Photographer Interview: Jamie MacDonald

Jamie MacDonald is an everything photographer – the guy just makes and makes. Jamie and I have shot together a few times, and I always respect his sense of experimentation and adventure.

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Jamie MacDonald and I am a professional photographer for Olympus Imaging North America, podcast host, and workshop leader. My position with Olympus takes me all over the place doing workshops and promoting not only their equipment, but also my work, and my podcast focuses on the world of mirrorless cameras.

How did you get started in photography?

I got started in photography when I decided I needed a camera for a family vacation back in 2007. I had never owned a camera, and thought one of those fancy interchangeable lens cameras was just what I needed. Once I started shooting I realized it wasn’t just the camera that I needed, it was a reconnection to my past life as an artist that I abandoned after high school.

What do you like about your photography?

I like that my photography is not subject limited. I like that when I walk out the door the world is my muse and I feel as comfortable shooting an impending storm, as I do a senior portrait session or an eagle in flight.

You take a variety of photos – everything from dramatic landscapes to intimate portraits. Where do you get inspiration for your style/ideas?

That is such a difficult question to answer, but I’ll try my best to put it into words. When it comes to inspiration I guess I should say that I am always in this weird state of wonderment about the world around me. The best way to explain it would be to ask you to remember a fond childhood memory, and when you have one picked out, think about how it makes you feel. I have that same sense of excitement and yearning to drink up life as I did when I was a kid. I even tell people that my soul has not grown up yet. So I guess I try to explore things visually in a way that shows I am still in a state of wonder about the world I live in.

What kinds of themes do you explore with your work?

Life. That is the theme I explore. Life is everything, and comes in every conceivable color and shape and form. I get the same level of excitement discovering a patch of weedy flowers growing through the cement, as I do standing atop a mountain shooting the sun filling the valley below me. I imagine that sounds crazy, but it is a part of who I am and how I see my world.

Any upcoming projects or shoots you’re working on?

I sincerely wish I had a glamorous answer for that question, but I do not. I have never once had a project come to mind, and yet I think I need to do some sort of series of photos as a way to grow myself. But I just haven’t had anything come to mind.

I DO however have a lot going on in the way of photography workshops and events this year. I will be presenting at the Out of Chicago Conference in June. There I will be doing a class titled “The Art of the Dramatic Landscape” where I discuss my approach to landscape photography, with an emphasis on my particular post processing methodology. I am also co-leading an astrophotography workshop in the mountains of Arizona in May, a weekend workshop in Philadelphia, and a few events here in Michigan. It is going to be a busy year!

Find more of Jamie’s work on his portfolio site, at @sl33stak on Tumblr, and on Flickr. 

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Photographs No Longer Needed

alesserphotographer:

  • Sunsets
  • Fireworks
  • Waterfalls
  • Trails
  • Breakfast, lunch, dinner
  • Lattes
  • Leaves on branches (even in autumn)
  • Dew-covered flowers
  • Anyplace with a gift shop
  • Anything with its own postcard rack
  • Portraits of wrinkly faces (just because they’re wrinkly)
  • Concerts with more than 25 attendees
  • Rain on windows
  • Celebrities
  • Area 51
  • Anything that’s popular on Tumblr
  • Anything that’s popular on Instagram
  • Anything popular
  • Anything the pros are doing

Use all the extra time to create something awesome.

Add to that list: Iceland.

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Photographer Interviews – A Wrap-Up

Canon AE-1

After a month, my photographer profile project is complete. Almost 20 photographers shooting everything from landscapes to portraits to products to documentary reportage.

I tried to think of one thing I learned doing this project – a consistent theme that ran through all the interviews. Maybe what I learned is that there are all kinds of photographers, with all kinds of backgrounds, and we all get into the hobby or profession in a million potential ways.

It’s these folks, after all, that gives those rebloggers and “”curators”” something to latch on to. It’s these photographers who are making original material. They shoot what interests them. They put stuff out into the world. They’re makers.

Other than a theme, the one thing I learned was that most artists you admire are approachable and friendly, and more than willing to participate in a crazy idea you have. For many of these photographers, I’ve followed them for years on Tumblr, or Flickr, or Instagram, and have always wondered how they got into photography. To learn more, all it took was an email and a proposition.

I should’ve done this years ago.

Check out all the photographer profiles, and stay tuned – I may have a few more coming in the next few weeks.

And thanks to everyone who participated!

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Photographer Interview: Olli Syrjäkari

As an urbex photographer, it’s natural for me to check out other abandoned building photographers. The problem is, most of what I find is HDR garbage.

That’s why I love the work of Olli Syrjäkari of Finland. His abandoned work keeps the shadows and mystery of the places he explores. When I first saw Olli’s work, I felt like I met a fellow traveler. It was great to learn more about his photography.

Who are you, where are you, and what do you do?

My name is Olli Syrjäkari and I live in Tampere, Finland. Pencil pusher by day, photographer by night.

How did you get started in photography?

I’m not sure when it started. Probably when I got my first smartphone with a decent camera. Three years back I left my hometown to find my real home. By that time I bought a small interchangeable-lens camera, and it was then that I got serious about photography. Most of my photos are taken with that 100-euro camera. I did eventually upgrade but I went with the philosophy that the camera quality doesn’t matter until you know how to compose and find the light.

What do you like about your photography?

I love how my photographs raise questions and emotions. You could say my motto is “emotion is everything”. Also I think it’s therapeutic that I get to relive those moments that are already gone. I tend to hate most of my earlier work. I think for me that’s essential in order to become better.

You dabble in abandoned photography, and I love your sense of mystery and exploration. You also have a great eye for light and shadow. Where do you get inspiration for your style/ideas?

Thank you. When I see great photography, it really inspires me to get to that level. It makes me grab the camera and get out of the house, do something great. In all that abandoned photography I do, with the shadows and the light, I love that contrast. How things can make me happy and sad at the same time.

I recently realized something. All those places I explore, urban decay, homes people left behind, they get certain emotions going on in my head. Like I mentioned – happy and sad, also yearning, wishful, at peace. I also mentioned I left my hometown where I lived almost three decades, and I wasn’t happy, just a walking corpse. In my new hometown I have felt rootless, alone, anxious, scared but also very happy and content, at peace and hopeful. Something those families have felt when they left their rural homes and dying smalltowns in search for a better life. Narcistically, I think I have been photographing myself.

What kinds of themes do you explore with your work?

Sorrow, hope, dark thoughts, rural exodus, abandonment. How shadows can exist while there is light present. How the shadows are eventually winning, light is always just temporary. It needs to be maintained while darkness is the default.

In my nature photography, it’s basically empowerment, conservation, how life finds a way. I love to mix these themes, nature and abandonments. How nature reclaims what we have left behind. What comes after us? How we are temporary here, the light. Nature and entropy are the shadows, but they are the good guys here. We are just visiting and we are very bad guests.

Any upcoming projects or shoots you’re working on?

I am having an exhibition next summer, in Tampere, Finland. It will be free of charge but I am hoping to sell some photos to cover the costs. I am also planning to sell prints and licenses to fund my future explorations and exhibitions. Besides that I’m planning to get more into portraiture and people.

See more of Olli’s work at @siderocks, check out his Flickr gallery, and follow along on Instagram.

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