|
In each issue of Enter, we put a set of near-identical questions to people who have taken part in a World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass.
These five-day events, introduced in 1994 to encourage and train young photographers, are normally held every November so that a dozen young practitioners from all over the world can meet and learn from some of the world's top professionals and each other.
The subject of this issue’s Masterclass is 31-year-old Philippe Dudouit, from Lausanne, Switzerland.
Philippe won the World Press Photo contest first prize in 2008 and third prize in 2009, both in the People in the News category.
His work appears regularly in
Time Magazine,
GQ (France),
D Magazine, L’Hebdo,
Neon,
Das Magazine,
l’Espresso and
Le Monde 2. He is represented by Contact Press Images.
Philippe, how did you get started in photography and what was your biggest break?
I started taking pictures of my friends snowboarding in the ski resort where I grew up. I immediately fell in love with the medium, so I gave up my studies and started a five-year apprenticeship in photography when I was 17. In '99, I decided to follow an Albanian friend of mine to Kosovo and in 2001, I spent three months covering the fighting between Albanian rebels and government forces in Macedonia.
What qualities does a top photojournalist need?
At my level, I think an open mind, respect for others and a good sense of humor are important. Then you need solid friends, who can tell you that your latest and greatest work is actually a piece of rubbish.
What is your most memorable assignment?
Most of my work has been self-assigned. There are many, many memories but I think walking and living with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) fighters for 5 weeks was something pretty important.
Are you – or will you ever be – fully digital?
Right now, I don't travel with digital equipment apart from the Canon G10 I use for souvenir snapshots. I do use digital for commercial work and for advertising shoots, though.
What essential equipment do you travel with?
An iPod with good music in it, a large format camera with one hundred sheets of Kodak ready-load slide film, a tripod, a couple of additional lights and my Swiss knife.
What is your favorite camera and how do you use it most – do you prefer natural light, for instance, or artificial/mix?
I mostly use a Linhof Technika 4x5 folding camera. I always carry additional lights, so flashes and a Quantum battery – I only use them when needed, when I feel it could be a plus for the picture.
If there is one piece of advice you would give to a photojournalist starting out on a career, what would it be?
Our teacher, in the first year of my apprenticeship, told the class: "I don't know what you're doing here. Do you guys know you'll never work in photography? Do you know you'll never be professional photographers?" Even if the guy was a bit stupid to say things like that, at the end of the day, he was right. So the only advice I can give is believe in yourself, be patient, don't pay too much attention to what people say and go with your own flow.
Which of the pictures you selected is your personal favorite and why?
I guess it'd be the Tuareg Rebels rock band (the first in the gallery). It was so unexpected to meet them in the middle of nowhere. The first days of the trip, my fixer Ahmed and I were hanging out with one specific armed group. In their camp, we saw a truck full of brand new musical instruments. At first, I thought it was for the black market, but after a few questions, an officer told us the gear was for this brand new band they were trying to set up. We of course immediately asked to meet them, and they told us they were far away - but traveling in our direction. Three weeks later, after harassing every day to meet the band, they started to say that they were coming. After another ten days, and I only had two sheets of film left, and bam, the guys finally show up. Those were the last pictures of the trip.
Next to whom would you like to sit in an airplane going where?
Well, I wasn't lucky on my last trips, so right now I'd like to sit next to the invisible man, For what it's worth, I'm one meter ninety and weigh one hundred and ten kilograms, so there's always this tremendous disappointment in the eyes of the poor guy sitting next to me when he sees me stowing a big bag over his head. And seriously, do you know anyone who wouldn't be happy to have an empty seat next to him?
What ambitions do you have left?
To continue my personal project on rebel groups.
|
|
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
