Q: What equipment did you shoot your reportage on Syria with?

A: I used a Leica M9 and Summicron-M 35 mm f/2 ASPH. to shoot the series.

Q: What characteristics of this camera and lens combination made it suitable for your work?

A: The great thing about the Leica M-System is its small size and the reliability of the body and lenses. You can work far more undisturbed than with a big pro DSLR body and lens. With the M-System, often people do not notice you or they get used to the camera really fast. So its non-disturbance makes it a big asset in conflict zones. Also, the manual focus forces you to concentrate far more on the image process itself. You keep your eyes more on composing the photo than you would with a DSLR.

Q: How did you first become interested in Leica?

A: I’ve been interested in Leica since I began photographing. It always had this mythology around it and was connected with some great photographers. For a long time, I didn’t have the money to buy one, but I watched how the brand developed and dreamed of owning one.

Q: You studied ethnology before turning to photography. Do you feel studying ethnology has helped you as a photographer in any way?

A: Yes, for sure ethnology helped a lot for my later photography work. It opens your mind (and eyes) to cultural differences and similarities. It teaches you to look behind the culture and find the real meanings inside the society. It also gave me the possibility to better approach people from different cultures and try to understand their way of living without prejudices. And last but not least, it taught me to carefully prepare for any travel to another country, e.g. reading and researching the language, culture and history. Because without such background information it is almost impossible to understand the different aspects of another country.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your training or education in photography, formal or otherwise?

A: Yes, I learned photography the traditional way. I paused during my ethnology study for two years and went to Nuremberg where I learned photography at the Thomas Hierl GmbH. They worked mainly in the area of industrial and advertisement photography. In addition to learning all about Photoshop and editing, as well as the then high-end large format digital backs, I also learned how to develop black-and-white as well as slide film, from the normal SLR size negatives to the large format cameras. So it was quite a thorough education, as I wanted to know the full spectrum of photographic work before becoming a freelance photographer.

Q: When did photography first interest you? When did you know you wanted to become a full-time photographer?

A: I started getting into photography and journalism quite early. I worked for the school newspaper, writing articles and occasionally taking photos. It was quite clear for me that someday I wanted to do something in the area of journalism, but it was not yet clear if it would be photojournalism or plain journalism. I think around the age of 20 I decided to focus on photojournalism, though I studied ethnology to get a broader look at culture before going into photojournalism itself.

Q: Are there any photographers you look toward for inspiration or who stand out to you?

A: There are quite a few, but I think two photographers stand out especially. First, there’s Sebastião Salgado. His work corresponds a lot with my view on ethnology and photography. Secondly, the war photographer Stanley Greene stands out with his amazing work all over the world and especially his book “Black Passport.” Those two photographers reflect the two different approaches of my own work quite well.

Q: How would you describe your photographic approach in shooting this Syria reportage?

A: It was clear for me that I did not want to take the traditional front-line images with a lot of blood. I often think that these kind of images – as important they are to rally support for a cause – can’t explain a conflict. So I often try to focus on the people in the background, the civilians or the daily life of fighters involved in conflicts like Syria. I took a lot of more static images that try to freeze an expression in a face or a mood surrounding the persons or the places I visited.

Q: What was the inspiration behind the idea to do this series? Was there a certain idea or reason behind it?

A: As I started focusing on East Syria in July 2012 with my first travels into the Kurdish areas of Syria, I thought the war was under-reported by the media. It was and is difficult to get to places like Deir Ezzor and then in 2012 it was hard to gain access in the Kurdish areas. In East Syria a lot of the fault lines of the current conflict come together, like ethnic and religious diversion, the question of oil and gas resources and how the new Syria will be shaped.

Q: What was your ultimate goal, or what did you hope to achieve, with shooting these images?

A: As mentioned above, my main goal was to shed light on the conflict in East Syria, and therefore try to explain the conflict and its different layers more thoroughly than it would be possible by only visiting areas around Aleppo.

Q: Did you want the viewer to have a specific reaction to these photos?

A: I think if the reader would start, after seeing my photos, to get more interested and involved in the Syrian issue, then I have achieved my goal. With these kind of photos, I try to push the viewer into a different position where they reflect on the people in the conflict and can thereby find similarities between themselves and the Syrian people. I hope that I can explain the conflict better due to these kinds of photos and therefore encourage the viewer to start doing some research on his or her own about the history, culture and society of Syria in-depth. Without such knowledge, a complex conflict like in Syria cannot be really understood.

Q: Do you have a favorite photograph from this reportage? If yes, can you explain why it is your favorite?

A: I think my favorite photograph is the mourning of the death of Chalid, from one of the Free Syrian Army Katibas (“brigade”) we followed in Ras al-Ayn, as well as other parts of Hasaka province. It is a very personal image, as just some hours before he was killed we went on a ride together to some liberated villages, visiting a flour mill and a sheep market. Chalid was funny, calm and we had a really great time. At noon they drove out for a battle near Hasaka City (due to concerns of the radical Islamist group al-Nusra we where not allowed to accompany them). Then in the afternoon they came back and Chalid was dead. He was killed by Syrian pro-regime forces, the so-called Shabiha, from a close distance. Life and death are so close inside Syria and I tried to show that in the image. The lifeless body of Chalid, layed out in the sleeping quarters of the Katiba, and a close friend and comrade of his sitting next to him, in shock – as he still can’t believe that after so many months fighting side-by-side his best friend got killed that suddenly.

Q: What are some of the challenges you face as a photographer in a war-torn area?

A: There are numerous issues that can be challenging. On the one hand, getting access to the different parts of conflict-ridden countries is often hard. Then you need to keep a low profile during your travels. Nowadays journalists are seen as high profile targets by the Syrian regime, for instance, and also by some radical Islamist groups or by generic criminals who want to extort money. Today it is almost impossible to switch sides in a conflict to get the whole story, so you are often limited to one side of the conflict. The security itself is always a problem. On the other hand, you have also have to make ethical decisions. Should I take a photo during a funeral of the mourning mother from close up? How far can I go without insulting people with my photographic behavior? And where are the ethical stop signs when you should stop taking photos?

Q: Photographers often go into combat zones or on humanitarian missions and show what is happening to the people involved. Do you think photography can change the world? Can it make a difference in the subjects’ lives?

A: I think it would be naïve to hope that one single image can change the outcome of a war, especially nowadays when the people are flooded with thousands of images on a daily basis. But it can help to rally humanitarian support or bringing special cases, like war crimes, to the attention of the readers. I think photography is still the better medium to reflect on conflicts due to its stillness. A TV report is often just too fast for a real study of the conflict. A still photo forces you to get more involved with the topic shown, study the image more carefully. Though, there should always be a good caption with the photo to help explain the image. If I can help a few people with my work, if I can change the opinion of some viewers and force them to act due to the images seen — and if, through my images, I can give people in conflict zones a voice that would otherwise go unheard — then I am already happy.

Q: Any other upcoming projects you’d like to share?

A: I will continue with my Kurdistan project. In the end, I want to cover all countries in the Middle East where Kurdish people live and produce a book out of it. Additionally, I want to focus more on the economic crisis and what happens here in Germany, like the rising number of homeless people as well as the poverty issue. For sure I will return to Syria to cover the war there again.

Q: How do you see your photography evolving over, say, the next three to five years?

A: Hopefully my style will evolve even more and help to transport the message better. Also, I want to incorporate more multimedia features, like sound and video, into complex multimedia slideshows to give a better multidimensional approach toward different topics.

Thank you for your time, Benjamin!

- Leica Internet Team

Please find Benjamin’s full reportage in LFI 4/2013. Also available for the iPad. Find a reading sample here. To connect with Benjamin, visit his Facebook page and website.

Here is next installation of BACK TO KYRGYZSTAN: A Photographic Journey With Jean Gaumy.

- Leica Internet Team

 - Michael Agel

for more information on Jamie Cullum, visit his website. See more of Michael’s work here.

