Ian Furniss Photography » Blog Archive » Preconceptions & The Need To Practice

Preconceptions & The Need To Practice

It’s one of the things that’s always bugged me about ‘travel photography’ that for some reason as soon as you mention the two words together, people seem to think no further than Asia or a sun-kissed beach in Barbados. It’s a massive cliche which at the risk of generalising, everyone is guilty of, photographers included. I’m tempted to say that it’s probably human nature to try and fit things into nice comfortable categories but despite this and for any number of reasons, it invariably causes as many problems as it solves.

As someone who has no desire to carve out a photographic career in Asia I come across many disadvantages. Magazines tend to run away at the mention of Europe because it’s too close to home and not exotic enough, and yet i’d reply “how many Brits actually know and understand a culture that’s farther than the local chippy?”. Even other photographers will question ‘how can you be promoting world peace and understanding when you haven’t gone looking for a lost tribe in the Amazon and protested about deforestation?’, and yet, there are problems on our own doorstep that are not only the equal of any, they are equally ignored.

Ok, so that’s my own personal little rant about the world and of course it’s not going to change anything for me having typed it, but at the same time, I do think we need to take a closer look at the way we see things. Now i’m not going to say everyone should think the way that I do, on the contrary i’m going to suggest you should do exactly what you want. If going to any place is what you want to do then I think you should do it. That said, don’t forget what’s on your doorstep.

A lot of photographers starting out, tend to get as blinkered by preconceptions as magazine writers and the general public. ‘Travel photography’ is as I say, my personal pet hate, but the same thing applies for wildlife photography (you can’t be a wildlife photographer if you don’t go to Africa!) landscape photography (you can’t be a landscape photographer if you haven’t got a shot of the Derwent jetty!) or any other genre you can think of. They each have their massive cliches and that’s all they are. Cliches. Cliches which shouldn’t stop you from learning your craft or developing the style you want to develop.

Few things speak of travel so much as the means by which we travel. A train station in Manchester is no different to a train station anywhere else in the world when it comes to actually taking the photograph. For me, Manchester is local, to someone from outside the UK it’s a travel destination.

When it comes to landmarks, Old Trafford & Sir Matt say as much about Manchester as the Petronas Towers say about Kuala Lumpur.

Now it’s ok saying that your local area can be considered ‘Travel photography’, but what if you still have that desire to go to far off countries and take photos of mosques? You can just as easily pop down to your local church and practice there. In the same way that one train station is much like any other when it comes to taking photos, so too is one place of worship much like any other. Obvious cultural and religious differences withstanding, the skills you require are the same and not being able to fly off ten times a year taking the photos you really want, shouldn’t prevent you from practicing and learning.

Paris! I love Paris!! The city of love! Romance! Passion! Ok, we may not be famous for it but we have love in Manchester too. If we didn’t we’d have died out long ago…

Morihei Ueshiba once wrote that “One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art of Peace. Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train.”. A similar thing can be said for photography.. Travel, the landscape, culture and tradition, they are all right where you are standing, and that is the place to train.