Φωτογράφος Adam Johnson

—Έχετε φωτογένεια;

—I think everyone is photogenic. Just not everyone appreciates it the first time they see a photo of themselves. I'm the kind of person who grows to like photos of myself over time, rather than instantly loving them.

—Πώς ξεκίνησες να ασχολείσαι με τη φωτογραφία;

—It just happened. I got married, bought a DSLR for my honeymoon, and became obsessed with it. I thought I was getting quite good, shot a friend's wedding (as a guest) and did a terrible job. So I went away, practised and studied super hard, bought better equipment then tried again. It went much better the second time and I was able to build a portfolio and website. 18 months later I quit my day job.

—Ποια είναι τα πιο σημαντικά στοιχεία μιας καλής φωτογραφίας κατά τη γνώμη σας;

—If we are talking about a wedding photo then it's all about emotion. Light is my obsession, but a beautifully lit emotionless or 'mute' wedding photo is pointless. A photo has to speak for itself, it shouldn't need a caption or an explanation.

—Αγαπάτε τα ταξίδια;

—Of course. And I love that wedding photography is showing me more of the world than I would ever have seen without it.

—Τι σας αρέσει περισσότερο στο επάγγελμά σας;

—Freedom of expression. The more you shoot, the better you get, the more people hear about you and know about your work, the more freedom you are given to express yourself artistically. That and what I said about traveling in the last question!

—Τι σας αρέσει λιγότερο στο επάγγελμά σας;

—I am honestly grateful for this being my profession but of course, when you have young children at school, it can take its toll when you're out most weekends throughout the summer and not able to spend as much time with them as I would like.

—Ποιο θα είναι το μέλλον της φωτογραφίας;

—Who knows?! I just hope I'm able to change and adapt to however it changes. I truly believe there will always be a market for beautiful, well crafted photos – the technology and expectations may change but the product will not.

—Τι το ιδιαίτερο υπάρχει στο φωτογραφικό είδος στο οποίο εξειδικεύεσαι;

—People. That's what it's all about. People and relationships. Being invited into a private world and asked to document it for a day.

—Πώς αντιμετωπίζετε την κριτική;

—Badly. I do not like to be criticised. Often once it has sunk in I'm able to either reject or accept it and use it to improve, but I don't like it!

—Υπάρχουν τάσεις στη φωτογραφία;

—Of course! I just prefer to ignore them.

—Με ποια κριτήρια θα πρέπει ένας πελάτης να επιλέγει φωτογράφο;

—If the photographer's photos of a total stranger's wedding can make you feel something in your heart and soul, you've found your wedding photographer.

—Ποια πράγματα δεν επιτρέπονται σε καμία περίπτωση κατά τη φωτογράφηση;

—There are no rules but I think each photographer will have their own principles or boundaries. If someone is crying because they are truly sad then I will not photograph them just to get that 'tear shot' that is so popular with wedding photographers these days. If I do not feel it is appropriate to shoot something, then I won't shoot it.

—Ποιο πρόσωπο αποτελεί το σύμβολο του 21ου αιώνα κατά τη γνώμη σας;

—Can we answer this with 85 years of the century remaining?! I think there are so many medical and technological advances we will see in this century and I expect icons to be created in these areas.

—Ποιον θέλετε να φωτογραφήσετε;

—Ben Folds, Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United.

—Έχετε επαγγελματικά ταμπού;

—Not that I know of!

—Με ποιους σας αρέσει να τραβάτε φωτογραφίες;

—Annie Leibowitz, Joey L, James Nachtwey, Don McCullin, Richard Avedon... I love to shoot with other photographers, I think it's a good thing to do regularly.

—Τι σας ανησυχεί και γιατί;

—I am a worrier. I worry about a lot of things! Professionally speaking I worry about becoming irrelevant, about getting stuck in a rut and left behind and nobody wanting me to take their wedding pictures!

—Ποια ήταν η πιο εντυπωσιακή στιγμή στη ζωή σας;

—The births of my two children.

—Εάν ήσασταν ένας λογοτεχνικός ή κινηματογραφικός χαρακτήρας ποιος θα θέλατε να είσαστε και γιατί;

—Peter Pan. I want to stay young and always fight pirates.

—Τι σας εμπνέει στη ζωή σας και γιατί;

—I don't know if they inspire me as such but my children are the reason that I do what I do and why I want to continually get better at it. I am inspired by anyone successful – in business, in photography, in sport, in life... Not in an arrogant way but I find my own successes an inspiration to keep trying harder and to achieve more.

—Ποιος είναι ο ορισμός της επιτυχίας; Πώς μετριέται η επιτυχία;

—For me, people booking me to shoot photos of them, plus the recognition of my work by my peers is probably my yardstick of success professionally. Happiness and contentment are signs of success in wider life.

—Είναι προτιμότερο να είστε αρεστός ή να σας σέβονται;

—I don't think it's possible for me personally to respect somebody I don't like, so I don't think you can be one or the other. I can quickly lose respect for someone who turns out to be a huge douchebag.

—Ποιο είναι το μεγαλύτερο σφάλμα που έχετε κάνει ποτέ στη δουλειά σας;

—I don't remember. I know I've made mistakes but I'm pretty good about moving on from stuff.

—Όταν πρόκειται να ταξιδέψετε, τι παίρνετε μαζί σας και γιατί;

—My iphone, my kindle, my macbook, my camera and some earphones.