Q: As a recovering addict you have a special empathy and sympathy for the people you’ve photographed. Can you say something about that? Was it part of your motivation in covering this population?

A: I believe we are all just one step away from being there. Whether people are over extended financially, the economy is in the toilet and then maybe you get fired and you add addiction and divorce to that. Many of us are really not that far away from that. The people I talked to on the streets tell me they had a job and they got fired and had no savings and no one trusted them so they spend their first night in the park and they’re still here. As a recovering addict part of that relates to me. I think that could be me or some of my friends in recovery. Part of me is attracted to that.

Q: The picture here of a guy with his eyes closed, holding something in his right hand that looks like a hypodermic syringe … he looks out of it, a desperado, yet there’s a human dignity to this picture. It’s amazing that you can take a very straightforward image and go two very different ways at once.

A: He was alone in an alley. We started talking. I noticed the needle in his hand so I asked him if he just got high and said he had. He said he had been out there for eight years, but he and his girlfriend just inherited $19,000. She was sleeping under a bridge a couple miles from there and they were trying to figure out what to do with the money. He just closed his eyes and opened his mouth like he could see it. He is not in pain. He is high and not going through withdrawal. But honestly I don’t think he was telling the truth. He was wishing that it were true. Part of me wanted to call this photo “the prayer.”

Q: It has that quality to it. You could almost imagine the guy saying the Serenity Prayer.

A: Isn’t that a beautiful thought? There is a side of me and I’ve always believed that part of my passion as a photographer is to capture the moment and bring awareness. However, that it is not my job to tell people how to feel about it. But there is a struggle because I’m a writer. A lot of times on my Tumblr site, I tell people the story and paint a picture. That is a natural instinct for me but I don’t really want to tell anybody what to do with it. I wish there was more compassion on this planet and coming from a guy in a heavy metal band, that sounds almost as laughable as Miss Universe saying, “I want to save the world.”

Q: A lot folks have done this kind of photography before. What do you think it is that you have to bring to this subject?

A: I can’t really answer that, but it might be the wrong question. When my band started, a record company told me what we were doing has already been done in the ‘70s. Great bands like The New York Dolls and Aerosmith and Queen. And I loved those bands. They asked why we were going to do it again. I said it was because I loved it. And I can’t do something I don’t love. For me as a photographer, I have to shoot what I love and what moves me, and what moves me changes. When I finished shooting the beautiful people in my book “This Is Gonna Hurt”, I really felt I had exhausted myself. When I do anything, I take it to the point of exhaustion. Then I just show it to people. I don’t have an outcome for this. I don’t plan on doing a book or a gallery showing. I’m using the camera to show what is going on and bring some awareness. I would like to be able to document more than just addiction. I would love to do some strict photojournalistic photography and be assigned a project. That is a goal for me. A friend of mine laughed and asked why I took the pay cut. I would do it for free. It’s not about the money. It’s about the passion.

Q: You don’t have to justify these pictures. These pictures are different and convey a different time, place, and consciousness than other images of addicts shot decades ago. But how are people going to get the message if you don’t publish these photos?

A: Right. Well, I try not to think that far in advance. I’m in Canada because Mötley Crüe is on tour from the West Coast to the East Coast. And I want to get out and photograph people. At the end I will have hundreds and hundreds of photos and boil them down to my favorite 30. What I do at that point I don’t know. I’ve never had a gallery showing. When I first starting shooting, I wasn’t very good at documenting stuff. Something I have to learn as a photographer is how to create collections so that I can have a collection for this website or magazine or ten prints in a gallery. It is my weakness.

Q: You seem to have some kind of internal conflict. There have been cases where words and pictures go together to form a more perfect union. Some art photographers think words ruin the picture by directing someone’s attention. Is that your conflict?

A: If I go back to those report cards, what I excelled at was art and music. Like I mentioned earlier, I did a book that came out last year called “This Is Gonna Hurt” and it’s mostly studio photography. I shot a lot of people that society wouldn’t deem beautiful. It falls in line with Diane Arbus and Joel-Peter Witkin and I’m sure there was pain and push from their photography. But also as a kid who was bullied growing up in the ’70s and being told I was a fag and a freak and a loser, all these messages were coming at me. I just wanted to look different and make music. I didn’t even know what bullying was. I just knew it made me draw into myself more and express myself in more artistic ways. That’s what I did with my book — I took photos and talked about social issues and personal issues and let people tell their stories. I intertwined it with my stories. It’s pretty wide open in that book.

I do everything from street photography to lifestyle photography to studio photography. But what happened was that thousands of people showed up to book signings with tears in their eyes. Young kids were coming in and thanking me because the book gave them strength. I have another band called Sixx:A.M. We created an album that was a soundtrack that corresponded to what the photography and words conveyed. We had a number one hit called “Lies of the Beautiful People” based on that. For me personally, I think it is fantastic. There’s a photographer named Pep Bonet and he’s doing really great stuff with photography. He really makes you think. So whether it’s words or photography, it just connects with me.

Q: Some of your work contains shocking and disturbing images, but it does feel empathetic. In some sense it is an expression of giving back.

A: I’m drawn to things that I want people to see. I have a hard time just standing on the corner in downtown Manhattan shooting people crossing the street. There are so many amazing street photographers, but most of the ones I find attractive are the ones shooting two streets over from main streets — the invisible streets so to speak. There are the kings of street photography like Henri Cartier-Bresson. You also capture a time period. How was Robert Frank able to take these pictures in the ’50s and ’60s? We regard them as great, but we couldn’t go back today in 2013 and take the same pictures of the same street corners and at the same cafés. It wouldn’t have the same feeling.

A: A lot of the people I shot for my book were amputees or burn victims and a lot of people with physical disorders. And I’m doing street photography of addicts. I don’t want to be stereotyped. My passion and dream is to get on a jet and go to Afghanistan, Syria, Bosnia, and refugee camps and go shoot pictures for somebody and document that life experience. I’ve done some fashion photography and that was fun, but I don’t feel like I have a style and that is an eternal struggle that makes me want to be better.

A: I just love capturing what’s really happening. I find that as I travel I feel grateful because I can see people’s faces and body types change. The environment changes and I’m able to capture all that. When I get to go to Romania and Italy and deep into Europe, people are different. It is exciting to capture all that. But there is the other tier where you almost have to be allowed in. I went to a shooting gallery in Canada called InSite. You go in and sign up for it. You bring your drugs in and the doctors actually shoot you up with clean needles. It is very controversial program because some say you are encouraging drug addicts to be addicts, but they are hoping to stop AIDS being spread and overdoses. I went in there and it became a government thing. I couldn’t take pictures. Even though the people in there said I could, I couldn’t legally do it. I can’t get into some of those different places and situations, and some of them are unsafe and you can’t go in alone. But wherever I can go you can be sure I’ll be there with my passion and my camera.

Thank you for your time, Nikki!

- Leica Internet Team

To connect with Nikki and see more of his work, visit his Facebook page, Twitter and Tumblr.

Q: Hi Morten, can tell us how you got started in photography and when you realized you wanted it to be your profession?

A: I came into photography in two different ways. For some reason, without knowing anything about photography at all, I bought a camera when I was 17 years old with the very first paycheck I received from my first job. All my money went to that, and I had to find other money for food the first two months. This was when I was starting out as a gardener trainee, my first education after primary school. I just wanted a camera without having any idea about how to take a decent photograph, but inspired by my aunt who was a keen amateur photographer. I took loads of pictures, color prints of  holidays and family, and loved it.

At the same time I accidentally helped out my local soccer team who needed a hand recording games on video. I was asked to stay on, and soon after I applied for a part-time job at a local television station established in my city (again without knowing anything about what I was doing, just feeling my way through). It was helpful earning a little money from it in order to buy a new camera. I must have done fine because I was soon shooting many stories. I was still going for the Olympus OM system at that time, enjoying it alongside the video shoots. My enthusiasm for my part-time television job made me apply for a full-time professional job as cameraman. I was extremely lucky getting a full-time job at the oldest, still working film company in the world, Nordisk Film, at their broadcast division. It was giant step for me after six months practice at the local station. Leaving my short career as a gardener, now I was suddenly working at the hottest TV broadcaster at the time in Denmark making large documentary stories and studio productions. So my professional career has always been with both video and still photography side by side, with most work as a cameraman.

