Photography News Issue 61

Photography News | Issue 61 | photographynews.co.uk

Interview 28

Fromabove Profile Photographer Tomas Sentpetery wanted to give his travel photography a fresh twist and that’s how his Look Deeper project camera about. He explains the thinking behind his project to PN

PN: Can you tell Photography News readers a bit about yourself please? What’s your background and what do you normally shoot as a professional photographer? TS: I am a Slovakian born photographer who came to the UK in 2004. I always had an interest in photography even from an early age. I started out shooting on film and then swapped for a digital point and shoot. In 2008, I bought my first DSLR and that’s when I started to take photography more seriously, devoting all my free time to taking pictures. I started to travel more and more and discover new places to photograph. That’s when I fell in love with landscape and cityscape photography. I still travel a lot but now most of my work comes from weddings and portrait-related photography. PN: What was your motivation behind the project? Is it a self-motivated project? TS: As a travel photographer, I’m always aspiring to adventure into the unknown and to experience something new. However, as the world gets smaller, it is becoming increasingly difficult to produce travel photography that is original and unique. The Look Deeper project came about through a collaboration with Nikon Europe to try and bring new light to popular travel destinations by revealing new and unique perspectives. As part of the project, I travelled to five countries, photographing above ground but also below the surface – the locations that travellers are less likely to explore. I wanted my image series to reveal the contrasting worlds that can be found in these locations and to encourage fellow travel photographers to go out and discover hidden worlds everywhere. PN: How much research do you do for your shoots? TS: I’m very thorough with my research. It obviously can take a while, but it’s worth it as it prevents wasting time on simple logistics like finding your way around and helps avoid nasty surprises such as discovering the monument you want to shoot is under renovation or closed on a bank holiday. However, my research doesn’t stop once my trip has begun. For example, once I’d captured the underground shots at each location, I’d continue to research the above-ground location. Throughout the Look Deeper project, I made sure to research sunset and sunrise in each of the locations, so I could time my visit to perfection and ensure I was able to capture those golden hour shots. PN: How do you choose the locations? TS: I use the internet a lot to identify more unusual locations to shoot and not just the obvious spots. I also take inspiration

London – Above

Below

Images Tomas’s images explore the contrast between what’s above and below ground in five popular tourist destinations.

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