Jonathan Hyams: Young and gifted
At just 25 years of age Jonathan Hyams is beginning to establish a very solid reputation in the world of photojournalism. In 2008 he won the Hello! magazine Young Photographer of the Year award and the 'Ctrl.Alt.Shift' prize that was run by Vice magazine on behalf of Christian Aid. CPN editor Steve Fairclough spoke to him about his burgeoning career and his work in Africa.
Despite only finishing his documentary photography course at the University of Wales, Newport, in the summer of 2007 Jonathan Hyams has already caught the eyes of many in the world of photojournalism, but where did it all begin? "I have always enjoyed photography - I got given my first camera when I was 12 and took it on a family holiday to Canada," explains Jonathan.
He adds: "Throughout my school years I was always keen on art and I came to realise that I was leaning towards photography. In my last year in school I enrolled and did a City & Guilds photography course at a college of further education." In order to raise some funds to go travelling Jonathan then started work as an assistant to a studio photographer - Theo Chalmers - who has been "a very big influence," in Jonathan's career.
Zimbabwean gold miners.
Taking advice from Theo, Jonathan invested in a Canon AE-1 body and went on his travels. He recalls: "I went travelling for six months and spent three of those in South Africa. I stayed in one village - Hamburg in East London - and set up a youth group there. I also went to Australia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand - I've always loved travelling and photography."
By this time Jonathan had decided he wanted photography to be his career and enrolled in the documentary photography course at the University of Wales in Newport. "I found that there was a lot less active instruction involved - you really do make it what it is. You get out of it what you put in, so most of my education was actually just doing it. Someone can't tell you how to take a good photograph - ultimately the only way is to find your own way."
In his second year at college Jonathan undertook shooting assignments in the Netherlands and South Africa, whilst the third year of his degree studies included a trip to Uganda that would prove to be a pivotal moment in both his education and career. "When I went to Uganda I was invited by a Ugandan who wanted to give something back to the community, so I volunteered to support this. I could see that photography could be used as a tool to help people - strong imagery can be such a powerful tool," explains Jonathan.
A pastor in Northern Uganda.
Whilst he was at university Jonathan worked in a camera shop: "I moved on from the AE-1 and had access to various pieces of kit - I bought an EOS 650 and later on an EOS-1N. By that point I was used to the EOS system and working with it, so I also bought an EOS 20D."
Although his tutors at university were still very much encouraging the use of traditional black and white film photography, and shooting in medium format, Jonathan notes: "It became clear that digital was the way it was going and that I'd be crazy not to get into it."
As far as the choice of lenses for his work Jonathan explains: "Before I went on my trip to South Africa I was very taken with wideangle images and I bought the EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens. In the village I stayed in they had an AIDS treatment centre that was quite dark - I had an EF50mm f/1.8 II lens that is fantastic. I've done a lot of work with that lens at night, and in huts, so having it with me was very useful."
During his final year at college Jonathan made a second trip to Uganda during which he contracted malaria and his potential career almost finished before it had started. "I got malaria and I wasn't very sensible. I only allowed myself five days before I went back to work and I worked myself in to the ground. I ended up with Reiter's Syndrome and reactive arthritis and this put me in hospital for about six weeks," explains Jonathan.
He admits: "I began to question my career and I took a break from photography from April to August 2007, however I was very keen to finish my degree and be involved in the end of year exhibition."
By September 2007 Jonathan had decided to get back into photography and took the opportunity to be a stills photographer on the Philip Pullman directed movie 'The Butterfly Tattoo'. "I was living in Bristol and I decided to move to London to pursue my career," says Jonathan.
A school classroom in Northern Uganda.
Initially his move to London proved tricky as his portfolio was dominated by his images from Africa and there was little work. It was then that Jonathan met up again with a journalist he had worked with in Uganda - Rebecca Werne - to create a piece on homeless eastern Europeans in London. That story was picked up by The Guardian newspaper and gave Jonathan his first national newspaper exposure in mid-2008.
Jonathan also recalled the advice of his university tutors who had told him he had to enter photography awards in order to secure funding. Some of his work in Northern Uganda centered on photographing a child protection unit for ex-child soldiers and, in mid-2008, he decided to use an image from this project for the Hello! Magazine 'young photographers' competition. The picture is said to have had some of the judges in tears.
Jonathan explains the story behind this striking image: "The mother-daughter project supports ex-abductees - girls will be abducted at the age of 10 or 11 and given as wives; then they often fall pregnant. The winning photograph was shot when I was just recovering from malaria - the girl was the daughter of one of the child soldiers and I shot it on the EOS 20D with a 50mm f/1.8 lens."
Jonathan spent the prize money from the Hello! competition went on a new Mac Book computer, the EOS 5D and two Speedlite 580EX II flashguns. One of the judging panel of the Hello! competition was Aidan Sullivan - vice president of photo assignments for Getty Images - who noticed his work. Jonathan recalls: "I got chatting with Aidan Sullivan at the awards ceremony, so they have now put my work on the emerging talent section of the Reportage by Getty Images site."
Another aspect of the Hello! prize was an assignment. "Instead of a celebrity getting married or having a baby I'd proposed to do a feature on a celebrity being involved with a charity.
They got back to me saying that they wanted me to do a shoot with the model Helena Christensen who is supporting a cheetah sanctuary in Namibia," explains Jonathan.
As well as this trip to Namibia when CPN spoke to Jonathan he was just about to board a plane to India as a result of securing first prize in the Ctrl.Alt.Shift competition run by Christian Aid through Vice magazine. The brief for this competition was Gender, Poverty and Power: "When I saw the brief I thought that my work definitely fitted the competition," says Jonathan.
The winning image of a sex worker in Zimbabwe from the Ctrl.Alt.Shift competition.
He submitted his work on sex workers in Zimbabwe and it caught the eyes of the judge Nan Goldin who picked his entry as the winner from a shortlist of 16. From February 19 to 27 this year Jonathan's work, and that of the 15 other finalists, is being exhibited at the Association of Photographers Gallery in central London.
Jonathan Hyams is currently experimenting with different lighting set ups using his recently acquired 580EX II flashguns and is planning more travel. "I have built up some good relationships and hope to do more work for Hello! and Vice magazines amongst others," he explains. But it seems that, given his impressive start, whatever Jonathan Hyams does next his name will be one that's sure to be on the lips of many in the world of photography.
- Technical
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Jonathan Hyams' equipment:
Cameras:
EOS 5D
Lenses:
EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM
EF24-70mm f/2.8L USM
EF50mm f/1.8 II
EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM
Accessories:
Canon Speedlite 580EX flashgun
2 x Canon Speedlite 580EX II flashguns
2 x Beauty Dish for Canon 580 EX (from Viewfinder Photography)
2 x Elinchrome D-lights
Manfrotto tripod
