FIND YOUR VOICE A presentation for photographers who want to go on a deeper journey with their photography rather than just be content on taking pretty pictures A presentation by Ricardo Da Cunha

“The reality is that each and every person is already unique – our job as artists is first to figure out how, and second, how to communicate it.” Brooke Shaden “As photographers we are creative and we bring our own vision to what we see and do. We are not ‘photocopiers’; we are not there to just make a Xerox copy of what we see. I like to think that the photographer can be a ‘part’ of the photograph in the sense that the photographer contributes their own unique vision of the scene.” Steve Coleman “Vision is the beginning and end of photography. It’s the thing that moves you to pick up the camera, and it determines what you look at and what you see when you do. It determines how you shoot and why. Without vision, the photographer perishes.” David DuChemin

FIND YOUR VOICE So what are we talking about? There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to just create pretty record type photographs if it is something that you enjoy. However if you’re wanting to develop a unique style and create unique imagery and generally explore a deeper journey, then this presentation is for you.

FIND YOUR VOICE So what are we talking about? Continued… I feel that in a world today where digital camera technology is quickly removing a lot of the skill required to correctly expose and capture a sharp image, developing a unique vision is now more important than it's ever been. I think to be unique you need to produce images that communicate you and instil you the photographer in them. We are all unique as we have had different experiences which then shape our perceptions, beliefs, etc. and ultimately what define our personality. I think as photographers we need to try and create images to reflect this personality.

FIND YOUR VOICE Self-Awareness – developing a strong sense of self 1 Identifying your core values and using them to identify your underlying vision 2 Style – an automatic outcome when you do the above! 3 What we will talk about Some words on my own journey towards finding my voice 4

Putting it all together Self-Awareness Your Values Your Vision Your Unique Style ===

FIND YOUR VOICE Self-Awareness – developing a strong sense of self “I often hear photographers tell me they don't know if they have a style. I think they're telling me they don't know who they are. Bruce Percy “If you don’t know who you are, then imagining where you can go becomes very difficult” Chris Augeri

FIND YOUR VOICE Self-Awareness – developing a strong sense of self Our photography should reflect who we are. It’s important that we take a step back from our photography to ask ourselves the following questions: > What’s my philosophy on life? This is shaped by your experiences > How am I different from the other people I know? What makes me different? When you have asked yourself these questions and taken the necessary time to answer them, use them to help you understand what few things you value

“My sense of self has become more defined and that in itself has fed back into how I visualise scenes’” Bruce Percy

FIND YOUR VOICE Finding your unique vision A natural progression from taking some time to pause and reflect on who we are and what things we value is to then have more clarity on finding your own vision. This vision should then guide all of the choices that you make in your photography whilst not making you narrow minded and still encouraging you to explore

FIND YOUR VOICE Your unique style Over time if you continue to consider what your values are when creating imagery and having an underlying vision to guide you on your journey, it’s more likely that this body of imagery will have a better cohesive bond, and when viewed as a collection, will communicate a “style” that is yours and unique to you – your “voice”. A style is therefore a by-product of doing the other things!

“Voice is a good word for style because it is calling, showing you the way forward. Knowing your way forward fuels your own sense of vision” David DuChemin

FIND YOUR VOICE Some words on trying to find my own voice Some thoughts on my own journey in trying to find my voice… > I’m someone who likes to keep life simple and try and appreciate the few things that bring me happiness; perhaps this is an outcome of the mild anxiety in which I suffer from. Another outcome of this anxiety is a form of OCD where I like to keep things very clean and symmetrical > I can be a little different to other people as I don’t tend to like to follow the socially accepted norm The person I am told me that I place strong value on simplifying everything I do. I also place strong value on not letting fear inhibit my life and so I do whatever it is that I want to do and so that means being a little different but true to myself. Naturally these values have progressively shaped my choices in my photography.

FIND YOUR VOICE Some Last Words I think it's this self-awareness journey and exploring and communicating it thru our photography that fuels a unique vision and by default without even trying, creates a unique style - your photographic voice so to speak. As human beings we are unique from one another. The key is to then embody and bring this uniqueness to our expressive medium as it will then be what will separate us from everyone else. It’s important not to try and be someone else but yourself.

“The world doesn’t need another Ansel Adams. The world needs you” Author Unknown

FIND YOUR VOICE Set out today to make a photograph that is truly you Credits: Brooke Shaden > Steve Coleman > David DuChemin > Bruce Percy >

Thank you