Q: What would you have done if you hadn’t been a photographer?

A: I could have stayed on track as a gardener, but I also can’t see how I should not have ended up being a photographer in the end. I think it was meant to be, and I love every bit of it.

Q: You are also working as cameraman on TV2 in Denmark. Do you think that this work is training and enriching your skills as a photographer?

A: I think it is the other way around. My photography practice sharpens my eye for good compositions as a cameraman. Shooting stills and shooting for television or film productions is very different though. Telling stories with moving images and combining these cannot be compared with the way of telling a story in a single or short series of photographs. But the balance and composition in the still photo can be a great inspiration when composing with the video camera.

Q: At this point of your career what is your focus with photography? What do you seek as a photographer?

A: I am seeking to go back to the roots of photography, to avoid conformity and traditional ways of thinking. So I basically seek inspiration in any form, way and subject. It may sound like a contradiction, but leaving behind modern large zoom lenses and heavy DSLRs forces me to actually think about photographs, rather than just shooting them. Less and simpler equipment develops your brain, instead of letting the equipment take over the power of your work. So going back to basics should move me onwards in my photographic development.

Q: You are a photojournalist, but you are also into fine art photography. Do you think there are differences and as a photojournalist does your approach change?

A: My approach as a photojournalist can’t avoid being part of my way of doing fine art photography. It is all about telling a story. Implied or evident, all pictures have to have a story to tell in order to work and to be interesting for others to watch. Fine art photography is different than photojournalist work. When doing a photo for a journalistic purpose, it is important to be honest to the story you bring to the audience. Pictures may have an artistic and aesthetic expression, but may never be overdone; not in post-production or other misunderstood creativity. Honesty is my keyword for this kind of photography.

Fine art photography is free of any of these limitations. This is art in its pure and simple meaning. Anything is allowed. But the link is the story. Every picture must have it when I seek a motive. Art is not interesting if it does not tell a story, and I even do not think about it when shooting a photo. It is just there or I do not see it as a subject to be recorded.

Q: Why do you shoot with a Leica? What Leica equipment do you use?

A: I worked with larger professional SLR and later DSLRs for years. But I reached a point where I needed to reinvent my way of thinking about photography, in order to not get stuck in traditional thinking. So I sold all my equipment, and purchased a Leica M8.

This step was the best I had taken in years. I chose the Leica M8 after some talks with a fashion photographer in the family who praised it. And I will never regret the choice I made. I actually didn’t expect this camera to develop my way of working so much, but the simple operational camera (which may not seem simple for auto setting photographers) puts all attention to making the photo, not just point and shoot forgetting to think.

I shoot all at fully manual settings, and with the quality of the camera it is really a joy to work with. All cameras have their limitations and quirks. The M8 too, but it forces the photographer to be sharp and work, not just be a recording machine.

Q: What are your thoughts about a camera like the Monochrom?

A: When I first heard about the Monochrom camera, I just thought YES. The courage to develop such a camera fits with my own needs for limiting equipment and thereby expanding photographic understanding. Sometimes seeking back to old virtues and values develops and bring up new ways of working. I would love to try this camera out in future.

Q: I would like to talk with you about the diners project, an on-going collection of situations and atmospheres from diners and restaurants. I think this project is interesting because a moment at a restaurant reveals a lot about a person. Is there a lot still to be done to finish it?

A: The Diners and Restaurant project is in its early days, and my aim is to let this and other selected projects go on without an end date. I live with deadlines on a daily basis at the TV station where I work, so it is liberating to work with something open-ended.

I try to find moments and pieces of situations and I am sure I can continue this story for years exploring life as it shows in this frame. There are so many reasons for people to meet in a café or a diner: a meeting between lovers, business talks, friends or lonely people. It all unfolds within a meal, a coffee break making us able to read the faces and situations telling small or large stories from life.

Q: Is there a particular story relating to this project that you would like to share with us?

A: Sometimes I know when I click the camera button that it will be an expressive picture. Sometimes I get disappointed and sometimes I am happily surprised when something shows to be great, without knowing of it at the moment it took place. But afterwards the photo shows what it captured and surprises me.

One of these photos that surprised me is the photo named “Legs.” It was shot at a local restaurant in Denmark when I was waiting to film an interview for television. I observed the two women talking and played around taking a few photos meanwhile. I shot this and a few more of their legs because I found it interesting, but without any clear idea at the moment. Afterwards as I converted it to a black-and-white version, the dynamic and the history unfolded. The story began when the picture opened up on the laptop, not when I activated the shutter.

Thank you for your time, Morten!

- Leica Internet Team

To see more of Morten’s work, visit his website.

Alex Coghe, the interviewer, is an Italian photojournalist currently based in Mexico City whose professional activity ranges from editorial photography to events.

The romantic districts and glorious museums of Paris, the booming economy and ethnic energy of London, but what about Brussels? Capital of Europe? Flemish and Walloon tension? Beer? Waffles? Definitely not the capital of sunshine.

In the shadow of its bigger, more outwardly impressive sisters, Brussels continues along as a quieter and largely unknown city, albeit a wonderful place to live, with a fascinating cultural and artistic history. It just takes a bit of peeling back the sprout.

Having started as a 10th century fortress town, the city has for the past 50 years been a center for international politics. It has a large population of Turkish, Moroccan, Spanish and Portuguese immigrants. Their food and culture makes frequent and delicious appearances. Its streets harbor a broad variety of architecture, with one of the most impressive remaining collections of Art Nouveau buildings, including those of Victor Horta. And what would the world be without René Magritte, who lived in a modest house in the city’s Jette district, or Tintin and various other comic characters like Lucky Luke, Gaston Lagaffe and Marsupilami.

The streets of Brussels frequently transport back to an another time, to an older world. Not necessarily the old world – though there is the Grand Place –  but one more human-sized, comfortable and less obvious.

- Aaron C. Greenman

Aaron C. Greenman has been a photographer for over 25 years and has lived and worked on four continents. He has previously been profiled on the Leica Blog for his work in India and Israel. More of his images can be viewed at acuitycolorgrain.com and his first monograph is now available for the iPad.

Clarke Mackinnon is a young, burgeoning photographer living in Edinburgh, Scotland where his main hobby is street photography. Using a Leica X1, he aims to capture Edinburgh’s atmosphere and history. Having learned about aperture and shutter speed from his father, Clarke now uses his knowledge to capture exacting images in black-and-white. In this interview Clarke enthusiastically shares his passion for photography and hopes for the future.

Q: What Leica equipment do you use to shoot the streets of Edinburgh?

A: I still love to shoot film, but I mainly use a Leica X1.

Q: You consider yourself a serious enthusiast when it comes to photography. Did you have any formal training or education? Do you hope to turn your passion into a career?

A: My dad taught me about how to balance out aperture and shutter speed. Apart from that, if I like it, I take a photo of it! I rarely shoot in aperture or shutter priority with the X1. It’s very fun getting correct exposure doing it yourself in full manual mode. There’s great satisfaction. It also gives you a good excuse to twiddle the excellent feeling dials.

Yes, street photography is one of my favorite hobbies. It’s a great way to document what’s happening and allows you to appreciate the location in which you live or visit much more. I hope one day to make a career out of it.

Q: What action do you plan to take in order to transform your hobby and passion into a career? Have you considered taking courses, attending workshops, or creating a themed project and then having your work published or exhibited?

A: I would love to start a project one day like Carlos Javier Oritz’s Too Young To Die project. It’s a goal in life for me. Who knows what the future may hold, but whatever happens I would love to document it. For now, I should find a good photography course and try out a few workshops when the opportunity arises.

