John Stanmeyer on digital.

Wednesday 5 September 2007

VII Photo photographer John Stanmeyer told CPN that it was post 9/11 and Afghanistan that drove him to digital photography. He admits to entering the digital world kicking and screaming after 20+years of shooting film.

“I felt like a fish on dry land. It was post 9/11 that brought me into digital. There were too many new tools that made no sense to me. In many ways they still don’t make much sense to me. I still think in film. I still think of enlargers and densitometers. We went from being the photographer to being the photographer, processor, lab, editor, satellite phone engineer, programmer and printer – and doing so in the middle of no-where with far more pieces of kit than anyone wants to carry. I felt Godzilla was on my back. I was at the base of an extreme rock face and I’d never been rock-climbing before. It was unbearable but fascinating.”

He says that VII Photo started with the digital revolution, as an independent agency in control of their own destiny. “We could use the internet in new ways. Digital photography allowed that to happen too, but it became an enormous tool-chest that we needed to carry with us. Now, five or six years later, I've used all of the tools in the box. I was juggling many programmes and was trying to fit my round head in a square hole.”

Aperture seemed to be a turning point. “When Apple came up with Aperture I was intrigued. I’ve never been sceptical but there was so much to know, it was huge. When I got to see Aperture, I was astonished. I realised that I could be a photographer again and that's an enormous burden lifted. Combined with the brilliance of Canon, because to be honest there is nothing to touch Canon - it is the professional photographer's cameras, it's stellar, beyond my eyes - Aperture for me is like the dry darkroom. It gives me so much control. It’s like my favourite custom-built darkroom with my easels, comfy chair and favourite music. I really does allow me to spend more time being a photographer and not a technician. It's coming full circle again.”

He is excited about future versions of Aperture too: “Although this is version 1.5, it’s not a young program, it's very advanced. I just can’t imagine what we'll see in version 2 or 2.5 or 3. It’s mind-blowing.”