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Pro-photographer Ben McKechnie’s introduction to photography came when he received a camera as a birthday present when he was a child. He started taking it everywhere he went on family holidays in France and Italy. But despite the early start with cameras, before becoming a photographer, he was a writer. In fact, he didn’t truly start taking photography seriously until 12 years ago when he was 23. He says “I’d decided when I was a teenager that I was going to be a journalist. I was involved with my secondary school and university’s student newspapers and then had my own full-page entertainment column in every Friday edition of a regional newspaper for a year after graduating.”

Twelve years ago, he bought what he describes as his first “proper” camera (a Sony A350 DSLR) in Seoul, South Korea before switching to Canon a couple of years later. Ben taught himself photography on numerous backpacking trips around Asia for about 5 years. Then, in 2014 he enrolled with MatadorU—the American travel platform Matador Network’s old travel photography, writing, and film-making education platform. Over 2 years he did their Fundamentals and Advanced Travel Photography courses, mentored by Canadian professional photographer Kate Siobhan Mulligan. He says “She and the courses really inspired me, taught me a great deal, and set me on the right path. In particular, I learned how to communicate with and pitch to editors as well as how to develop my brand. From there, I got my first BBC photo essay published and everything took off from there”.

Ben, where are you from?

I’m from Salisbury in the south of England.

Where do you currently live?

I recently moved to Tbilisi, Georgia.

What genre of photography do you specialise in?

I specialise in travel, portrait, and documentary photography.

Describe your style of photography?

Although I’ve worked on photojournalism assignments for BBC Travel, the photojournalism style is not my natural setting when I’m travelling—I can turn it on and off when required. Recently, Up & Coming Art described me as a ‘fine-art travel photographer’, which I hadn’t considered before but I have grown quite comfortable with the title since. My photography focuses on fleeting moments of human interaction, unfamiliar cultural customs, and remote landscapes because those are the things that interest me. I’m endlessly moved when I sit and watch the ebb and flow of daily life around the world and try to create works that reflect this. I take intimate portraits and place great weight on the initial interaction with my subjects—getting people to open up and warm to me first is part of the challenge. My photos are a reflection of how I travel the world; I do not pay people to pose for me and I shun staged scenes – I always strive for authenticity and I hope that it shows.

What are you working on at the moment?

Settling into life in my new apartment in Tbilisi and getting back on top of everything as the vaccinated ‘new normal’ begins.

What is your next project or assignment?

I’ll be documenting Georgian culture and landscapes and aiming to publish photo essays and written pieces about the South Caucasus region and beyond. I’m also teaching myself video editing and I’m planning to buy a drone since there are no regulations on their use here.

Are there any photographers whose work/style you admire?

My favourite Instagram account that I’m currently following is probably that of Indian street photographer Vineet Vohra—he is endlessly creative, surprising and playful, and it’s fantastic to see India through the eyes of a talented local photographer. I admire the work of GMB Akash, David Guttenfelder, Simon Urwin, Gil Kreslavsky, and Taylor Weidman, among many others.

What is your favourite memory of your experiences?

In Taiwan in 2018, I walked the first half (5 of 10 days) of the Dajia Mazu, the world’s third-largest religious pilgrimage. The full 10 days is a 340-kilometre hike along roads, stopping at hundreds of Taoist temples along the way, all while following a wooden statue of the Goddess Mazu carried in a palanquin (wooden box on poles) by four men. You sleep in temples, in parks, or at the side of the road, and 24/7 there are nonstop fireworks, firecrackers, fascinating scenes, interactions with interesting characters, and incredible photo opportunities. At the start, I thought the long hike would be good for me, but by the end of my last day I felt 10 years older because of the lack of sleep and smoke inhalation – but it is unbelievably worth it if you’re into intense cultural experiences that haven’t changed much in hundreds of years.

What’s the biggest photographic challenge you overcame?

When I was working in Manipur in Northeast India for the BBC, I had to photograph some powerful women who were the bosses of a famous market as well as leaders of large-scale political protests in the region. They were very unfamiliar with both foreigners and being photographed. They gave me a day to conduct interviews and another day for photography, where we walked around the market together and I could shoot away. Whenever they noticed me raising my camera towards them in what I wanted to be a candid moment, they would either flash a cheesy grin, flick me the peace sign, or look like rabbits in headlights. Therefore, I had to be stealthy, see the shot in my mind, and raise my camera up to take the shot within a second and back down again before they noticed. It was a lot of fun actually.

What’s in your camera bag?

What’s in your camera bag? A Canon 5D Mark IV. A Canon 25–105 mm f/4 L series lens. A Sigma Art f/1.4 35mm lens. That’s it. I’m a gear minimalist.

What photographic equipment would you never leave home without?

My sling camera strap—it’s a game-changer.