Q: You mentioned that you rarely use the auto-exposure modes on your Leica X1, but prefer, and enjoy setting the exposure manually. We can certainly understand why this gives you satisfaction, but do you think it has any practical benefit and have you learned anything useful by doing it the old-fashioned way?

A: It’s very useful having it in manual mode. Especially if you want grainier results, you can bump up your ISO and adjust your shutter/aperture accordingly. But let’s say the light is facing in a particular direction toward a subject and that subject is just a black outline, you can adjust your shutter for a longer exposure so that subject has detail in it. Auto exposure wouldn’t let you do this. I like to over and underexpose sometimes depending on what I’m shooting. Plus, if you’re going to be spending good money on a Leica, why would you want to keep it on auto? It’s all about the experience and feel of the camera.

Q: What are some the characteristics of the Leica X1 that you find especially conducive to your photojournalistic style of street photography? Have you ever considered acquiring an M9?

A: I like the X1 because it’s small, portable and it resembles a mini M9. I like having the fixed focal length of 35 mm because it’s a definite favorite among street photographers. If I had the money in my back pocket, I would go out and by a black M with a 35 mm Summilux. If I was seriously going to spend money on a lens, I would have to buy a Noctilux. It’s amazing how much engineering that is put into making a lens have an aperture of just 0.95. It’s phenomenal!

Q: This impromptu portrait of an elderly man smoking a cigarette violates a number of compositional “rules”—an ornate spire seems to be growing out of his back, his figure is cut off just above the elbow, and the background consists of a vast expanse of bald sky. Despite all this there is just enough information to make this an effective image that conveys a sense of place, space, and state of being. Do you agree, and can you tell is what this picture says to you?

A: This photo is lucky to have even existed. I’m glad it does; it’s one of my personal favorites. I saw this man and he looked really interesting! So I tried to be as sly as possible — pointed the lens toward him, adjusted the shutter speed. As I got closer to him I lowered the camera down to my front, aimed the lens and pressed the shutter button. This picture was taken next to the Scottish National Gallery. And if you have ever visited Edinburgh you would know that it is right in the middle of Princess Street Gardens, which divides the city from the New Town to Old Town. The Scott Monument from the New Town is sticking out his back and some of the buildings from the Old Town are out the front. You could say that this man is in the middle of a divided city. It also makes this man seem really tall or as if he’s almost flying. It definitely shows where this man is. The white sky shows the vast space of the city.

Q: This expansive street corner scene would be commonplace except for the amazing quality of the light and again, that charming sense of space and place. Do you have any thoughts about this image, and did you compose it on the LCD or did you use an optical accessory viewfinder?

A: The man is holding a tourist information map and I had a feeling they were looking for a bar or a restaurant to sit down in. I loved how the sunlight was shining on them as if they were in the spotlight. The woman seems pretty cheery looking around at the buildings that surround her, while her companion was embedded into the tourist map. I used the Leica optical viewfinder for composing this shot.

Q: Most of your pictures are quite realistic and down to earth, but this one is quite abstract and enigmatic. You also managed to get three spires in descending order into the composition, which is really fascinating, especially if it was intentional. What’s going on here, and how did you take this shot? Is this a composite of a conventional view and a window reflection?

A: I do like looking in through windows at mannequins and taking photos of them, but then my eyes focused on the Scott Monument behind me. I thought that this would make a very interesting photograph. So I adjusted my exposure to get both subjects in the shot. The mannequin looks like it’s leaning against the monument. The spires were intentional; I like the triangle shape that they create! There was a really warm glow that evening and the lighting was perfect. If it wasn’t for the lighting, this shot wouldn’t have been good at all.

Q: All the images in your Edinburgh portfolio are presented in black-and-white. Do you ever shoot in color, and what do you find so compelling about the black-and-white medium?

A: I saw a quote by photographer Ted Grant, “When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black-and-white, you photograph their souls.” It’s really hard to describe why, but I get what he means. Black-and-white brings out people’s expressions much more than color can. Black-and-white makes a photograph look more powerful and hard, and color makes it softer. With Leica lenses you get a much better dynamic range of greys, blacks and whites than any other lenses I have used. Another reason that I like using black-and-white is it goes back to the early days. The routes, if you would call it, of street photography. When I used my old film rangefinder I loved coming home and processing a roll of HP5 or PANF and seeing the black-and-white results coming up on the scanner. But now I use the X1 for street photography, I just turn on the black-and-white film preset so I can view the screen in black-and-white. I know that if there was a rare opportunity I wanted it in color the camera saves a color file for me. The only time I really use color is if I’m shooting landscape.

Q: Why do you photograph? What does it mean to you?

A: Photography to me is a way of seeing normal things such a street life in a completely different way. Although walking down the street seems very ordinary, capturing it brings out emotions like love, happiness, anger. These emotions can all be seen in normal day-to-day city life but are never normally taken into account unless they’re captured. Imagine taking a remote control and pressing pause on the city, then going up to people and seeing how they’re interacting with others or how happy or sad they look. It can really tell a story. Not only that, it’s very good fun. It’s a real confidence builder to go up and take a photo of someone completely random in the street. Anything or anyone can happen. Always keep your eyes on the look out!

Q: How do you see your photography evolving over, say the next three years? Do you plan to explore any other genres or locations? There are several incisive portraits here, so have you considered pursuing portraiture?

A: Portraiture is something I haven’t done for long, but it’s definitely something I would love to start doing more of. I take a lot of portraits of friends and family. Many of them put them as their Facebook profile pictures, which gives me a good sense of achievement! Portraiture is definitely something that I will start sinking my teeth into.

Thank you for your time, Clarke!

- Leica Internet Team

To connect with Clarke, visit his Facebook page.

I am originally from the West Coast, so bodegas were a strange and curious thing to me. Entering my local corner store is like being transported to another country: the smells, music, and even language become vastly different. These places are in fact unique to this part of the country. Large chain grocery stores, which I was accustomed to growing up, simply cannot fit into the tiny nooks and crannies of Brooklyn’s tightly spaced buildings. Here bodegas continue to thrive as local, individually-owned shops, which allows them to stock unique merchandise tailored to each neighborhood’s specific needs. This ranges from Goya beans and plantains, which you can find in every Bushwick bodega, to wheatgrass shots and the organic produce of Williamsburg.

I focused on my neighborhood of Bushwick in Brooklyn. The task was considerably more difficult than I had anticipated. In a community where most of the customers are on a first-name basis with the clerks, my attempts at photographing life inside each store created an uncomfortable air. I was an intruder, creating some awkward moments.

Bodegas are the purveyors of groceries, household necessities, and vices. They are a melting pot of needs to be filled for a variety of characters. Stand in one for 20 minutes and be fascinated.

-Daniel Zvereff

See more of these images in Steady Magazine‘s next printed issue “Bodegas.”To learn more about Daniel and see more of his work, please visit his website.

Q: You are a pretty well known rock musician, isn’t that correct?

A: Yes, I am the bassist in Mötley Crüe and also Sixx:A.M. Mötley Crüe’s been touring the world for thirty-something years and we’ve sold over a hundred million records. It’s been one of the most amazing journeys considering I was a teenager in the ‘70s and had all these heroes and idols. I loved their music and it set a standard for what I wanted to do. I ended up in Los Angeles, which was the opposite of what everyone else was doing. I didn’t deviate from my mission. I feel the same way about my photography. I have an idea and it doesn’t matter to me how it resonates with people. A lot of people say things about my photography that they said about music. There is a little smirk that happens. But I go, “Well you were wrong once and you’ll probably be wrong again.”

Q: How did you go from being a rock bassist to being a photographer too? Did you find this a natural transition?

