Fotografo Mark Wallis

—Sei fotogenico?

—Not really, mainly because I pull stupid faces when I find myself on the wrong side of the camera.

—Come sei entrato nell'industria della fotografia?

—The old story of the couple with no money, an old uni friend with a decent camera and a firm agreement that there’d be no posed photos.

—Secondo te, quali sono le componenti più importanti di una bella foto?

—For me it’s all about the genuine moment, captured without any intervention by the photographer. A moment that would have happened even if the photographer wasn’t there. A moment of action, emotion, great light, etc.

—Ti piace viaggiare?

—I do, but in comfort. I’m more of a city person than a wilderness person.

—Che cosa ti piace di più nella tua professione?

—Working for myself and (kinda) gatecrashing parties.

—Che cosa ti piace di meno nella tua professione?

—The assumption by some that I’m at the wedding to take control of everything and to take boring, posed photos of the guests.

—Quale sarà il futuro della fotografia?

—Not sure I even know what the ‘present’ of wedding photography is. I just do what I do and hope enough people each year want that.

—Come gestisci la critica?

—Depends who it’s coming from and how constructive it is.

—Ci sono determinate tendenze nella fotografia?

—Always somebody doing something that everybody else copies until something else comes along. Trends get old quickly (see ‘couple in rain with flashgun’, etc.)

—Quali criteri dovrebbe utilizzare un cliente per scegliere un fotografo?

—Approach is key for me. They either want to just get on and enjoy their wedding and have a record of it, or they want to spend the day modelling for pieces of art or fashion photography (or somewhere in between). A connection with the photographer’s portfolio, and a desire to see themselves in those images, is a good guide.

—Quali dettagli, che solitamente passano inosservati, riesce a notare un fotografo?

—I don’t think there is anything specific. A good wedding photographer will have an eye for a moment or an interesting composition or great light that most won’t have, but the key thing is that when you’re employed to shoot a wedding you approach it from a different angle to a friend or family member who is there to enjoy the wedding. I am paid to be observant. Plus, I see what the common people are doing. I’m there to photograph everybody, not just the couple.

—Secondo te, chi può essere considerato simbolo del XXI secolo?

—For me, whoever does the most to increase education and encourage the use of reason and logic in decision-making from the top to the bottom of social and political hierarchy.

—Chi vorresti fotografare?

—Anybody that trusts me completely and who will ignore me.

—Hai qualche tabù professionale?

—I won’t work for people or companies that I perceive to be helping to make the world a worse place.

—Con chi vorresti fare una sessione di ripresa fotografica?

—Nobody. I like working alone.

—Che cosa ti fa preoccupare e perché?

—Time and money and my misguided perception that I have a shortage of both.

—Qual è stato il momento più impressionante della tua vita?

—Completing this interview.

—Se tu fossi un personaggio di cartone animato, libro o film, chi saresti e perché?

—Butthead from Beavis & Butthead, because he.. he… he. You said would. He.. he…

—Chi ti ispira nella vita e perché?

—I’m not good at absorbing or recognising inspiration.

—Preferiresti essere amato o rispettato?

—Depends who is doing the liking and respecting.

—Qual è stato il più grande errore che hai commesso nel lavoro?

—Running up the stairs of Marylebone Town Hall with a zoom lens precariously perched in a jacket pocket didn’t end well.

—Preparandoti per partire, che cosa metteresti in valigia e perché?

—Clothes, money, phone, a camera of some sort.

—Tra i gadget che possiedi, c'è qualcosa che vorresti non aver comprato? Perché?

—A Panasonic GF1 that I barely used and that my wife dropped and damaged after I’d had it for a couple of weeks. I don’t get on with cameras without viewfinders.

—Che formazione professionale segui per fare fotografie migliori?

—Take more pictures.

—Il lavoro di chi ha avuto la maggiore influenza su di te come fotografo?

—Nobody specific, but seeing in 2004/2005 that a documentary approach was a viable option for wedding photography was the push I needed to start doing it myself.

—Che cosa vuoi dire con le tue fotografie?

—The truth.

—Qual è la tua motivazione per continuare a scattare fotografie?

—People keep paying me to come to their weddings.

—Pensi che i tuoi genitori avrebbero dovuto essere più o meno severi?

—My mum got it pretty much spot on.

—Se potessi tornare nel passato, che cosa faresti in modo diverso?

—I would make better use of my enquiring mind and study science or engineering, so that I could be of more use to the world and future generations.

—Che cosa pensi della vita su altri pianeti?

—Presumably, but we’ll wipe out life on our own planet before we make contact with life on others.

—Chi sono i tuoi eroi?

—I don’t really have any. They’d only ruin it at some point.

—Per chi non hai rispetto?

—Those who promote fear, intolerance and lies to feed their own greed.

—Che cosa fai nel tuo tempo libero?

—I do DIY, or I play my ukulele, or I go to (mostly metal) gigs or I do a crossword.

—Quale lato di te non è mai visibile al pubblico?

—Most of my sides. I’m a fairly private person.

—Quando ti senti completamente soddisfatto dal tuo lavoro?

—Dunno, it hasn’t happened yet.

—Credi nei ruoli tradizionali di donne e uomini?

—Like most traditions, best left in the past. Live and let live.

—Fai facilmente amicizia?

—I really don’t. I’m friendly and approachable and I get on with most people, but I’ve been burnt too many times so I keep most people at a few arms’ length.

—Dove ti piacerebbe vivere?

—In a huge warehouse apartment in NYC, or in a cosy old manor house surrounded by a few acres, or on top of a hill in Scotland.

—Esiste la vita dopo il matrimonio?

—It’s just a certificate and a great party. As you were.

—Hai uno scherzo preferito? Raccontacelo.

—“Some people like cats and some people don't. Apparently the Pope's a cataholic.” Milton Jones

—Ti piacciono i cani o i gatti?

—I prefer cats to dogs, but I don’t like the damage they do to your house, so am currently resisting my family’s desire to own one.

—Chi o che cosa odi?

—Overuse of hate.

—La cosa migliore nella vita è:

—Freedom. And Five Guy’s Bacon Cheeseburger, All The Way.

—La cosa più fastidiosa nella vita è:

—Procrastination. And people constantly changing speed on the motorway when I’m using cruise control.

—Che cosa vorresti cambiare in te stesso?

—I’d like to have more self-belief.

—Che cosa vorresti cambiare nel mondo?

—I’d like to ensure everyone gets a quality education and eradicate dependence on myth, legend and violence.

—Puoi dare alcuni consigli ai fotografi alle prime armi?

—Take your own (decent) food, and wear comfortable shoes.

—Se gli alieni dovessero arrivare sulla Terra e tu fossi la prima persona ad incontrarli, che cosa diresti?

—That I want a ride in their spaceship.

—Se dovessi essere invitato a girare un film, di che genere sarebbe?

—A very dark and gory horror film.

—Domani vado a fare...

—…something less boring instead.