Humphrey Spender, by Danny Chau:
How DPNow Pictures of the Day are selected Photographer, professional fine art photo printer and colour management guru,
Danny Chau is an old friend of myself and DPNow, but his selection for Picture of the Day is entirely on merit. The subject is Humphrey Spender, the celebrated photographer and proponent of the
Mass Observation movement, who died in 2005, aged 95.
As a photograph, Danny's picture is fresh and crisp and records a moment in time, in Spender's study, that is rather timeless. It's a candid and relaxed picture, with the late afternoon sunshine adding a certain dimension to the shot.
Danny was lucky enough to number Spender as one of his own friends. Danny explains: "This particular photo is the late Humphrey Spender, a photographer and a painter, my friend, customer and my model. He worked to the day he died and throughout the entire 25 or so years of knowing him, never in my mind did I feel that he was an old man. He had such a young mind and approach in life, like most of us, only our body lets us down. I like his view in life and work ethic, he enjoyed being creative and loves work, that is how he managed to keep his youth and he passed away at the age of 95."
|
Humphrey Spender, by Danny Chau:
|
 |
Click on the picture to see a larger view in Tim's gallery.
(Free forum/gallery registration required)
|
"This photo was taken in his studio home," adds Danny. "The picture he was signing was one of the very first digital prints I made for him. It was printed on the first Epson 9000 printer on normal Somerset watercolour paper. I believe this photo was taken around 1996/7 using a Konica Hexar RF camera with 28mm lens and Fuji S100 film."
Danny was born in Hong Kong but came to England as a child and settled in Sunderland. His family are the only Chinese people I know that speak with Geordie accents! Danny says: "I have been taking pictures since I was 13 and later thought that it would be my profession. I only realised after 5-6 years being pro that I was an amateur at heart. I wanted to enjoy photography rather than make money out of it.
"My main passion is to photograph anything and everything that was meaningful to me at the time. As I look back at my whole collection of work, I thank myself that I have recorded the image or the event. As our memory is short, it is almost impossible for most of us to remember in detail. Photography has given me a camera as a tool to help me to do just that. I'm a very sentimental person, I like to re-live moments of the past, a kind of time travel, down the memory lane whenever I feel the fancy.
"I am not fussed of the style, as one can see I don't stick with just one feel or style as I move as my mind's eye changes,. It's the same with the look and the way I shoot, as we are all very much transient throughout our whole life, the image is simply a reflection of it."
Check out Danny's other pictures in his
gallery here on DPNow. Do you have an interesting story to tell about a special photo of yours? DPNow POTDs are selected exclusively from photos uploaded to the
DPNow photo gallery. If you haven't already done so, why not
register for free access to both the
DPNow discussion forum and
photo gallery and show some of your own photos? A POTD could be one of yours one day!
One of the most enthusiastic and involved photographers on DPNow is
Pol, aka 'Polly'. Her
gallery is another cornucopia of styles and subjects - versatility is her middle name! A while back an entire discussion took place surrounding some experimentation with photographing wisps of smoke. Some beautiful effects can be achieved, as well as a wide variety of results through imaginative lighting.
DPNow POTDs are selected exclusively from photos uploaded to the DPNow photo gallery. If you haven't already done so, why not
register for free access to both the
DPNow discussion forum and
photo gallery and show some of your own photos? A POTD could be one of yours one day!
Reader feedback:
Discuss this story (forum registration required)