A: You hit a place where you go all the way back and reflect on your life. I’m 54 years old; I have more years behind me than there will be in front of me. You hit a place where you want to reflect; maybe it happens sometime in your 40s. I’m a father of four and a recovering heroin addict. I’ve been doing all this creative stuff, not for money, but for passion. Sometimes it does turn into money and I’m able to support my family and continue to be an artist. That is why I always support other people to become successful artists. I say, “That’s beautiful. If you’ve done it once you can do it again.” You can keep doing it. We all benefit from it. If you are a fan of a photographer or painter or musician, you can benefit if they can be successful.

My life and report cards reflect that I got A’s in art, A’s in music and did very well in English. I love writing. I flailed around and had a hard time with the other subjects. As a young kid I was always creating stuff and building stuff. Music gave me instant gratification. When I heard it, I felt something. When I started learning to play, I would have those moments where I was like, “Wow! I did that.” And once you do something, you can do it again. Over 20 years ago I was just getting a camera and carrying it around on the road. I had a 35 mm camera and I would just snap pictures all the time of what was happening on the road and backstage. Being a kid from Jerome, Idaho (population 4,000), shooting a sunset in Australia was amazing. Just basically shooting and documenting my life was instant gratification. I’d get the film back and start to think of the things I could do differently.  I was getting more into the idea of not just snapping a picture.

Q: You have a Leica Monochrom, right?

A: I have the Monochrom and the new M. I shot with an M9 for years.

Q: What lenses do you use on your Monochrom?

A: I use a 28 mm, a 50 mm, and the 35 mm, which is my main lens. Another one of my favorite lenses is the 75 mm, which is actually very unpopular among Leica shooters I know, but I love it. I had a 90 mm, but I traded it and got the 75, which I use all the time.

Q: The way you talk convinces me that you have this abiding passion for photography. This photo of two women standing in front of a brick wall is a very simple picture, but it’s so full of emotion. There is a great contrast in the two faces. Can you tell us about it?

A: There is an area in Vancouver called Hastings. It’s very interesting because the nickname of that intersection is “Wastings and Pain.” Right on the corner is a police department and right outside the police department stands all the drug dealers, selling heroin, crack and even guns. Down that street of Hastings is a community. They all know each other. I went down the back alley. I always introduce myself as a street photographer wanting to document what’s going on in the streets and to bring awareness. And I ask if I can take their picture and let them know that if they need any money I will help them out. It amazes me that they have nothing but really the whole idea of raising awareness is what connects with them. That tells me that they want out and also want people to see what they are going through. So maybe someone can come down there and do something.

I asked the distraught girl how she was doing and she told me she hadn’t had a fix in two days and was in a lot of pain. I asked the other girl how she was doing. She told me she was a prostitute. I asked if I could take their picture. And one girl told the other it was going to be okay and put her arm around her friend. If you zoom in on the girl with the pained expression, you can see the track marks on her arms. She has tons of scars from the needles. It’s such a simple picture, but I wanted to include it because it showed some from of nurturing.

Q: Please tell me about this picture of a woman holding on to her wheelchair.

A. That’s Maggie. I found her walking down the alleyway. She walked towards me and said, “Hi! What are you doing?” I told her I was just documenting what’s going on around her. She asked if I would take her picture and I told her I’d love to. There was a truck coming down the street so I told her to move to the side. So she moved over to the side next to the brick wall and I saw her reflection in the mud puddle. I literally took one shot and then the truck blew through the mud puddle and splattering mud all over both of us. We both laughed about it. That was that moment.

I met Lonnie, the girl shooting up in photos I shot, in Victoria. There are these two squatter buildings. They’ve thrown all the furniture out of the windows and it has landed in the alleyway between them. There’s this iron fence that blocks it off. It’s formed some version of shelter under the couches and tables and stuff. I saw something as I was driving past the buildings, so I pulled over. I had both cameras around my neck. Someone was holding a cardboard box in front of her face. I told them I wasn’t going to shoot a picture and I wasn’t the police. I said I would like to take their picture if they’d let me and that my name is Nikki. I am a recovering heroin addict. She put down the box and told me she liked it there because of the couches. I gave her some money and we talked for a bit. She decided to come over to where I was and grabbed her bags and climbed over the iron fence. She sat down and we started talking.

She asked if I minded if she got high. I told her no but asked if I could photograph it. Then she asked if it would bother me because she knew I was a recovering addict. Such compassion. After we were done, I told her I was going to leave. She asked if she could give me a hug. She gave me a hug and she held on a little too long. She just needed that and felt really grateful. So I started walking back to my car and she called out after me and told me I dropped something. I looked down and there were four $20 dollar bills on the ground. I asked her why she bothered to tell me that. She told me it was because the money was mine. This made me feel like I needed to be a better person. Here was a girl who has nothing, and she was concerned that I lost my money. I just gave her the money and thanked her. But I learned something.

Q: That’s a great story. The whole point of documenting any group of afflicted people is that they are human beings just as you are. Being an addict isn’t the totality of their identity. Many photographs of addicts in their environment have a voyeuristic perspective, but yours seem empathetic. Tell us about this close up shot.

A: I was walking down the street and this girl’s back was to me. She had this box set up with makeup pallets all around her. She had red dots on her cheeks and was trying to rub it in like rouge. I think she was trying to make herself look better. But if you look at the series of pictures, you’d see she is pulling at her hair and arching her back. She is weeping and then smiling. I just sat down in front of her and we started talking. I didn’t know what was going on with her. I asked if I could take her picture and she said yes. Then she grabbed something and was looking into it. That’s that picture. I assumed it was a make up mirror but when you zoom in there is a hole in whatever it is she’s holding. It’s almost like a looking glass. A friend of mine said it seems like she is looking into a better world. You can see her pain and where she is pulling her hair. I hope she was somehow seeing a better world.

Q: You seem to favor black-and-white images. What do you find compelling about black-and-white photography? And how do you feel about the Monochrom as a black-and-white camera?

A: When I do studio photography, I do a lot of color depending on what it is. Recently I got rid of my photography studio. I was spending so much time on the road and doing my radio show that I wasn’t finding myself going to the studio that often. So after eight years, I decided to terminate the lease. I put a lot of my stuff in storage. When I am out shooting and documenting, I feel that color distracts from the story. I don’t know why I feel that way. Almost everything I shoot is output in black-and-white.

Q: When you shoot with the Leica M, do you also output it in black-and-white?

A: Yeah, I love that. I had my M9 set to shoot both the DNG and low-res JPEG files and was viewing it all in black-and-white anyway. I think the Monochrom is a fantastic camera. It’s fast and the files are big. You can blow the photos up and see every detail. The contrast range and the depth you can achieve with the M lenses and that camera have exceeded themselves.

Q: By the way, can you tell us about your experience shooting with the Leica M?

A: I love the new M. I love using the electronic viewfinder. It really works well if something is a bit off in the distance. I enjoy that I can put the camera at a point of view that is correct and I don’t have to get down on my hands and knees. I’m down on knees and sitting on the street so much, but you can’t always do that. Sometimes by the time you get down on the level that you need to be, the shot is gone. That’s what I love that about that camera. There’s also a look to the images that is different when I run images shot with the M through Silver Efex Pro to add a bit of grain. It gives it more of a film-like look.

Q: You’re a reflective guy that takes things from here to there. You did it in music and now you are doing it in photography. Would you agree?

A: Yeah. I had this little 35 mm camera and this Richard Avedon book called “In the American West.” It was this book of portraits. You could read the people even though there was no story with it. I would spend hours looking at it and used it as kind of a template. I decided I wanted to capture more than just something that was happening. I wanted to pull something out of the subject. That’s when I started pushing myself and learning about black-and-white film and all the different ISO settings and lenses. I had nothing to shoot but documenting what I saw. But it started a process for me. I wanted to shoot people’s faces. I would make the road crew line up against a wall and I would shoot their faces in all available light. Then I would get the film back and see where I messed up or excelled. It became an obsession to me. There was always a camera in my hand. Even to this day. Even when I’m walking from the tour bus to the dressing room, I have my Leica in my hand, even though I know there is rarely a good shot there. But the other day I was in Dawson Creek, Canada and there is nothing out there. There was this one shot of one of our trucks full of gear backing up into the arena and there was nothing but vast vacant nothingness behind it. So I got this shot. I was so glad I had my camera.

