Exactly 365 days ago, we reached the Antarctic ice shelf at the opposite end of the world, about 65 degrees south somewhere underneath Australia. The first time I saw land last year was early February, and behind us were nearly 20000 nautical miles travelled during almost 4 months at sea with the crew of the Esperanza. In many ways, it was a wonderful trip which pushed me both professionally and personally - working with a tight bunch of people you can't get away from isn't exactly the same as shooting a portrait, but I got used to the idea pretty quickly and enjoyed the whole experience of working on a Greenpeace ship for four months. It was the first time I'd been at sea for this long, and thoughts were crossing my mind like fireflies: what would we DO all that time, and what could I possibly shoot on an anti-whaling assignment that hadn't already been done before by my excellent colleagues Kate Davison, Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert and various others that went before them.
Well folks, this crew has acquired the scary notion of some sort of parallel family, best friends and confidantes included. In many ways, it felt like a rite of passage, as I've become once again a member of this club of transient people you only meet in weird and wonderful locations around the world. You know who you are.
In equal measure, I am grateful for the more or less steady stream of work that has come in from clients, good and bad. In the end, when all is said and done, it's all good, actually - even bad ones. On those jobs, you learn about your limits: in creative, personal and business terms. It doesn't matter whether you find yourself in some location thinking that this assignment is hopeless, or that you just don't get on with an editor, or that you end up doing far too much work for the fee that has been negotiated - you promise yourself not to do this again, ever; or rather, to do it better next time. These mistakes are lessons of wisdom, and as Al Franken has said, can only be learned the hard way.
Not only on the Antarctic assignment, but virtually on every other bigger project in the past two years, the amount of raw files to digest has grown almost exponentially to the extent that I am now suspecting little gremlins hiding inside my shutter button and pressing it everytime I put the camera down. Where the hell are all these pictures coming from? Honestly people, I am being restrained, always feel like I'm missing too many shots, I don't hose down every scene with a burst of 8 or 15 frames, and still, the pictures just keep coming. It's taken on scary proportions and as I'm old-fashioned, I still back up to CDs...
Cue Britta, my trusty assistant. She's been a friend for many years, a keen learner and a gem to have around my little office. Often I feel sorry for her, slaving away on those tons and tons of data she meticulously backs up every month. Within this year, I want to train her further and leave her in charge of the 'office' part of my job until she becomes the undisputed boss in this hectic outfit. She's multi-lingual, versatile, conscientious and like me, an obsessive about detail - say hello to her, it doesn't hurt: britta@jirirezac.com (and she won't correct your spelling mistakes, promise).
Not only on the Antarctic assignment, but virtually on every other bigger project in the past two years, the amount of raw files to digest has grown almost exponentially to the extent that I am now suspecting little gremlins hiding inside my shutter button and pressing it everytime I put the camera down. Where the hell are all these pictures coming from? Honestly people, I am being restrained, always feel like I'm missing too many shots, I don't hose down every scene with a burst of 8 or 15 frames, and still, the pictures just keep coming. It's taken on scary proportions and as I'm old-fashioned, I still back up to CDs...
Cue Britta, my trusty assistant. She's been a friend for many years, a keen learner and a gem to have around my little office. Often I feel sorry for her, slaving away on those tons and tons of data she meticulously backs up every month. Within this year, I want to train her further and leave her in charge of the 'office' part of my job until she becomes the undisputed boss in this hectic outfit. She's multi-lingual, versatile, conscientious and like me, an obsessive about detail - say hello to her, it doesn't hurt: britta@jirirezac.com (and she won't correct your spelling mistakes, promise).However, she did correct some of my submissions during the recent contest mania: Christ, who can keep up with all the awards, prizes and photo contests that are springing up like mushrooms after rainfall? Guess what: she did, and helped me (read: kicked my ass) to get at least some of the submissions done to deadline.
During the past year, some of my work has received recognition by way of awards, honourable mentions and display in several exhibitions: ironically, European Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition and book, Czech Press Photo in Prague, Room for Justice in Brussels and now Antwerpen, and later in the year in Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Paris and London.
On a completely unrelated subject, we are aiming to publish my first book this year. All I want to reveal at this stage is that it is - for obvious reasons - a personal project - and that it will be very different from the usual coffee-table style of photo books. More anon.
If you haven't already fallen asleep, tuned out or otherwise died of boredom from this monster post - I wish all of you a happy 2009, let it be creative, funky and full of surprises.
During the past year, some of my work has received recognition by way of awards, honourable mentions and display in several exhibitions: ironically, European Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition and book, Czech Press Photo in Prague, Room for Justice in Brussels and now Antwerpen, and later in the year in Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Paris and London.
On a completely unrelated subject, we are aiming to publish my first book this year. All I want to reveal at this stage is that it is - for obvious reasons - a personal project - and that it will be very different from the usual coffee-table style of photo books. More anon.
If you haven't already fallen asleep, tuned out or otherwise died of boredom from this monster post - I wish all of you a happy 2009, let it be creative, funky and full of surprises.
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