Photography News Issue 67

Photography News | Issue 67 | photographynews.co.uk

Interview 26

Above left This is one of Peter’s favourite images from his current exhibition, The English Summer Season, and unusually features his subject looking directly into the camera

PN: And what about asking permission to photograph people? PD: You have to judge each situation you’re in, whether you’re an accredited member of the press, whether you’re in a public space, whether you’re on private property. People increasingly think they can tell me what to do with a picture of them; they can certainly put their point of view forward and if it’s causing them distress then I’ll obviously take that into consideration. Generally, I do see it as a collaboration. I’m not ashamed to be a photographer – if someone asks: “are you taking a picture of me,” then I say “yes”. If they ask why, I tell them. And they can either say fine, or that they’d rather not be involved. We have that conversation. With events, people have generally paid money to be there, they’ve spent time on their appearance, and being photographed is all part of the day out. PN: What’s your most memorable image from the collection? PD: It changes, but I think the image of the girl straddling this chap. I wouldn’t usually authorise a picture of someone who is looking directly into the lens, but I made an exception: I think it adds something. The nonchalance of her gaze, it’s happened just after a downpour, and is charged with a lot of emotion both between me, her and who she is with. PN: What’s next for you? And dare I mention Brexit… PD: I will continue the work on England, but I’m aware that other places do exist, so I’m hoping to take a trip beyond the white cliffs of Dover, to Germany. Dench does Deutschland: yes it’s a Brexit-led idea. We were once the strutting hosts, the global party nation, we ruled the world and now we don’t even deserve a place at the table. I’d like to spend a year looking at our former foe, and see what they get up to.

and people don’t tend to mind being photographed, we put too much emphasis on thinking they care. PN: Approaching people to take pictures isn’t for every photographer; have you ever hesitated to press the shutter? PD: I still have days where I have to force myself. I couldn’t point a camera at a stranger for three yearswhen Iwas a teenager. It doesn’t come naturally. Just wanting to document what I see and offer my visual archive of what I think is right about what I'm saying, pushes me through. And in this instance, you know, this is England and what I’m seeing. It is not the definitive document. It’s just my contribution to the archive.

I couldn’t point a camera at a stranger for three years when I was a teenager

Contact

For 20quick-fire questionswith Peter, visit our InstagramTV channel @photonewspn peterdench.com Instagram: @denchphoto Twitter: @peterdench