Fotógrafo Mark Wallis

—Você é fotogénica(o)?

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

—Como se iniciou na indústria da 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.

—Em sua opinião, quais são os componentes mais importantes para uma boa fotografia?

—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.

—Gosta de viajar?

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

—O que mais gosta na sua profissão?

—Working for myself and (kinda) gatecrashing parties.

—O que menos gosta na sua profissão?

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

—Qual será o futuro da 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.

—Como lida com as críticas?

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

—Existem tendências na 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.)

—Quais deveriam ser os critérios considerados pelo cliente na escolha de um fotógrafo?

—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.

—Que detalhes passam habitualmente despercebidos mas nos quais um fotógrafo repara?

—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.

—Na sua opinião, que pessoa poderá ser o símbolo do século XXI?

—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.

—O quem pretende fotografar?

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

—Tem tabus profissionais?

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

—Com quem gostaria de fotografar?

—Nobody. I like working alone.

—Com que se preocupa e porquê?

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

—Qual foi o momento mais impressionante na sua vida?

—Completing this interview.

—Que personagem animada, literária ou de um filme gostaria de ser? Porquê?

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

—Quem o inspira na sua vida e porquê?

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

—Gostaria mais de ser amado ou respeitado?

—Depends who is doing the liking and respecting.

—Qual foi o maior erro que já cometeu a nível profissional?

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

—Quando vai viajar, o que leva consigo e porquê?

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

—Está arrependido de ter adquirido algum dos gadgets que possui? Porquê?

—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.

—Como aprende a tirar fotos melhores?

—Take more pictures.

—Que trabalho mais o influenciou como fotógrafo?

—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.

—O que pretende transmitir com as suas fotos?

—The truth.

—O que o motiva a continuar a fotografar?

—People keep paying me to come to their weddings.

—Os seus pais deveriam ter sido mais ou menos rigorosos?

—My mum got it pretty much spot on.

—Se pudesse regredir no tempo, o que faria de diferente?

—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.

—O que pensa da vida nos outros planetas?

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

—Quem são os seus heróis?

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

—A quem é que não respeita?

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

—O que faz nos seus tempos livres?

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

—Qual é o seu lado que o público nunca vê?

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

—Quando é que fica completamente satisfeito com o seu trabalho?

—Dunno, it hasn’t happened yet.

—Acredita nos papéis tradicionais reservados ao homem e à mulher?

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

—Faz amigos com facilidade?

—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.

—Onde gostaria de viver?

—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.

—Existe vida depois do casamento?

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

—Tem uma anedota favorita? Conte-nos.

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

—Gosta de cães e gatos?

—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.

—A quem ou o que odeia?

—Overuse of hate.

—A melhor coisa na vida é:

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

—A coisa mais irritante na vida é:

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

—O que gostaria de mudar em si próprio?

—I’d like to have more self-belief.

—O que gostaria de mudar no mundo?

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

—Pode dar algumas dicas para fotógrafos principiantes?

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

—Caso os alienígenas viessem para a Terra, e fosse a primeira pessoa a encontrá-los, o que lhes diria?

—That I want a ride in their spaceship.

—Se fosse chamado para fazer um filme, que género escolheria?

—A very dark and gory horror film.

—Amanhã eu vou fazer...

—…something less boring instead.