Thank you for your time, Nikki!

- Leica Internet Team

Stay tuned for part 2 of our interview with Nikki next week. To connect with Nikki and see more of his work, visit his Facebook page, Twitter and Tumblr.

It was a hard decision, but we have our Oskar Barnack Award and Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award winners! However, you have to wait until the announcement in June to learn who they are and see their images.

In the meantime, we wanted to give you an insider’s glimpse into the deliberation process. Watch this video to see our jury debate back and forth on all the entries. Our jury faced some tough decisions, but were able to choose the best of the best to receive the awards.

This year’s jury members included: Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, Artistic Director of the Leica Galerie in Salzburg, Brigitte Schaller, Art Director of Leica Fotografie International magazine, Dimitri Beck, publisher of Polka Magazine in France, Markus Schaden, a publisher and independent curator from Germany, and photographers Klavdij Sluban and Peter Turnley.

The winners of the two awards, the Leica Oskar Barnack Award and the Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award 2013, will be presented in the course of the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie photography festival held in Arles, France from 1 to 7 July 2013.

-Leica Internet Team

 For more information about the Leica Oskar Barnack Award, click here.

Leica Notebook, Chapter 15

The photographers below and their wives convey the love and closeness that they have shared. Whether love and relationship influence one’s art or photography, it is who they are and who they have become. Life is meant to be lived with love and passion. Art is created when one is fortunate to experience both. When photographing the masters of photography, I also photographed the women who helped guide and love them. Perhaps, they were even responsible for the memorable photographs created by these “masters of photography” as they lived a life of love, passion and dedication together.

Marc and Catherine Riboud

Leonard and Brigitte Freed

Cornell and Edie Capa

Yousuf and Estralita Karsh

Erich and Traudl Lessing

Bruce and Emily Davidson

Henri Cartier-Bresson and Martine Franck

- Claire Yaffa

You can also see more of Claire’s work on her website, www.claireyaffa.com.

Jonas Lindström, born in 1988, is a young, up-and-coming fashion and portraiture photographer. He splits his time between Berlin and London. Jonas has worked with publications and clients such as Rolling Stone, Interview Magazine, Nike Sportswear, Nokia and Wallpaper* Magazine. He is currently finishing up his studies in graphic design at Berlin University of the Arts and below explains how he finds it difficult to think in traditional schemes.

Q: Can you provide a little background on the portfolio you sent us? Many of the portraits have a distinct retro feeling reminiscent of the classic fashion portraits of the ‘20s and ‘30s. Do you agree, and is this a conscious element in your style?

A: Yes, Interview Magazine approached me with the assignment to create a series of portraits of actors in Berlin during Berlinale. Berlinale is, apart from the art world, one of the truly international happenings in Berlin. It is an annual film festival for both very big and independent releases. The film selection is not at all focused on German cinema alone but instead is very international.

For the portfolio, the idea was to give the actors a sort of a blank canvas and see what they come up with in a certain amount of time, to create portraits in line with the distinct American style of Interview Magazine and showcase personalities. And while the background and light is always the same, their expressions make the story for me.

In regards to the retro feeling, I think this is largely because of styling and the actors’ appearances, not so much because of the photography itself.

Q: What equipment did you use to shoot this assignment?

A: I used the Leica S-System. I’ve actually produced two editorials now for Interview Magazine with the camera. I am particularly fond of the 120 mm macro lens, which is amazing for portraits, and the 35 mm for fashion. The 35 mm is especially interesting because it is a very wide angle which you can use to create images with a very abstract feel of proportion.

Q: In using the Leica S-system we assume that you’ve been shooting with the S2. What particular features of the camera do you find especially conducive to your kind of work?

A: The image quality, the richness and the detail are incredible. This is, of course, because of the great Leica glass.

Q: What features or characteristics would you look forward to having in the new Leica S when you get a chance to shoot with it?

A: For my style of working; more speed, even better auto-focus and transfer rates. In fashion and portraits I always look for special moments in which you’ll need to be able to rely on your equipment. So essentially it can never be fast enough.

Q: Despite their European classicism your portraits often convey a strong sense of the emotional character of your subjects and are therefore quite compelling. Do you concur, and can you tell us something about how you achieve this? Do you think the photographer’s relationship with the subject is a critical factor in your kind of work?

A: This for me is actually the really hard work. Setting a beautiful light is one thing, but only through communicating with your opponent you’ll be able to set a certain mood and work out something truly individual. This is very important for me.

Q: Your portrait of Fritzi Haberland in a yellow dress almost has a Jugendstil character—highly stylized, mannerist, and constricted in terms of physical expression— and yet it has a life and authenticity all its own. What were you thinking when you took this picture and what were you trying to achieve?

A: I think Fritzi and that dress were a perfect match. She seemed to be very confident in it and I wanted to portray just that. Because it’s not at all easy to wear a dress like that without it getting bigger than yourself and Fritzi truly managed that for me.

A: This too comes down a lot to their faces and personalities. Katja for me has a very iconic and timeless face, almost like out of another era. I wanted to highlight just that. Palina is always seen in a very hip context, a lot because of her involvement with MTV. I wanted to strip down all that and just show the beautiful woman, not the girl. Through that, the images are, of course, less connected to a certain time or certain trends.

Q: Many of your images are output in black-and-white and you use of color is very restrained, which emphasizes the compositional and formal elements. What do you find compelling about the black-and-white medium and can you comment on your restrained use of color?

A: Black-and-white is great for portraiture. It strips down a person to what’s essential, creating a true image of that person. Sometimes I think it matches more our actual perception of a person, just because it is so focused and blends out the same things our eyes do too.

Q: Can you tell us about your educational background? You’re still in school, correct? Are you studying photography or something else?

A: Yes, I am actually still finishing my studies in Berlin. I assisted a fashion photographer before starting school, which really was the best thing I could have done. It really shaped me and helped me find what I wanted to pursue and made me a lot more conscious about my decision where I wanted to study.

Currently, I’m studying visual communications at Berlin University of the Arts where I’m graduating this year in traditional graphic design. I decided against studying just photography, as I was and am very interested in different disciplines coming together. While photography might be the biggest part of it, it’s nice to be able to work with typography and graphic design and to know your way around. Even more so with film which joins many different disciplines together. I like working like that, and I’d like to focus even more on projects bringing all that together. I think nowadays thinking in traditional professions is more and more difficult. Everything is very fluid.

Q: You mentioned that you don’t regard photography as isolated from other arts including graphic design and video, and there is a strong graphic design element in your work. Do you think this has been influenced by your studies or is your work a more natural and organic projection of how you see the world?

A: Choosing my studies was a conscious decision. I always had the idea of everything coming together in a fluid combination. In our current times, I find it very hard to think in traditional schemes. Everything is mixed, stylists being art directors, photographers directing films or music videos. It is of course influenced by how I see the world, as for me it is always a matter of choosing the right medium to express a certain idea. I also think everything is very connected and thus it is important to have a certain understanding of the broader context.

Q: Where do you look for inspiration? Do you have certain photographers you admire?

A: I’m very inspired by the work of contemporary photographers like Wolfgang Tillmans and Rineke Dijkstra and their contribution to the medium. But I also like to look at film and contemporary art for inspiration. I’m recently very much into Asian cinema.

I started taking pictures in my small town of my friends and I skateboarding. I still realize I’m very inspired by the skateboarding subculture I started in. It has always been a subculture very tightly connected to photography, design, filmmaking and the arts. These are people that inspired me back then, even before I actually knew who they were, and continue to do so.

Q: We note that you have been working for and with an impressive array of magazines and companies including Rolling Stone, Nike, Nokia and Mercedes-Benz. Are you shooting editorial and advertising images for them and how do you make these contacts?

