FAITH Contest Judges: Quinn Ryan Mattingly
When did you decide to become a photographer?
It was a few years ago I guess. I had been working abroad and traveling a lot for a few years, taking a lot of images. I thought they were getting increasingly better, and I felt my passion developing, and sort of felt it was to be my calling.
How would you define your style of photography?
I'd say it's very observatory and documentary, very real life. I like to watch scenes develop and really try to capture the moments in, hopefully, very powerful ways. I know perhaps it sounds quite cliche, but I guess that what it boils down to.
Who are the most influential photographers in your career?
I'd have to say Nachtwey was one of the first whose images just blew me away with their power. I've also been really into Alex Webb and his use of layers lately. Simply amazing things he can capture. Many other great shooters who I'm sure we all known as well, but also some of my colleagues and friends here in Vietnam, like Kevin German and Justin Mott, I get a lot of inspiration from.
What is your favorite lens?
That's easy, 35.14. It generally never comes off my camera.
Have you given up something to be a photographer?
Sure, I guess most of us freelancers give up some sort of stability, financial or otherwise, in order to pursue this career we desire. I guess I've been lucky in other ways thought, as I've not had to sacrifice anything really important to me to keep doing what I love.
What personal changes and achievements have resulted through the photography you make?
Perhaps this answer is a bit off course, but it's what has first popped into my mind when thinking about the question. It's more about non-personal achievement, but to me, it's still quite relevant.
A few years ago, I did a series of pictures at a large orphanage for disabled children here in Saigon, where I also spent a lot of time volunteering. Looking back now, the pictures aren't especially great I feel, and the project was really more for me than anything, but I put some of the images on my website, and since then, I've had a number of people reach out to me saying they find the images very powerful, and they've been moved to do what they can to help these children. I allowed one woman in Australia to use a number of them for a fund raising event for the children, and they ended up getting over twelve thousand dollars in one night. I was pretty impressed and humbled by that, even though perhaps my part in that was small. I also still get inquiries from people who want to do what they can to help. One even came from a man who spent his first several months of life there before being adopted to the US. My website became a contact point for him for the orphanage, and I've helped him plan a trip back to visit and bring items to help them. When your images can be used to produce positive change in people's lives, I think that's the highest honor photographers can receive.
Do you prefer photographs taken in color or black and white?
Typically, for my own stories at least, I tend to see and work in black and white. I just think they retain a different power that color images, but both of course have their places for different subjects and stories.
What photograph for you is a memorable one?
Apart from my own images, I think perhaps the most powerful image I've seen was from the Haiti earthquake, the man throwing the body of a baby onto a pile at the morgue. That one really stopped my in my tracks the first time I saw it, and still does.
Your best moment as a photographer?
I think that would have to be when I was accepted to, and attended the Eddie Adams Workshop in late 2011. I was an honor just to get in, and the people I met, and the things I learned there, where I think the best thing that could have happened at this point in my career.
And your worst moment? …
I'm sorry, but I'm sure there have been bad times, but I can't recall one right now.
Who should never want to become a professional photographer?
I guess anyone who doesn't have a passion for people, for travel, for storytelling, or anyone who needs the security of a desk and a regular paycheck.
Comments (0)