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Welcome to 10.Q Interviews.This section usually features interviews to Humanitarian, Cultural & Travel Photographers, their work and photography.

This week in 10.Q Interviews, Simon Sticker:

“I love stories. That is what I’m interested in. And I love to tell them. That is what I do. Every person has a story to tell and while most people can share it easily, many people can’t. So to be more precise, I love to tell the stories of the unheard, the good and the sad stories. The stories that might be forgotten. Stories of problems and crisis. To tell those stories I’m always searching for extraordinary people and places, traveling the world, following the soul.” [More about Simon and FlowMedia...]

1. Tell us about you and your photography. What kinds of shooting have you done? Have you worked for any humanitarian organizations/magazines etc.? Could you name any current or former clients?

i’m a very visual person and when I discovered photography, it became for me my way of expressing what I see and experience. At some point videography took a bit over and it blended again in the years. Nowadays, I do both and try to push for myself the use of both in combination. Both forms of visual storytelling have it’s advantages and disadvantages but I think with a combination of it, we could do more powerful stories. That is also something what I was doing with my latest NGO assignments, it was all about the combination of both. The big advantage is that the pictures could be used also in other ways, so you create an extra value that pure video would not have but also pure photography would not have.
I worked with NGOs like the Baobab Family and MEDSAR in the last time. Beside that we started a project last year in Rwanda called ‘With our own eyes’ and in a first workshop taught Rwandan students in photography and telling stories with pictures, most of it done with their cell phones. The idea was to get their perspective and let them tell their stories and all that in a way that they are also able to use afterwards. Quite some of my work is also created for universities as a visual picture of their topics of research. And then there are the commercial clients…

© Simon Sticker | www.simonsticker.com

2. We all know that you don’t get into humanitarian photography to become rich, so what does humanitarian photography means to you? What’s your vision for it?

My motivation to do this are the people. I think it is important to tell their stories, that is what drives me. I think quite often there is a big misunderstanding in the western world. We all have seen this dark B/W pictures of the starving child somewhere in Africa. But I think it is important to tell more of the story. To get away from this point of view to show them as victims. I want to make people interested in the lifes of the people I photograph, not in a way of voyeurism but in in a way of curiosity. I want people to meet on eye-level and also see what they can learn from the people I photograph, so that it is not only about feeling pity for their situation but that they can see the richness in their lifes. I’m always moved by what I learn from the people I work with (way more than they learn from me I guess) and I think I want to pass on a little bit of it to the people who see my stories.

Why i do what i do. from Flow Media on Vimeo.

3. How did you get into humanitarian photography? Where did you get the idea to shoot these kinds of people and groups?

I did not get into humanitarian photography on purpose. It was a development over the time and has a lot to do with myself growing as a person and more and more feeling that I have to take responsibility to capture what I see. And to be clear, it took some time that I felt ready for that. One major tipping point for me was a trip to Kashmir in a time where the violence was pretty much erupting. And I was for sure not ready for it at that point. After that I spent time in Dharamsala, the home of the Dalai Lama and many other exile-Tibetians. I was talking to so many people and I was moved by all this stories they had to tell. People, younger than I, having gone through so much but at the same time with such a positive attitude. I think that was a major starting point for me to tell those stories.

© Simon Sticker | www.simonsticker.com

4. What are the challenges of shooting for NGO’s or non- profit organizations?

We often hear this money topic when it comes to working with NGOs and for sure that is an issue, but I think it is also about education. Not in a way to promote how great it is to have great photography but more to educate them how to use it properly. What are the possibilities to use it, what are the ways to share it. I worked more for small NGOs and this process to find out what they need and how they can use it afterwards has always been a part of the process. What is the value for a NGO to send a photographer when they don’t have good ways to share that? And at the end I’m the first one who says: Don’t send a photographer to cover your projects or shoot a specific assignment when you have no idea about how to use it properly afterwards to generate donations or any other value out of it. Small NGOs are often volunteer-based, enthusiastic people with great knowledge and value for the work they do but maybe not with someone who has knowledge about the use of media. And good pictures in a crappy website with ten hits per day will barely bring the value back. I like to think of assignments more in concepts, what not starts with taking pictures and ends with delivering them. Till now I was luckily always involved in the concepts behind it, what also gave me a great deal of freedom to tell the stories how I thought it would be best.