A: All that has been a process since I started to take pictures. Once I moved to Berlin, I started to do my first projects in a fashion context and over time started to also publish my work. Every year new clients add up, old projects evolve and new ones appear. I hope it stays like that.

Q: How do you see your career as a photographer evolving over, say the next three years, and do you plan to explore any other photographic genres besides portraiture and fashion?

A: Film is an area of great interest for but not to replace my photography, more to counterbalance it. I’ll be working on my first full length movie as my graduation project and am trying to explore a more international context for my work, especially going back and forth between London and Berlin even more.

Thank you for your time, Jonas!

- Leica Internet Team

To connect with Jonas, visit his website.

Henry Zwartz, age 21, was born and raised in Sydney, Australia to a family of jazz musicians. He developed a passion for documentary and art photography after his dad lent him a Leica film camera four years ago. While at university, when not studying, he would go out and take photos. Now, having just graduated with an arts degree from the University of Sydney, he hopes to become a full-time photographer and writer. In 2013 he was offered a place in postgraduate law at Australian National University, but he has deferred for a year in order to pursue photography. He has worked as both a journalist and photographer intern for news organizations and journals in Asia and Australia. Here he shares with us the story of and images from his trip to document life on the Thai-Burma border.

Q: What made you want to go to the Thai-Burma border to take the images in this portfolio?

A: I first went to the border town of Mae Sot during a holiday to Thailand with my family in 2010. I found the place fascinating. It reminded me of the TV series “Deadwood.” The town has long been a regional hub for gem trading, people smuggling and other forms of illicit cross-border trade. The mix of ethnic groups and cultures was overwhelming. It was a dream come true for an aspiring photographer. I knew I had to go back. Even if this meant saving up money in Sydney and going on self-funded trips to the border, which is exactly what ended up happening after some hard work.

One day in late 2011, I wanted to escape Sydney for a while and asked Phil Thornton, a mentor and highly respected journalist who lives on the Thai-Burma border, if I could get involved with KarenNews.org. Phil helps with this news organization that gives a voice to the ethnic Karen people of Eastern Burma. The ethnic Karen people have long faced discrimination and human rights abuses from Burma’s army.

I have now been to the border to work there twice – most recently from January to March of this year – helping document many different kinds of stories, from mistreated migrant workers in Thailand, to the everyday life of Karen refugees, to armed ethnic ceasefire groups and poppy growers in different parts of Burma.

Q: You describe the town of Mae Sot, a hub of illicit activity, as a “dream come true for an aspiring photographer” and you worked hard to save up enough money to return. Do you see yourself as a photojournalist in the tradition of W. Eugene Smith and Sebastiao Salgado? Do you think it’s possible to support yourself in this way, and if not, what is your plan B?

A: I am intensely curious about the world. I found the Thai-Burma border interesting because it was so different to anything I had been around before. This was why it was a dream come true and why I have gone back. I am drawn to variety, not necessarily just political strife or conflict; it just so happened that there is a lot of instability in that part of the world. I certainly don’t think that the only stories worth telling are in conflict zones. Indeed, a number of famous photos by photographers such as Cartier-Bresson and Martine Franck are about the beauty and delight found in everyday life, and these types of photos also interest me a great deal.

There are a large number of legendary photographers, including Salgado and Eugene Smith, who are my heroes. I am inspired by that great tradition, and this continues to have a great influence on me.

There is no plan B. In the future I will be photographing and writing. The only thing in question is whether I’ll do this with no money or some money. One thing I learned from my parents is the value of finding something that you are passionate about. My mother and father chose jazz; I am finding my own creative outlet.

That being said though, I acknowledge that following your dream takes a great deal of hard work and dedication. I think that photojournalism is under some pressure now with the 24-hour news cycle and instant communication, which makes it especially difficult for young people like me trying to get into it. I hope those out there will appreciate that we still need good quality journalism and documentary photography.

Q: Although you are an aspiring young photographer your camera of choice is a classic Leica M6 and all the pictures in your Thai-Burma border portfolio were shot in black-and-white. What is it that draws you to this very traditional medium? Have you considered shooting with a digital Leica M or using color film for some of your work?

A: I used the Leica M6 TTL for all of my personal work in Thailand and Burma because it was tough, unobtrusive and suited my purposes well.

For me, I was first exposed to photography through the black-and-white photos taken by legends like Eugene Smith. I felt drawn to the gritty character of film, which is different to the creaminess of digital. It was an artistic choice to use film. I also wanted to go through the process of learning to use film to improve my abilities as a photographer – “with film you have to make every picture count” as Nick Ut said on this blog a few months ago. That being said, I would love a digital Leica M if I could afford one!

Q: How did you first become interested in Leica?

A: My dad, who is an accomplished jazz double-bassist and composer in Australia, helped kindle my love of Leica. He has been using Leica film cameras for over a decade. He was kind enough to lend me his M3 four years ago so I could take photos of a jazz gig. I immediately loved the camera for its simplicity and feel. Leica cameras reminded me of the craftsmanship of a classic Ludwig drum kit. I saved up for two years in order to buy my M6 and Elmarit 28 mm ASPH. lens.

For some reason Leica has long had a close relationship with jazz. Eugene Smith was a great supporter of jazz and took thousands of photos of New York’s jazz scene. Photographer and jazz musician Milt Hinton took all of his iconic photos of jazz musicians with a Leica camera. I think it’s because we appreciate the craftsmanship behind the camera, like we appreciate a beautifully made double bass or saxophone.

Q: This photo of a man in a dark room standing in front of a barred window with streams or rays of light emerging from the latticework is a very striking image. Where is this? What is going on here and what were you thinking when you took this shot?

A: The photo was taken at dawn in the Mae La refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border, Thailand’s largest camp for refugees with around 55,000 inhabitants. I was staying in the camp for a few days with a Karen News journalist colleague for a story we were working on. It’s a photo of the Abbott of the camp’s local monastery as he prepares to pray. One day just before dawn we were on the way to get some photos of the area and we came across the monastery at the top of a very steep hill in the middle of the camp. I went inside and saw this beautiful dawn light creeping through the window, silhouetting the Abbott.

Q: There is something disturbing about this straightforward image of a soldier holding what looks like a mortar. His peaceful and enigmatic expression contrasts with the powerful weapon he’s holding on his shoulder and there is a matter-of-fact quality to the image that says “business as usual.”

A: Eastern Burma has been an area of on and off conflict since World War II, so life on the Thai-Burma border can be cheap, but it’s also full of courageous and caring people. In this photo, the man is holding a rocket-propelled grenade. He’s a member of the Karen National Liberation Army, which is the military branch of the Karen National Union (the main political organization for the Karen people). The KNU/KNLA has just emerged with a peace agreement from a 64 year long war with Burma’s military, the world’s longest running civil war.

I was at a KNLA camp for a couple of days inside Burma on a story for Karen News. Getting there was very difficult, it was raining heavily almost the whole time, the terrain was very mountainous and there was a rather hair-raising nighttime river crossing involved, but it was worth it.

Q: There are many charming pictures in your portfolio that give a clear picture of everyday life in a poor country and they contrast with the menacing quality of some of the images of military, police, and the authorities. What kind of a statement or message do you think you conveyed by including both these aspects in your coverage, and was this contrast intentional?

A: The contrast in the portfolio was intentional, and perhaps mirrors the extreme contrasts in everyday life as an ethnic Karen; to be ethnic Karen in this day and age is to live a life of perpetual extremes. They are a people proud of their unique culture and history, but continue to struggle with poverty, internal displacement, racial discrimination and conflict. Right now as Burma opens up to the world, there is a great deal of uncertainty about the future of ethnic minorities in Burma, including the Karen. As Burma opens up, I am trying to capture different aspects of daily life before it all changes forever. This will hopefully form part of a longer storytelling project I am working on.

Q: This is one of your most powerful images showing an intense looking man at a distance of about ten feet looking directly at the camera. He’s standing in a large room with what looks like a portrait of a revolutionary leader in the background. He projects an image of outer calm and inner ferocity. Who is he, where is he, and why do you think this picture is so compelling?

