Glen's Interview
Dee Studio Ltd 6 Brook Lane Business Centre Brook Lane North TW8 0PP 020 8560 9060 07887 764761 glenn@deestudio.co.uk www.glennmillington.com
Sophie interviews Glenn Millington, co-founder of UKlandscape, advertising photographer at Dee studios in Brentford What is your background? Studies and previous jobs.Photography photography photography! I’ve always worked in photography, I started as a messenger for a Studio In the West End, I then did dark room work for the Birkbeck College. After that I became an assistant then I went freelance but that went wrong after 2 years so I joined a company in surrey as a photographer and there I met the colleagues with whom I formed my first business, Positive Images before branching out on my own at Dee Studios. You’d have thought I’d got the hang of it by now!
What is your current job?I am a self employed photographer with the above firm, Dee Studios.
Your Company:
What is the main activity of your company?Errr...Commercial and advertising Photography
These last few years did you notice changes: in your clients requirements?, in their choices? In their expectations? How do you manage to keep the company constantly updated and efficient? Yes, more and more of our clients were becoming interested in digital photography because of the speed, economy and efficiency of the system. It has only been possible for us to invest in this technology recently as previous systems did not match up to our quality, cost and flexibility criteria. But now we have the Sinar 23. Wow, this system really covers all the bases and the quality of the images far exceeds even my expectations. We’ve had the system only two months and I still find out a new ways to use it every day, It’s brilliant!!
Your Website:
Where does the idea of Uklandscape come from? I have always been passionate about landscape photography and recently I have become really interested in the notion of having a web based photo library though I couldn’t imagine how I would go about setting up such a thing. But about a year and a half ago, discussing all this with Brian Sharland over a pint or several, he suggested that we merge these interests and the Idea was born. He and I talked for some time about what form the site should take and I forget now who’s ideas were who’s but 4 or 5 months later the site was launched, I manage the site and Brian manages publicity, new contributors, advertising, planning, editorial content, sponsorship, legal issues and copyright. Seems like a fair division of labour to me!!
Is your dedication to “Landscapes” a way to resist against modernity? No not at all, I have no quarrel with modernity in fact I embrace it. Landscape does not have to be a traditional thing it can be as contemporary as you want it to be. But I think UKL should encompass all styles of landscape photography. As it grows I hope to be able to showcase more and more really up to date work along with the classic stuff.
What are your expectations? I want to make the site an image resource for publishing, design and whoever needs great images BUT I want the site to remain a general interest site at the same time, I don’t want it to become just another Photo Library. I want it to retain its unique mix of Articles, routes and images. The site must always be fun to search through!
Do you think Internet will improve photographer’s career? I think it can. I think that it is incredibly useful to have a folio of work online because if you are talking on the phone to a potential customer you can direct them to your page and they can see your work instantly. They can then decide if they want to see more of your work in the flesh or not. This will save a fantastic amount of money in sending folio’s around the country to people who are not going to be remotely interested in your work (we’ve all done it!) Also the potential audience for your work can be massive when included in a general interest site like UKL and commissions or print orders can be generated from this exposure. Properly managed, I guess the main advantage of the net is cheap publicity!!
Your Gear:
Your equipment? At work I have been using mostly a Mamiya RZ and a Cambo 5x4 until recently. Now however as I mentioned earlier I use the Sonar 23 digital camera for most jobs though I do still shoot the odd bit of film from time to time. But for landscapes I usually use a simple old Nikon FM2, no bells and whistles just small and light and good quality. On the odd occasion I have been known to lug a hassleblad up a mountain but the 50mm lens I use is pretty heavy and my colleagues said I complained incessantly at the weight of my rucksack!!
Black/White or colour? What do you prefer? For work I like colour, I like exploring combinations of quite strong colours, I like to shock people a bit sometimes with false colours Though when people are paying good money for your work you can only go as far as your client will allow. For landscape I like black and white, I think black and white leaves something to the imagination, it requires something of the viewer. Also Black and white has a melancholy and sombre quality which I find strangely attractive.
Do you print your own pictures? Most work images are transparencies or digital files so there is no printing required. If a print is necessary then the staff of Positive Images produce the prints to a really good standard. For my landscape work I always print the images myself as I want the finished work to be my personal view of the subject and I feel that in black and white the interpretation of a scene is as much in the printing as it is in the original photography.
Do you have a digital camera? -If yes: what do you like about it? -if not: why? Is it a choice? The camera I have is very much a studio-based camera as that is what my work requires though there are now modules I can attach to hook it up with a lap top computer and take it on location. I love working digitally as I can produce work that I could never have dreamed about before. The ability to retouch my own work before I send it off to the client means I can keep more control of the image to ensure it looks how I intended it to. But the best thing is that I can take a shot over and over until I’m completely happy and not have to worry about how much I am spending on sheet after sheet of Polaroid. I take the shot, it comes up on my screen and if I or the client aren’t happy I do it again until it’s right. Before I would shoot a couple of Polaroid’s and then send some film up for processing. An hour or so later we would look at the transparency and if it was not right we’d have to shoot more film and wait another hour. I would like to have a hand held digital camera too for my landscapes but I wonder if I would miss holding a beautiful Bromide print in my hands with all its deep and subtle tones. No matter how great the technology, an ink jet print, a screen image or a CD disc can never match the almost organic beauty of a really good print………….Yet!
