Bio

Maddie’s work as a photographer spans travel, people and lifestyle. We discovered her work when Unsplash featured this evocative image on their editorial feed a few weeks ago. 

Her sources of influence are diverse, but stem from nature and aesthetic styles of difference decades spanning design, colour and culture.

This diversity is reflect in her photography, some of which recalls the work of Luigi Ghirri and all of which draws the viewer in by grounding them in a mood and sense of place. 

To see more of her work, follow her on Instagram @maddieleopardo & @leopardophotos as well as on Unsplash and her website.

Interview

theblowup 

How did you first get into photography?

Maddie

I’ve been interested in photography for as long as I can remember, but I first really started getting into it as a freshman in high school after taking an intro to digital photography class. I loved it, and ended up taking all of the photography classes offered throughout the entirety of high school. I had an awesome teacher who taught me everything I know about the technical side of photography, and I loved having that one class as a creative outlet throughout the day. Then, as I went off to college, I explored as many different photography opportunities as I possibly could, and haven’t looked back since.

theblowup 

Which photographers did and do you draw inspiration from? Who are your photographic heroes?

Maddie

I find myself inspired by the work of so many different photographers and creators. I’ve always really admired the work and style of Annie Leibovitz. Recently, I’ve been loving the work of Pia Riverola, Lucy Laucht, and Tyler Mitchell. I’ve also always been drawn to the photographs taken by National Geographic photographers.

theblowup

Beyond photography, where do you draw your inspiration from?

Maddie

This changes all the time! Most of the time, my inspiration comes from nature - especially bodies of water and plants. I also find myself inspired by the aesthetics of different decades, in particular the 60’s and 70’s.

theblowup

Which genres do you shoot?

Maddie

• Street
• Portrait
• Landscape
• Documentary
  

theblowup

Landscape photography has benefited from advances in both camera and editing technology. What techniques do you use to set your work apart?

Maddie

For me, I feel that the editing process is equally important as the shooting process. I love experimenting with different looks and feel like the best way to set my landscape photography apart is through my editing style. The creativity is limitless with editing and is unique to every photographer, which is why I love it.

theblowup

Which was your first camera?

Maddie

Nikon D3200. I shot with it for seven years until I could finally afford to upgrade to what I have now.

theblowup

How do you think about photography equipment? For some photographers it’s merely a set of tools, a means to an end. For others, the capabilities of the equipment help define what’s possible. 

Maddie

Since I shot with a very “entry level” camera for as long as I did, I definitely see photography equipment as merely a set of tools. You don’t need the most expensive, fanciest equipment to create quality work. I’m a strong believer that your gear isn’t everything; how you use it is. Of course I love shooting with my nicer gear now, but I appreciate the many years I shot with my D3200. It definitely allowed me to gain a much better understanding of the technical side of photography, which makes having a nicer camera now that much better.

theblowup

What’s the main equipment you use today?

Maddie

I recently went mirrorless! I now shoot with a Nikon Z6. 95% of the time I shoot with its kit lens - a 24-70mm f/4. It’s a fantastic kit lens and the only Nikon Z lens I currently have. If I want a larger aperture, I’ll use my Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 lens with the FTZ lens adapter. I also enjoy shooting 35mm film, especially if I find myself in a creative slump. The main film camera I use is an old, fully manual Mamiya/Sekor MSX 500.

theblowup

Lastly, what guidance would you give to people starting out with photography today? 

Maddie

Get out and shoot! In my opinion, the best way to learn with photography is simply by doing. Find some friends who share that interest and go on fun photo adventures. Experiment with manual mode and get familiar with your camera and its settings. Don’t get down on yourself for not having the fanciest gear, and don’t be afraid to break the rules. Lastly, try not to compare yourself to others - everyone started somewhere.

Maddie’s Work

By Narain Jashanmal

First Published in 2020

Fine Airs & Fine Graces is London based street photographer Shane Taylor’s second book and part of a welcome trend toward self published monographs, enabled by print on demand platforms and Shopify. I bought Shane’s book directly from his website after seeing it on Instagram. Included in the package was a hand written postcard, a couple of 5x7 prints (which I was able to select while ordering the book) and a printed artist statement and bio. All nice, personal touches. 

The book has no introduction and, given his prominence among the current wave of London street photographers, on who his style has exerted a clear influence, perhaps it doesn’t need one. 