A: This photo was also taken in the Mae La refugee camp. My colleague and I were walking through the camp one morning and this man saw us and beckoned us over.

He offered us a precious cup of three in one coffee (very good on a cold morning in the mountains!) and told us about the history of the camp. It turned out he was the custodian of the camp’s library. It was a humble library, two rooms with a bed in the corner, but he was proud of his role in keeping Karen culture and history alive in the minds of the camp’s young people, as half of the people in the camp are under 19. His eyes had a certain charisma; he was a very kind and wise man, and I’m grateful he let me take his photo. The picture next to him is of the founding father of the KNU, Saw Ba U Gyi, who was killed by the Burmese Army in 1950.

Q: Can you say something about how photography has changed your perception, and how it has expanded your vision?

A: Photography has made me both more patient and more predatory as an observer. I suppose photography is like hunting in a way and about knowing when to take the shot. It is both meditative and addictive. You begin to think differently, instead of just walking through life you begin to stop in your tracks and think to yourself “hey, that would make a great shot,” and if this means engaging with your subject, then all the better. When I talk about this process of seeing what I think could be a good photo, it usually happens in under a second. It’s about honing that intuition I guess.

At least, I have found this happening more and more for myself anyway. Other photographers would have different perspectives on how their profession and passion has changed the way they interact with the world around them, but that’s been my experience so far.

Q: Do you plan to explore any other photographic genres in going forward, and how do you see your photography evolving over, say, the next three years?

A: I love taking landscapes, street photography and nature shots too. I’ll be traveling to New Zealand in May to get some shots. I want to keep pushing myself and especially to see more of the world and the people in it.

Q: Do you have plans to showcase, promote, or publish your images?

A: I am always on the lookout for an opportunity to exhibit! I want to exhibit the work and donate all of the profits to Burma Children Medical Fund. I have seen the good work done by this organization firsthand in saving the lives of young children. I am looking for places to exhibit or publish the work to this specific end.

Strangely enough my first exhibition will be in the United States, not Australia. I have some street photography that will be exhibited at Gallery 1855 in California in September 2013.

Thank you for your time, Henry!

-Leica Internet Team

To learn more about Henry’s work, visit his website. 

Creative droughts are natural, but it’s good to have the ability to get yourself out of them sooner rather than later. One way to help facilitate that is to write your future-self a letter. So I thought I’d try to gather all the pieces of advice that have stuck with me in my short time as a photographer (plenty of clichés included) into a list that, one uninspired day, I might need. And please, I’d love for anyone who feels compelled to add to the list to do so in the comments section. It would be much appreciated.

- Peter McCollough

Peter Earl McCollough was born in Billings, Montana, in 1982 and grew up in Davis, California. Shortly after turning 18, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps where he served from 2000-2004. After being honorably discharged he began studying photography in Sacramento. In 2008, after transferring to Ohio University, he received a Bachelor of Science in Visual Communication with an emphasis in Photojournalism. He is currently a freelance photographer and aspiring cinematographer based in San Francisco. In his off time he likes to paint and work on his street photography. More photos can be seen on his website, www.petermccollough.com.

Dana Barsuhn, born in 1976, is a Los Angeles based street photographer. Using his Leica M4, Dana’s work is mainly shot in black and white. He has been featured in several Los Angeles exhibitions and in 2011 created a PDF book of his street images as a personal diary titled “Framed.”  Eric Kim, a contributor to the Leica blog, interviews him.

Q:  Describe how you first discovered street photography.

A: It was late 2009 early 2010. I had been photographing a few years, but without any vision. I really had no motivation to just go out and shoot for the sake of shooting. As the universe would have it, a good friend and fellow photographer/author Ibarionex Perello approached me to join him and Emilio Banuelos for a workshop in downtown Los Angeles.

I had been out shooting in the street before, but what I learned that weekend really changed the way I approach photography. More importantly, it changed my vision and how I see.

Q: You shoot with a film Leica for your personal work in the streets. Why do you prefer it to shooting digitally?

A: Trust me; it was never my intention to shoot film. I was perfectly comfortable shooting digitally. In fact, I was probably the guy that was trying to convince the film guys to switch to digital.

Originally, switching to film was more about shooting with something smaller and less threatening in the streets. But after a few rolls of film, I began to see how the change in workflow was actually a breath of fresh air. Over the last two years, I have progressed to developing my own film and most recently, turning my garage into a working wet darkroom! I could probably go on a long rant on all the reasons why I love and choose film (for my personal work), but, in the end, it is just a preference.

Q: Who are some photographers who inspired you early on?

A: Like many photographers in the genre, I hung on to the decisive moment of a Cartier-Bresson and the playfulness of someone like an Elliott Erwitt. Of course, my taste for photographers continues to change as I do. Today my list of inspirations is quite different than those of the past.

Q: Can you share a bit about who you decide to photograph vs. who you don’t photograph?

A: I was listening to an interview by Joel Meyerowitz recently. He had made a comment relating his early years in shooting on the street to target practice. What he said was that at some point it became really easy to put a subject in the middle of the frame and snap a good picture. What I took from that is that often a good subject is not enough, there needs to be something else. So when I see a subject that gets me to raise my camera, I try and ask myself “What else.” So to answer your question, there is often more to who I decide to photograph than just the subject him/herself.

Q: You are quite involved in the street photography scene in Los Angeles. Can you share how you got involved, and how it has helped your photography?

A: I had heard about you (Eric Kim) through the internet and found out that you were teaching a workshop in Los Angeles. At that point I had been photographing in the street for a while, but I really didn’t have any relationships or knowledge of active photographers in the area. If nothing else, I thought it would be a good opportunity to meet new people with similar interests.

Today, as result of that one weekend, I have a solid group of friends that I meet up with and communicate with on a daily basis, locally and abroad. It has been amazing to watch the emergence of the group from those early days. While I still see photography as an individual endeavor, I’m not sure I would have the growth I have had as a photographer without the community.

Q: Where are your favorite places in Los Angeles to shoot, and why?

A: Of course, downtown Los Angeles has always been a go to place for me. It has many elements that make for great shooting. You’ve got a diverse mix of cultures, districts, skyscrapers, historical buildings, characters all packed into a very manageable radius. Did I forget to mention the light? We have a lot of that here in Los Angeles. That being said, I believe there is more to be seen and photographed in Los Angeles, and I look forward to venturing outward to capture it!

Q: Recently you participated in “You are here II: Shoot a Cop.” Can you share with us what the exhibition was about and the experience?

A: The exhibition was a month long meditation on the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The premise of the project was based on the stigma of police brutality and corruption throughout the city’s history. 32 photographers were chosen (without previous knowledge of the subject matter) to go photograph the month long assignment and were asked to chose three photographs to show on the last day.

It was an interesting project for me on many levels. There were the initial challenges of getting in close to subjects of authority and finding situations representative of the project. But in the end, the project wasn’t about just taking photographs of cops, but about a subject, the LAPD. I think many of us (photographers) realized that the subject matter was a sensitive one, and we could not be biased in our approach. While there is a certain negative stigma attached to the LAPD, it was very hard (for me) to validate those stereotypes. In fact, I would say that my experience was just the opposite.

Q: Your work is predominantly in black and white, but you have been experimenting a bit in color recently. How do you approach each medium differently?

A: For me it comes down to subject matter. Of course, my aesthetic for photographing everyday life still leans heavily toward black and white. Certain subjects or occasions, however, call for something different. Last summer, for example, I took a point and shoot camera filled with some Kodak portra and did a fun little series on people, places, and things we encounter on the road, titled “Viewpoints.” In hindsight, I was probably going for something like a Steven Shore aesthetic, interesting photographs of banal everyday travel scenes.

Q: What are some tips or advice you would give street photographers starting off?

A: Get off the couch and the computer and get out and shoot. Read some photo books, study photographers that excite you…then shoot some more! Like the old saying, “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst!”