Your Pictures
What was your first step in photography? My father gave me a Kodak Retina 2 folding camera and let me use his dark room equipment in our garage, it was actually a surprisingly good camera and I am still surprised at 1 or 2 of my early pictures. A school friend of mine was also interested in photography and we sparked enthusiasm off each other.
What is your favorite picture? Can you tell us the little story to go with? I think my favorite is the one of Grisdale Beck in the Lake District. It was taken as the light faded on a winter’s day after walking in the mountains. The light was so dim that the only way I could get a reasonable exposure was to use a very long shutter speed. I had no tripod with me so I held the camera as firmly as I could on the handrail of the small foot bridge there. I took 3 or 4 exposures, as I was not confident that the camera had been held still. I think only one of the frames was any good. When I printed the image up it was a revelation because although I had framed the shot as best I could it really was so dark that I wasn’t sure exactly what I had got. I shaded in the sky in the dark room to give the image added drama and as usual it took 3 or 4 attempts to get a good print but when I had finished I noticed that one of my earlier attempts looked as if a mist was rising in the valley. Actually there was no mist it was just bad printing but I liked it and so that was the one I used
Are you the type of photographer who just takes one shot on a subject? God no!! I really wish I were. Given an infinite amount of film and time I would snap away at a subject all day. I often come home with reels of film and don’t actually like any thing I’ve done. I usually run low of film long before a day is over and have to be selective about what I shoot from then on. This of course is when some thing really good happens and I’ve only got 2 frames left!
....Mind you, when I am working it’s different. I may shoot heaps of Polaroid’s or digital previews but when everyone agrees that it’s right I like to shoot it and be done. I hate it when a client says OK, now can we do one from a little higher or with a little more light or whatever. Though I don’t usually make much of a fuss because I charge by the hour!!Do you like to show your pictures? No I hate it. I really am not very good at taking advise or criticism and I hate compliments too because I never believe people really mean it……Perhaps I should see a shrink!!
Do you think you have a fair opinion on others photographer’s work? I am constantly in awe of the work of other people and I think one of the things that keeps me going is the hope that I might one day be able to make a print as good as some of the work I have seen.
Do you keep all your photographs even the junk? Nearly all yes! I have boxes and boxes of old rubbish and I am forever attempting to organise the material into a coherent collection but after an hour or so I change my mind about how it should be done or the enormity of the task overwhelms me and yet another spring clean grinds to a halt.
Your biggest disappointment in photography? Not having enough time to pursue landscape photography more and not having engineered enough freedom in my career to be able to pick and choose the jobs I take on.
What is your favourite “ingredient “ for a good photo? It has to move me or surprise me, provoke a strong emotion in me. I tend to go for heavy and sombre pictures it doesn’t actually matter what subject but I want to feel that the picture tells me something more than it shows superficially. God, does that sound pretentious or what?
Your Inspiration
Favourite photographer Oh, Ansell Adams every time! Sorry, not very original
Favourite subjects Mountainous landscapes
Favourite spots North Wales
Favourite mood. Dark and threatening
Your View On
You
Can you describe yourself in 3 words? Mid – Life – Crisis!!Your Company
Can you describe Positive Images in 3 words? Small – Flexible – DeterminedYour Website
Can you describe it in 3 words? Positive Images site? Useful – Simple – EffectiveUKlandscape Site? Intriguing – Unusual – Potential – Improving – Fun – Serious – Informative - Diverse Oh, sorry that’s 8 words!
Do you think photography is more: - A hard work? - A talent? - An intuition? - A chance? All of the above
Your Dream
What is your photographer’s dream? I would like to do library work, just shooting whatever I feel like shooting on a particular day or that I think there might be a market for. Only thing is, I’m not sure that I have the self-discipline for that life style - be nice to be able to try it though.
The pictures you choose to show us are not landscapes. Tell us a little bit more about these shots, why did you choose them?
They show a range of work of differing styles and are all shots I use currently for our publicity. The watch and the scales were Iconic images to represent time and the legal profession, the man with pipes was for a corporate brochure as were the two black & whites, Einstein was an advertising campaign for an accountancy training course and the disco and the exterior were both publicity shots for surrey universities.
This space is not a question. It’s your “Free Speech Space”. Go on! You can say whatever you like! Blimey! I think I’ve droned on enough. But thanks for the interview; it’s almost been therapeutic!!
