片說些什麼？

—I want them to be evocative of the moment.

—讓您持續拍照的動力是什麼？

—My pleasure in taking them.

—您的雙親應該更加或是更不嚴厲呢？

—Less strict.

—如果能回到過去，您會有什麼不同舉動呢？

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

—您對在其他星球上的生命有什麼看法呢？

—It's there probably?

—誰是您的英雄？

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

—您不重視誰？

—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.

—您空閒時會做些什麼？

—Improv; Kitchen Dancing; Reading; Running

—您的哪一面是公眾不曾看到過的？

—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

—您什麼時候會對自己的作品完全滿意？

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

—您認可男女性的傳統角色嗎？

—No

—您容易交到朋友嗎？

—Yes

—您希望在哪裡生活？

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

—您曾同意嘗試過最愚蠢的事是什麼？

—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.

—結婚後還有人生嗎？

—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.

—您有最愛的笑話嗎？請告訴我們。

—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.

—您喜歡狗還是貓？

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

—您討厭誰或什麼？

—Too complicated to answer.

—人生中最棒的事是：

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

—人生中最煩人的事是：

—noises like chewing?

—您的周圍有任何您想改變的事情嗎？

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

—您希望改變自己的哪一點？

—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.

—您希望改變世界的哪些方面？

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

—您能為新進攝影師提供一些建議嗎？

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

—如果外星人來到地球，而您是他們第一個遇見的人，您會跟他們說什麼？

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

—如果您被邀請去拍攝電影，那會是什麼類型的電影呢？

—Romantic Drama (think The English Patient)

—明天我會去做...

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