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Professional Advice
Peter Dench: UK photographer and writer
British photographer Peter Dench is known for his quirky, informal style and a 10-year project called ‘England Uncensored’, capturing the idiosyncrasies of his fellow countrymen. He is a World Press Photo award winner and his work has appeared in numerous publications around the world, such as Stern, The New York Times Magazine and Newsweek.
“I suppose there was a certain ‘lightness’ to my youth. Maybe growing up in the joyous seaside town of Weymouth on the south coast of England gave me a sense of mischief – that and watching episodes of Benny Hill. I’m not a Don McCullin type and I’m not really drawn to the darker side of photography. Anyway, I don’t think I’m brave enough to be a war photographer.
“Sometimes I think my style is derived from a certain kind of lethargy. The saturated colours and bright blue skies in my pictures are because I don’t often work outside of the hours of 11am to 5pm. But maybe I’m just being playful.
“I’m not a quiet, ‘shoot and move’ photographer. I have a more slapstick approach – I like to be in among people and get involved, be inspired by what someone sounds like or something smells like. For the English project I travelled up and down the country and went to many events that I thought might throw up some humour or irony. But it’s often the quieter moments at events that generally make it into my edits. When most photographers are facing one way, I’ll face the other. When I was taking pictures at Princess Diana’s funeral courtège I almost missed it because I was photographing a price sticker on the sole of a kneeling woman’s shoe.
“There are so many pictures out there on websites like Flickr, and virtually every theme has been covered, but I seem to return to the same pool of photographers for inspiration. August Sander and his ‘Face of Our Time’ book reminds me that a good body of work can take years to put together, and likewise Tom Stoddart and his ‘iWitness’ book. Richard Billingham’s work and Gerd Ludwig’s ‘Broken Empire’ about the Soviet Union have also been a great source of ideas.
“I’m inspired by writers and columnists too, such as Danny Wallace from Stylist magazine and Tim Dowling from the Guardian. They write about the ridiculousness and ordinariness of life, and that appeals to me. I do some writing myself, as a contributing editor for Hungry Eye magazine, but, of course, as a photographer you need to get out there and keep shooting.
“I find it’s important to travel light – just one shoulder bag. I use two camera bodies, the EOS 5D Mark II, and consistently use just one lens, the EF35mm f/1.4L USM. I like to shoot close, to be able to converse with and react to my subjects if necessary. I also carry a 28mm lens and the 70-200mm just in case I can’t get to where I need to be. I’m now starting to shoot film and capture sound too.”
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