Shane (@heroesforsale), Joshua K. Jackson (@joshkjack), Craig Whitehead (@sixstreetunder), Josh Edgoose (@spicy.meatball), Alex Motoc (@alexmotoc), Simon King (@simonking_v), and Nick Turpin (@the_nick_turpin) are photographers who have been documenting London both prior to and during the current times of pandemic and social upheaval. Seeing their work on a longer timeline underscores the value of street photography, that despite the controversy that sometimes surrounds it, and affirms its validity as a genre when viewed through the lens of history. It provides a document of a specific time and place, capturing the vernacular of fashion, architecture, technology and the prevailing social climate. 

Shane’s style has its roots in the history of street photography and within them one sees a blurry line between that history and the present. In various interviews (sources at the bottom of this post) he cites Robert Frank, William Eggleston, Harry Callahan and Larry Fink as influences. The hallmarks of Shane’s style are subtly observed human details, isolated thanks to shallow depth of field that hints at their context and accentuated by a warm, almost autumnal colour grading that lends the images a sense of timelessness (were it not for the smartphones that his subjects sometimes wield). 

Shane is active on Instagram (where he has over 100k followers), doing frequent AMAs and actively talks about his technique, equipment choices and why he’s shooting with a particular camera or lens. He co-hosts Framelines on YouTube where he continues these discussions around equipment and techniques - my favourite segments are the ones where he and his co-host Josh Edgoose strap on GoPros and take us on a point of view journey as they shoot. They intercut raw footage from the streets with the final images they captured at a given moment, while voicing over commentary - it offers real insight into how they work and even yields the occasional celebrity sighting.

He shoots both film and digital - though more of the former recently - and often makes non-traditional choices such as using larger (D)SLRs for street photography - when many photographers prefer more discreet cameras - and longer focal lengths, such as 85mm, whereas wider focal lengths between 28mm - 50mm are  the more typical range of street photographers. It was an interview with Shane that put me onto using 85mm more in my own work.

In that interview with Fujilove Shane discusses this choice, “In following what interested me, I developed a style of intimate street photography. I kept seeking out shots where I could fill the frame with a gesture or expression- rarely shooting full bodies or including much of the environment. That led me to seek out longer focal lengths. I moved from 28mm all the way to 85mm over the period of 2 years. I felt I could never get close enough to people with wide lens, despite sometimes being inches away from them.” 

In this use of longer focal lengths, as with other elements of his style, notably how he uses colour, Shane’s work recalls that of Saul Leiter, who took these techniques even further, using focal length and colour in combination to push his work toward abstraction. 

It’s the second book I’ve reviewed here that opens with an image of a bird. But whereas Bill Brandt’s The English at Home opens with a seagull - the setting could be urban or coastal - in full flight, Fine Airs & Fine Graces opens with that most urban of birds, a scruffy pigeon huddled in a doorway against the cold, shooting the viewer a pissed off look. 

The next two images reveal Shane’s eye for subtle details: the ladder in a pair of tights, breeze that blows through both a restaurant canopy and vent of a man’s suit. 

Many images feature subjects who are aware that they are being or have just been photographed. This is something that Shane talks about and also addresses in the captions of his posts. 

“For me, I like to get inside people’s heads. I’m fascinated by how my camera can capture an expression or gesture of a complete stranger. Someone I’ll never talk to. Whose name or political leanings I’ll never know. My camera leaps over that huge barrier of social bullshit and right into their laps. There it is, recorded, a relatable little moment where I begin to empathise with that person. I feel closer to them, and by extension, closer to humanity.” Shane said, in the same interview in Fujilove.

Fine Airs & Fine Graces is totally accessible and a book I’ll likely return to often. There’s no pretence to the photographs within it. They capture fleeting moments of humanity within an urban setting from which they are slightly abstracted, but which is clearly of their making. Contemplative and sincere, I look forward to seeing how Shane’s work continues to evolve. 

I’ll leave you with this striking image:

More about Shane Taylor

Follow him on Instagram @heroesforsale

Watch his YouTube show Framelines

Read his profile in The Guardian

Interviews with him  in:

• Fujilove
• The Plus
• Positive Photography

Bio

Alex is a street and documentary photographer based in London, whose work frequently features on Unsplash’s editorial feed, which is where we first encountered it and him. 

In particular, we were drawn to an image of a girl doing her makeup at a bus-stop on a weekend night - a quintessentially London image, at once totally familiar but, under the current lockdown imposed circumstances, part of an indistinct past.

That contradiction is a thread which runs through Alex’s work, taking the known and abstracting it into something liminal - you know what it is, and you think you know where it is; but you’re not quite sure.

Whether rendering his photographs with a painterly treatment that recalls Edward Hopper, or isolating the subject in space, his work is both immediate and timeless.

You can follow Alex on Instagram @alexmotoc, check out his work on Unsplash or connect with him on www.alexmotoc.com

Interview

theblowup 

How did you first get into photography?

