He’s a Londoner, a former lawyer and has one big passion: photography. It took some year’s for Antony (Antonyz) to put down his briefcase and go all in in pursuing his passion, but now he is living the life of his dreams. Instead of being in London the majority of time, he instead enjoys traveling and exploring the wonders of the world. He was brought up in a family where it was important to look at life in an artistic way. This have inspired his photography - it’s also how he want’s his viewers to look at his photos. The image is not only the sum of different parts, a documentary representation of a view, instead it’s something more than that. Something where the elements of the image float together, creating something new - something more than just the subject itself.
Can you tell us about yourself and your background?
I was born in London, England and trained and practiced as a lawyer in the UK for a number of years until I took the leap to become a full time photographer. I love to travel and shoot nature and architecture so I have tried to combine all of these passions in the past living in Australia, NYC and more recently South Florida. Now I continue to develop my photographic styles, recently shooting my first wedding in the Channel Islands and to expand upon my existing commercial work.
When did you first think about becoming a photographer?
I have always loved photography from a very early age – My father teaching me to create images with his Roliflex and then being in the darkroom watching the magic of these images appear before my eyes. I found that when escaping from the office I always had a camera with me and spent almost all of my free time creating images - going on holiday destinations just to take photographs. It just clicked one day returning to London from visiting my girlfriend in NYC that I had been avoiding pursuing my passion when it had been in front of me all the time.
Where do you get your photographic inspiration from?
There are so many amazing photographers that provide inspiration all around – our visual digital age surrounds us with so much fantastic imagery. Like most of us, I probably spend a little too much time online, but I also love to travel get out into nature and the cities and experience the world as much as possible. Our eyes allow us this amazing ability to process so much imagery on a daily basis!
Do you have any influencers?
My parents are both musicians and their continued creativity has been a giant inspiration to me and provided me with the mindset to always make sure to look at life in an artistic way. Photographic inspiration comes from the work of Karl Taylor. It is clean, sophisticated and visually captivating and he makes all his images look so simple and straightforward that it is inspiring to me. Antony Spencer’s work is also magnificent – a dreamlike quality in his captures that show both his technical skill and post-production abilities are some of the best out there.
What is your favorite subject to shoot?
I know many photographers want to categorize themselves as a dedicated portrait, sports or wedding photographer. I personally loving creating images that I think will captivate the viewer and make them think about the story behind the image. However if pressed for a favorite I think it is architecture. I love being able add my interpretation on elements of human creativity that many don’t stop to think about or appreciate. People jump on the subway to workplace on a daily basis without stopping to think about the aesthetic beauty inside as they are looking with a closed mind. I saw this often in NYC where you could see the locals ignoring the beauty and distractions of the architecture that surrounds them and the visitors walking around at a quarter of the pace and with their eyes literally spinning in all directions!
What is your favorite gear to shoot with?
I always shoot Canon – purely because of the comfort and familiarity with the controls – it is what I learnt on. I have been shooting full frame with a Canon 5D Mark III and still years on can’t get my head around the improvement of the image quality when you move from crop sensor to full frame – incredible!
When you go in one of your travels, what do you take with you? Why?
Spare batteries and cards are a must for obvious reasons. Plastic bags for sporadic rain showers have proved invaluable too. I have recently been in South Florida and the change in temperature from cold air-conditioning to hot humidity can wreak havoc on camera gear so bags of silica crystals can help absorb the extra moisture. The final vital piece of gear is a tripod. I know so many people hate carrying one but it is worth investing in a sturdy lightweight carbon-fiber version so that it doesn’t become such a chore to bring with you on every shoot. It only took one instance to return back and feel the disappointment when seeing a few un-sharp low light shots that I knew I could not replicate, that my mind was made up!
How do you educate yourself to take better pictures?
I am always trying to improve and love pouring over the work of others online or in print – trying to figure out how to achieve a certain result. There is a wealth of information on the internet but I think that as digital technology allows us with the almost limitless freedom to try and see instantaneous results – trial and error and above all – practice!
What it is you want to say with your photographs?
Two photographers can sit side by side and capture the same image at the same scene and yet they can end up completely different images. I want the viewer to see my interpretation of a scene that is made up of my artistic vision and creation – what I was thinking and feeling at the time is captured in the image throughout the process of composition, pressing the shutter and post-processing the image.
How do you actually get your photographs to do that?
I think that basic technique is of course essential – exposure, depth of field and focus are all integral for a solid base from which to work. I find that shooting RAW provides me with an additional foundation from which to build – that is where I can add some extra personalization to interpretation of the scene. I want my photographs to be more than just the sum of the parts – not just a simple documentary representation of a view but not a fabrication either. I hope to get viewer to linger on the image a little longer than they realize, looking at the elements and seeing more than just the subject itself. I am constantly learning and trying out a lot of different postproduction techniques, trying to direct viewers’ eyes to the key elements or specific areas within my photographs. I am especially focusing on playing with contrast and with light and darks to try to achieve this.
B&W or color, what do you prefer and why?
Definitely both – as certain scenes need to natural colors to shine through whereas in others, the colors can distract the viewer from what it is you want them to focus on. I love architecture and think that these work particularly well in black and white – breaking down the images to basic geometry – lines and designs in shades of grey add something to the image - a simplicity that color just cannot.
Want to see more of Antony's photos, visit his profile, website and Facebook.
