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Profiled Photographers – Tim Bird

Tim Bird Photography

Pro photographer Tim Bird first got really interested in photography when he arrived in Finland 40 years ago. For Tim, Finland was “a completely clean visual slate where everything was novel and alien.” He says “Finland then felt as close to its eastern neighbour, the Soviet Union, as it did to western Europe. So I started to see things through the 50mm lens of my first film camera, a Russian Zenit, totally manual, built like a little tank, ideal for learning the basics. So I was completely self-taught, except for a few very instructive courses and workshops later on.” But it wasn’t photography that first pulled Tim to Finland…

Originally from the South East of England, Tim moved to Finland to work as an English teacher. But what he really wanted to do was to work as a freelance journalist. He says “I made contact with English language outlets in Finland, including the magazine of the Finnish Tourist Board and the inflight magazine of Finnair, Blue Wings, the latter being my most regular outlet for travel material over the last three decades.”

But rather than just supplying copy, he found that he could accompany his articles with his own pictures, although in his own words “it took him a long time to feel confident enough to call himself a photographer as well as a writer”. Since then Tim has had several coffee table books published and contributed words and photos to dozens of books and magazines. Finland and the Baltic and Nordic regions are his specialities, but he has also had the chance to travel widely on commissions, to Southeast Asia (especially India), right across Europe, Africa, and North, South and Central America.

Tim Bird Photography

Tim, where are you from?

I’m from Southeast Kent in England. I haven’t lived there since I was in my early 20s (I’m now 65) but I visit my family there whenever I can.

Where do you currently live?

I’ve lived in Helsinki, the capital city of Finland, since 1982.

Tim Bird Photography

What genre of photography do you specialise in?

I’m a travel photographer, and that covers portraits, landscapes, wildlife, food, festivals and events!

Describe your style of photography?

Hmmm, I think that’s up to others really! But I realise that I am increasingly following the concept that photography is an art of exclusion, consciously and subconsciously trying to leave out superfluous detail from shots. I love shooting people, including children, and I think it’s a great shame that we can’t do that without attracting suspicion anymore, although I understand the reasoning. I like to make a connection, however fleeting, with the people I shoot, trying to make sure they are not intimidated by the camera. I’m attracted to extremes, in events, in climate and weather, in cultures, but also to extreme calm, and I love the escapism, the thrill and the total immersion of shooting the Northern Lights, for example, or foggy mornings on the river near my Helsinki home.

Tim Bird Photography

What are you working on at the moment?

My ongoing Women of India project, telling stories of women from different Indian regions, cultures and backgrounds, has been interrupted by Covid! But I recently held an exhibition on that theme in Helsinki. I’ve been rediscovering Finland with my camera over the last 18 months, not having been able to leave because of travel restrictions.

What is your next project or assignment?

Things have been very quiet on the commission front, so I’m trying to use the time to do some archiving and to make and maintain contacts for when things – hopefully – return to “normal”. I continue to contribute articles and photos, including ‘slide show’ galleries, to a website called This Is Finland, published by the Finnish Foreign Ministry.

Tim Bird Photography

Are there any photographers whose work/style you admire?

The Indian photographers Raghupir Singh and Raghur Rai; Sebastião Salgado; Steve McCurry; Tiina Itkonen, a Finnish photographer who specialises in Greenland.

What is your favourite memory of your experiences?

The first time I saw the Northern Lights on a frozen lake in Lapland. Jumping around and yelling like kids with a couple of mates, not quite believing that anything so incredible could be possible and not knowing in which direction to point my camera.

What’s the biggest photographic challenge you overcame?

Escaping the crush at dawn on the main bathing day of the Kumbh Mela Hindu festival in Allahabad, India in 2013, when untold millions gathered to bathe in the Ganges. I managed to escape to a pontoon on the river from which I could get a view back towards the banks of the river. Terrifying.

Tim Bird Photography

What’s in your camera bag?

Fujifilm XT3, 18-55 zoom, 55-200 zoom, Zeiss 50mm macro, Samyang 12mm, Sirui travel tripod, ND500 filters, polarising filters, several spare batteries, several spare SD cards.

What photographic equipment would you never leave home without?

Fujifilm X100V.

Tim Bird Photography

What advice you would give anyone who is starting out?

Look at as much photography as you can but follow your own instincts and develop your own ‘voice’. Experiment. Know the rules, break the rules. Get to know your camera. Be bold and persistent if you want to sell or publish your photos. Identify the best competitions and enter them. Don’t give up!

Any pitfalls they should avoid?