Alex

I actually hated taking photographs for a really long time and only did it to please my parents who wanted to see the different places I was visiting while at university. 
This can be categorised as a successful marketing operation rather than an inspirational story but I would say that the first advert for the Google Pixel sparked my initial curiosity for photography. Seeing so much praise for the quality of their cameras made me want to jump on the hype train. This was further propelled by my first taste of the big city life in London which was a completely novel experience for me.

theblowup 

Which photographers did and do you draw inspiration from? Who are your photographic heroes?

Alex

Joshua K. Jackson was the first photographer whose art really spoke to me. I remember I could not stop staring at his pictures on the day that I discovered him. Accidentally meeting him in person while out on a photo walk was definitely one of the highlights of my year.

I am also attracted to Craig Whitehead’s style and I follow Shane Taylor’s work quite closely.

theblowup

Beyond photography, where do you draw your inspiration from?

Alex

Cinematography is an important source of inspiration for me even though I don’t see myself shooting video any time soon. I try not to completely lose myself in the plot and pay more attention to the choice of composition for different scenes. It’s also interesting to see the different colour grading choices because they gives me ideas of things to experiment with in my photography.

theblowup

Which genres do you shoot?

Alex

• Street
  
• Documentary
  

theblowup

Street photography is a controversial genre, not in the least because of its increasing ubiquity, which has led to a decrease in its quality. What’s your view about its continued validity as genre?

Alex

The unexpected is what keeps this genre exciting in my opinion. People say that your next best shot may just be around the corner and I agree with that. You never know what you might witness and have to always be prepared to capture the moment. This element of unknown really attracts me.

Documenting the street life is important for historical and not just artistic reasons which is why I do not see it lose its validity any time soon. I suppose the perceived decrease in quality could be attributed to the field becoming more accessible. There are many beginners which are in the early stages of their learning journey and I don’t think they should be discouraged. However, I think that blindly following social media visual trends is not a wise idea.

theblowup

Given how ubiquitous the capture of images - whether from amateurs with smartphones, passivley by security cameras or by photographers using dedicated cameras - what role do you think documentary photography plays today? How do you set your work apart?

Alex

Documentary photography plays an important role in society and this year it was especially interesting due to the unprecedented times we found ourselves in. We will probably never get to see the busiest places on Earth completely empty at noon ever again.

In terms of setting my work apart, my main goals are being able to transfer the viewer into that particular moment in time, evoke certain emotions and make their minds wonder.

I just finished reading The Art of Doing Science and Engineering by Richard W. Hamming and came across this quote: “What you learn from others you can use to follow; what you learn for yourself you can use to lead.” which resonated with me a lot and it’s been on my mind ever since when I consider my creative journey.

theblowup

Which was your first camera?

Alex

Google Pixel 2 XL was the first camera I started using regularly. My first body which I am still currently using is the Canon EOS 200D and my only lens is the nifty fifty. I bought this entry-level combo when I knew nothing about the technical side of photography. 

You definitely don’t need expensive equipment to take good photographs. A valuable piece of advice that I received was to upgrade yourself before your gear.

theblowup

How do you think about photography equipment? For some photographers it’s merely a set of tools, a means to an end. For others, the capabilities of the equipment help define what’s possible. 

Alex

I would place myself in the camp which sees the equipment as a set of tools. It is true some cameras offer better capabilities than others but I do not think that should limit your creativity. 

At the end of the day you have to pick the camera that feels right for you. When I find myself in situations fantasising about gear I always ask this question - “will having that camera now make me take a better photo?”. Pretty much all the time the answer is no. However, I do think it’s important to experiment with different focal lengths and see what works best for the type of photography you want to do. This might help you see the world in a different way.

My aim is to reach the stage where using the camera becomes effortless - I do not have to think about the settings, messing the focus and just concentrate on observing my environment.

theblowup

What’s the main equipment you use today?

Alex

Canon EOS 200D with the 50mm f/1.8.

theblowup

Any recent photography books that you’d like to highlight?

Alex

I am still going through the process of expanding my photography culture and as of now I have only purchased one book which is Josh’s debut monograph called Sleepless in Soho.

theblowup

Lastly, what guidance would you give to people starting out with photography today? 

Alex

Do not be afraid to take bad pictures. They are the most important part of improving yourself. I always try to think why some photos did not come out as I wanted and what I could have done differently in those situations. 

Be selective with what you share - you do not have to post every single picture you’ve taken. Think about looking at someone’s portfolio, one great image creates a completely different impression than 3 mediocre ones.

Alex’s Work