Monthly Archives: April 2010
Traditional branding
Finally I’m going to start making my pictures work for me. My library is bulging and not only has it been like a mini trip down the proverbial memory lane, I have also managed to produce some rather fantastic designs…even if I do say so myself!
This sample here is comprised of a bundle of branding irons that I found in a disused building at Estancia Los Potreros in Argentina; I knew they were there, and one afternoon with not much else to do, I raced over when the light began to turn golden, and sat and snapped these incredible objects. Spot the “2B”, which is the Estancia’s own brand – still used every March in an incredibly raw and traditional branding event, as demonstrated below. Ouch.
The importance of a mentor
Strutting through Victoria Rail Station (always running a few minutes behind, I find this improves the length of my strut and enhances my gait), I suddenly spy my own personal paparazzi peeping out from behind a column. A grin spreads across my face and I giggle like a school child. Hello Michael! Michael is one of my idols and it’s been about 18 months since we last met. Michael is a world-renowned tennis photographer, family friend, ally…he is also responsible for some of the original Marlboro campaigns. Common ground for us…horses…cowboys….cameras. Yee ha.
Michael’s spirit and wit have helped to nurture my photographic needs as I travel the globe taking pictures; it is he who ticks me off when I forget to clean my sensor; it is he who turns my pictures inside out and upside down and spots things that I just didn’t see. It is virtually impossible to remain objective about one’s own work when so many emotions are involved in the process. The subject matter, the lighting, the mood, the weather, the occasion, the music… the sheer romance behind and around each photograph you create can easily blur the ability to look critically at it.
Patisserie Valerie, gooey cakes and milkshakes; big armchairs, portfolios and the clocks stopped. We wipe our sticky paws and proceed to sit and pore over my ever-increasing volumes of equine-inspired pictures and I thank heaven for people like Michael. The highlight of our rendezvous had to be the image below. Horse? Calf? Camel? Llama? This intriguing little chap was hiding in amongst a herd of beautiful Andalusians and he really wanted my attention. HORSE, Michael, it’s a HORSE!