—Σε σχέση με τον εξοπλισμό που σας ανήκει, υπάρχει κάτι που εύχεστε να μην το είχατε αγοράσει. Γιατί;

—I tend to sell stuff if it doesn't fit into my life or work after I buy it. I remember I once bought a weird step trainer off an infomercial on the TV, it was so rubbish!

—Πώς εκπαιδεύετε τον εαυτό σας για να μάθει να παίρνει καλύτερες φωτογραφίες;

—Taking pictures is the education. I'm quite analytical so if I see a photo I like I work out what I like and why... I do the same with my own photos, working out how I could've done better or what I could've done differently. I look at other photography a lot – in books, online, instagram and I think that seeps into my work.

—Ποιανού δουλειά σας έχει επηρεάσει περισσότερο ως φωτογράφο;

—I think a turning point for me was doing a workshop with Daniel Aguilar from Mexico.

—Τι εύχεστε να γνωρίζατε όταν ξεκινήσατε να τραβάτε φωτογραφίες;

—That there were no rules!

—Τι θέλετε να πείτε με τις φωτογραφίες σας;

—I've no idea. Good stuff I hope.

—Τι σας παρακινεί να συνεχίσετε να τραβάτε φωτογραφίες;

—The thing I love about taking photos, or any creative pursuit I guess is that it's just that – a pursuit – and you can never catch the thing you're chasing, but you're constantly improving, or changing at least. It's not static, or limited, or constrained. I know I've not taken my best photo, and I may never take it, but I will always keep striving for it.

—Οι γονείς σας θα έπρεπε να είναι περισσότερο ή λιγότερο αυστηροί;

—No comment.

—Εάν μπορούσατε να πάτε πίσω στο χρόνο, τι θα κάνετε διαφορετικά;

—Nothing, I don't think of life this way. I got to this point in my life, a point in which I am extremely happy, because of the choices I made. I don't want to change anything.That, or I'd go back and invest in Apple before they invented the iPod.Or I could invent the iPod.

—Τι πιστεύετε για τη ζωή σε άλλους πλανήτες;

—Maybe, maybe not. I'm not concerned with it.

—Ποιοι είναι οι ήρωες σας;

—I have no heroes.

—Για ποιον δεν έχετε καθόλου σεβασμό;

—An awful question.

—Τι κάνετε στον ελεύθερο χρόνο σας;

—I play piano, play and watch football, watch TV shows and movies, go to the gym, spend time with friends and family, listen to music...I don't see life as spare time and work time. It's just life. I do all this stuff and I work, there's no split time. I work when I have to and I play whenever I can.

—Ποια πλευρά του εαυτού σας δεν βλέπει ποτέ το κοινό;

—The public? As opposed to who?

—Πότε είστε τελείως ικανοποιημένος με τη δουλειά σας;

—I love my own work. I love seeing progression in my work. I love it when my clients are in love with the photos I give to them. Completely satisfied? Is this possible?

—Πιστεύετε στους παραδοσιακούς ρόλους για τους άνδρες και τις γυναίκες;

—My parents got divorced when I was young. This has skewed my view of tradition in the home... I don't really know what traditional roles are – women raise children, cook and clean and men just earn the money? Then no, I don't believe in that. A family is the sum of its parts, not separate and distinct people or roles.

—Κάνετε εύκολα φίλους;

—Yeah I guess. I'm never the instigator, I'm shy so I tend to wait for people to make friends with me!

—Που θα θέλατε να ζήσετε;

—If I could have four homes I would have one in the UK, probably near where I live now, one in New York City, a rural house in Southern France and one somewhere in California! Not that I'm greedy.

—Ποιο είναι το πιο ανόητο πράγμα που έχετε δεχτεί ποτέ να κάνετε;

—I'm not sure I've ever agreed to something stupid.

—Υπάρχει ζωή μετά το γάμο;

—I've been married 8 years... I'm still alive.

—Έχετε ένα αγαπημένο ανέκδοτο; Πείτε το μας.

—What's invisible and smells like carrots?Rabbit farts.

—Συμπαθείτε τα σκυλιά ή τις γάτες;

—Neither.

—Ποιον ή τι μισείτε;

—I hate wasps. Passionately.

—Το καλύτερο πράγμα στη ζωή είναι:

—Family time.

—Το πιο ενοχλητικό πράγμα στη ζωή είναι:

—Traffic jams.

—Υπάρχει κάτι γύρω σας που θα θέλατε να αλλάξετε;

—I want to make my house bigger!

—Τι θα θέλατε να αλλάξετε στον εαυτό σας;

—I would like to break my iphone addiction!

—Τι θα θέλατε να αλλάξετε στον κόσμο;

—Far too much to list. The world is a broken place.

—Μπορείτε να δώσετε μερικές συμβουλές για τους φωτογράφους που ξεκινάνε να φωτογραφίζουν;

—You don't have to shoot every second of the wedding, you're not making a stop motion movie... Slow down, breathe, let your mind take in what is happening then tell the story with your photos. There are no rules.

—Εάν έρθουν εξωγήινοι στη γη και είστε ο πρώτο άνθρωπος που συναντήσουν, τι θα τους πείτε;

—You will never feel satisfied after eating a McDonalds...

—Εάν σας ζητήσουν να γυρίσετε μια ταινία, τι είδους ταινία θα είναι;

—Slapstick comedy.

—Αύριο θα πάω και θα κάνω...

—I'll go to the gym, do some editing, get ready for Saturday's wedding, kick a football with my children, eat food, drink coffee...