© Simon Sticker | www.simonsticker.com

5. How much do you travel every year? How do you manage your family time?

This is a difficult question. It depends a lot on the assignments. The humanitarian work is not the only stuff that I do, but also my other assignments most of the time make me travel. In the last years it has normally been around four months a year. Luckily I had my girlfriend with me on some of the trips and when i’m back home I try to organize my time that we could spent as much time together as possible. So till now it works fine but I also try not to be away for months in a row.

© Simon Sticker | www.simonsticker.com

6. Who’s been an inspiration for your photography? How do you stay inspired? Do you read blogs? if so, which ones would you recommend?

My main inspiration are the people I work with. Telling there stories has always been such a rich experience for me. On the photographic side I have to name famous photojournalists like James Nachtwey or Marcus Bleasdale. I have a love-critique affair with their work. Inspiring in so many levels and amazing in their power, yet sometimes it feels for me a bit to much focused on the dramatic suffering side of the story. But especially Nachtwey has been a big influence for me. I found so many of my intentions in his words that it in the first place even shocked me. For this whole multimedia part Mediastorm, Bombay Flying Club or Duckrabbit are a great source of inspiration.
I think it’s not so hard to stay inspired. There is so much out there, that there barely passes a day for me without new ideas. But especially blogs are a great source for getting knowledge, exchanging knowledge and also to find inspiration. Some great sources are here A developing story, innovative interactivity or the Rights Exposure Project.

© Simon Sticker | www.simonsticker.com

7. How do you normally approach people from other cultures? What are your limits at the moment of shooting people in need, or in a complicated situation?

I once wrote about that in my blog as this is a question I’m asked quite often. I think one of my tricks is time. Take time to approach them, get interested and make them interested, make them trust you and get a relationship. Sometimes it only takes seconds, sometimes hours or even days. The more open you are to them the more open they will be, that is my experience. The limits are a fine line. I think here the respect you bring to their situation and your sensibility for when it is time to put down the camera are key aspects.

© Simon Sticker | www.simonsticker.com

8. What are the characteristic that a good humanitarian photographer needs to have? What would be your advice for a photographer who is just starting out in this field?

Curiosity, respect and willingness to understand situations and livelihoods is what I think is important. That is also one of the reasons why I think it is sometimes a difficult concept to fly in a famous fashion photographer and make him shoot some fancy portraits. I think the highest quality of a photographer in that field is not his ability to shoot great pictures, more how he finds the pictures that represent a situation the best and leads to an understanding of the situation.
if you wanna start in that field, what is a situation where I see myself in as well, I think it is good to start working with NGOs. it does not have to be somewhere far away. Get in contact with local charities, where you can identify yourself with what they do, and start shooting for them. There is so much just in front of your doorstep worth doing a story about. And in general, go out and shoot, stay curious, try out, experiment, read blogs, soak in all information you could get, develop personal projects. This is all about learning, being curious and staying open at the same time.

© Simon Sticker | www.simonsticker.com

9. Tell us about the last piece of gear that you deemed important enough to buy. How about the one that’s been most important in your career?

Right now a Lumix GF1 with a 20mm will be my next piece of gear. As a little extra back-up but also to give me back the feeling of shooting only with prime lens in a small sized camera. And it is a nice tool when you don’t wanna be seen as the photographer right away.
The most important piece of gear I would say for this kind of work became my little 50 bucks Polaroid Pogo, a pocket printer that allows me to print directly from the camera wherever I am. The prints are small, but it is a great way to give something back directly and I will never forget this moment when I came back to some street kids in Rwanda that I was shooting with for some time to print them some of the pictures. It is both a great tool for communication and to give back.

© Simon Sticker | www.simonsticker.com

10. How important is social media for you? How do you it in your work? Any tips to share?

Social Media became a very important tool for me. Not so much for contacts with clients and assignments only, but also to share thoughts and exchange with inspiring people. it is both, a way of sharing your stuff but also to find inspiration and exchange with people. So I use twitter, facebook and the likes, run a blog where I share tips, thoughts, inspiring projects and work of others.

The private life of Ancille Mukabisangwa from Flow Media on Vimeo.

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