Try not to get sucked too deeply into social media! Instagram is a great way to show your photos, but it can become too time-consuming and too much of an end in itself rather than a means of raising your profile – at least, that’s what I think. Be careful about what rights you give away if your pictures are published or entered into awards. It’s not always possible and it’s getting harder, but try to stick to the general principle of getting paid for your work!

Tim Bird Photography

Lastly… if you weren’t a photographer what would you be doing?

Not an option. I’ll always be a writer but I can’t imagine not doing both!

To see more of Tim’s work visit www.timbirdphotography.com.

You can follow Tim on Instagram.

All images by Tim Bird. All rights reserved. No usage anywhere online or in print without permission.

Interview by Kav Dadfar.

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: documentary photography, interview, landscape photography, travel photographer

Profiled Photographers – Jordan Banks

jordan-banks

UK based photographer Jordan Banks has been photographing the world for the last 20 years. His work has seen him shoot assignments, stock photos and work with some of the biggest brands in the world. But for Jordan, it was simply the desire to earn a living whilst travelling the lured him into a career as a travel photographer. He says, “I wanted to travel and needed to make money and I was already into photography so it seemed like the perfect combination”.

Jordan’s photography journey started out in the days of film when in his own words “it was a lot easier to get clients as the market wasn’t so saturated”. His main clients were tourist boards from developing sectors and specialist travel magazines. Along with these, he had a few long term assignments before digital photography took over in Peru and Guatemala. Upon his return to the UK, editorial assignments were dying out and the stock photography market was still strong. So he decided to concentrate on stock and travel related commissions. As the stock industry started to wain he began to focus solely on travel commissions for tourist boards, brands and hotels.

Jordan also runs That Wild Idea, a landscape, travel and documentary photography workshops, tours & training company based in the UK. They include everything from 1-day workshops for beginners up to extended trips to some of the most exotic places in the world.

jordan-banks

Jordan, where are you from?

I was born in Yorkshire and raised in Saudi Arabia. I have also lived in Croatia, Mexico and a host of other places around the world.

Where do you currently live?

I currently live in beautiful Berkshire in a town called Maidenhead.

What genre of photography do you specialise in?

These days I mainly specialise in travel and landscape photography.

jordan-banks

Describe your style of photography?

I would class myself as a documentary photographer that specialises in travel, landscapes and people.

What are you working on at the moment?

I am covering the national parks of the USA for a Cruise America RV as well as running photography tours and workshops with That Wild Idea.

What is your next project or assignment?

My next assignment is in Japan for an editorial client shooting the cherry blossom.

jordan-banks

Are there any photographers whose work/style you admire?

There are so many to chose from. I love the work of James Nachtwey, Gregory Crewdson and Thomas Hoepker. These are just a few of my favourites.

What is your favourite memory of your experiences?

Not sure I would class it as a favourite exactly but at the last Maha Kumbh Mela (2011) festival in India I was lucky enough to meet a much respected Sadhu who I bathed with, in the Ganges. As a result, I earnt his respect and he got me access to areas that no other photographer could get to. These images then got me my first cover for National Geographic.

What’s the biggest photographic challenge you overcame?

Marketing. I think it’s very hard for a creative person to also be good at the daily hustle that is required to make yourself a success in this business. It’s a big part of any business and in this day and age, it is essential.

jordan-banks

What’s in your camera bag?

Nikon D850 and D800 as a backup body with 24-70mm 2.8, 17-35mm 2.8 and 70-400mm f4 lenses. Lee neutral density graduated filters, neutral density filters and a landscape polariser.

I use Manfrotto tripods with ball heads and Low Pro bags. For my drone work, I carry the Mavic Pro. I have just recently added the Nikon Z7 to my bag but haven’t had a chance to use it yet.

What photographic equipment would you never leave home without?

When I go on a shoot I would have all of this equipment with me but if I had to choose it would be the Nikon D850 and 24-70 lens.

What advice you would give anyone who is starting out?

I think the best advice I can give anyone is to practise and be willing to “hustle” for work. Also, don’t believe the hype about anything.

Any pitfalls they should avoid?

Don’t get caught up in the social media game and believing that everyone else is being successful – especially on Instagram.

Lastly… if you weren’t a photographer what would you be doing?

I am a qualified diver so I would probably be a technical diver on oil rigs or something along those lines.

To see more of Jordan’s work visit www.jordanbanksphoto.co.uk or to find out about photography workshops or tours visit www.thatwildidea.co.uk

You can follow Jordan on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter

All images by Jordan Banks. All rights reserved. No usage anywhere online or in print without permission.

Interview by Kav Dadfar.

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: documentary photography, interview, landscape photography, Travel photography

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