What advice you would give anyone who is starting out?

Study the basics of composition and exposure and be patient. You’ll probably take quite a lot of bad photos to start with, perhaps for a few years. If a more experienced photographer or one that you admire offers you constructive criticism, then accept it graciously and learn all that you can from them.

Any pitfalls they should avoid?

Avoid oversaturating images, especially oranges and blues. Find an experienced mentor rather than allowing your ego to grow from unabashed praise from thousands of fellow amateurs on photography websites – the mentor’s advice and critique will be many times more valuable to your development and growth.

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

My other line of work is academic proofreading. I edit articles for international academic journals as well as PhD students’ dissertations. I don’t just travel for work – if I wasn’t a photographer, I’d still be travelling and exploring far and wide.

To see more of Ben’s work visit www.benmckechnie.com or follow Ben on Instagram or Twitter.

Interview by Kav Dadfar.

Being a photographer these days is pretty hard work. Not only the level of competition but also being able to cancel out the noise to stay true to yourself and your style. That’s before even trying to keep up with trends, new gadgets and technology launches. Whether you are a pro or amateur, things seem to move at the speed of light. But there are also a lot of myths out there. Things that seem to have become “the right thing” which are simply not the case. So here are 4 realities to be aware of as a photographer.

Don’t believe the social media hype

It seems like to be anybody these days you have to have a high profile social media presence. You need thousands and thousands of followers and people liking and commenting on your posts. Why is it that we have become so obsessed with this phenomenon? Well, it’s partly due to this myth that having a lot of followers leads to more work. That simply is not the case.

I know of a famous photographer on Instagram who has millions of followers. Yet for some strange reason, he still has the need to advertise his products like ebooks on a regular basis. You might argue that he is simply trying to increase his sales. But if what we are led to believe is true about platforms like Instagram, they are there to connect you to your customers or followers. So if you have a million people following you that should, in theory, mean you have a million customers.

But the reality is that is not true. Only a small number of those followers are really engaged with you and your photography. So don’t believe the social media hype of others and don’t get yourself down about why don’t have more “likes”. It is far more valuable to have a few people who are genuinely passionate about your work than thousands who are not.

Free work leads to paid work

This is more for those who are wanting to earn money from their photography but still valid to anyone with a camera. One downside of digital photography and especially social media, has been the rapid growth of free work. Often clients will use the carrot of “you’ll be credited for your work”. Most photographers who agree to work for free do so with the belief that it will lead to paid work in the future. But from my years of experience and other photographers who I have spoken to, that rarely happens.

Think about it. If a client can get away with not having to pay for work, why should they do so at a later date? They will just believe that they can get free work next time. Unfortunately often it is the big companies who can afford to pay for photos who are the worst offenders. Because they know people want to be associated with their brand. If not you, then another photographer.

Now I’m not naive enough to think that this will stop anytime soon. Or that there is never any value in doing work for less than it might be worth. But you will often find that if a client likes your work enough they would be able to find the budget to pay for it. Even if it’s less than you normally charge try to get something for the work. Because ultimately the more “free work” that is done by photographers, the more difficult it will become for you and the whole industry in the future.

If you have great photos, you will get work

Having great images doesn’t automatically get you work from clients. Of course, it will certainly be necessary to have great work to impress clients, but that alone will not work. These days to be a successful photographer you also need to be a good marketer. But that goes beyond just sending a few emails out to clients. You need to think about everything from SEO to even advertising. There are so many different avenues available that by not exploring them you will be missing out.

You will have to actively go out and look for clients and pitch them ideas to get work. Very rarely will you find people just coming to you if you are just sitting around posting the odd picture here and there on social media. So, a solid portfolio of work is a good basis, but for success, you need so much more these days.

Don’t say “yes” to every job

There’s no doubt about it that in the current era, you need to have more bows to string than just specializing in one thing. For example, many photographers might also be videographers or writers. More and more clients these days want the complete package rather than just one element. So if you have the skills to do other things make sure you shout about it.

But this also means that you shouldn’t agree to do jobs or projects that you don’t have the skills for. Because the damage that can be done to your relationship with a client for a poor job is far worst than explaining to them that what they need isn’t what you can offer. Not only will they respect you more, but they are far likelier to then consider using your services when the right opportunity comes along.

This might all seem daunting. It isn’t supposed to be. Rather it is there to hopefully guide you in being able to create a successful photography business. There will bumps along the way and at times you will make mistakes that you will learn from. You will also probably discover some more harsh realities about being a photographer. But with the right attitude and knowing some of the above you will have a better outlook for the future.

Profiled Photographers – Ben McKechnie

4 Realities To Be Aware Of As A Photographer

Don’t believe the social media hype

Free work leads to paid work

If you have great photos, you will get work

Don’t say “yes” to every job

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