Watched one of the series of these programmes which, on this occasion, featured Mark Selliger who hosted the programme together with Alan Cumming who is an actor, director and photographer; and Sebastian Kim photographer.
The programme contained some fantastic black and white images by Kim whose other area of expertise is Fashion photography. Not so keen on the latter which seemed to be exercises in the bizarre use of colour. I found Cumming work less successful and he himself makes the comment that his earlier fame provided the necessary recognition in the world of photography so that his work was not judged on its own merits but on who was the photographer. A case of being known rather than knowing someone who mattered in the chosen field.
In his opening Selliger remarks that a great photograph needs no introduction. A comment of doubtful validity which is contradicted almost immediately by Cumming. He tells us that the photographer is telling a story and that is why he writes stories about each of his photographs because sometimes his story is very different from what is portrayed by the image. As he puts it - it is only right who sees the picture should get the full monty. It could be argued from this exchange that judgement of a picture has more to do with fame of the photographer than any intrinsic merit.
Kim told us that he had not intended to be a portrait photographer but the opportunity had arisen and he had taken it. Whether he is happy as a portrait photographer was less easy to determine from his comments and he admitted that he felt intimidated by the celebrity who he was photographing. He seemed to be much happier taking photographs of his wife, particularly a set of her figure seen through a shower door. As he himself said "If your heart is in it you tend to work harder at it." This was endorsed by Selliger who commented that the things that you love are your best subjects.
Roughly 30 minutes in length the programme was too short to fully appreciate the work and views of the photographers. It provided only a glimpse. I have viewed both photographers web sites (www.sebastiankim.com; www.alancumming.com) and would recommend a visit.
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