SPEAKER_02 0:11

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Menswear Style Podcast with me, your host, Pete Brooker. On the podcast this week, we speak to some of the biggest players in the field of street and fashion photography. We speak to Jonathan Price.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Gentlemen and ladies, hold the presses.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

This just it's No, not that Jonathan Price, but Jonathan Daniel Price from Garson John. I do, however, ask him how many times he gets mistaken for the Welsh actor best known for playing James Bond villain, Elliot Carver, in Tomorrow Never Dies. How often do you get mistaken for Elliot Carver, the Jonathan Price actor from Tomorrow Never Dies? The James Bond film?

SPEAKER_03 0:55

Of course it's a daily basis. I have never once been mistaken for that.

SPEAKER_02 1:00

That interview coming in a short while. During the podcast, you'll hear me mention that I too am learning the art of photography. I've invited into the studio Mr. Jameson, the editor of the Daily Bugle, to review my portfolio. So what do you think of my portfolio, Mr. Jameson?

SPEAKER_06 1:17

Crap. Crap. Mega crap. I'll give you 200 bucks for all of them.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

200 seems a little low. I'll uh come back to you on that one. We're also going to be joined by street photographer Abdel Abdoulai, the brains behind the blog Boy from Dagbon.

SPEAKER_09 1:32

As you say, you know, with Instagram and camera phones, and you know, and don't get me wrong, I'm there like some camera phones that take great pictures, but it's nothing as decent as what a professional can produce with a professional camera. You know, also it takes knowing what you're doing, how to to work the lights, how to work the shutter speed, when to take an image, how to play with the light, play with your surroundings. You know, there's so much involved.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

That interview coming up in a short while. So, Mr. Jameson, would there be any room for me on the payroll at the bugle?

SPEAKER_06 2:02

No jobs. Freelance! Best thing in the world for a kid your age.

SPEAKER_02 2:07

I see. Well.

SPEAKER_06 2:08

You must be upset. Are you upset?

SPEAKER_02 2:10

No.

SPEAKER_06 2:11

No, so you just don't give a shit about any of this? Say it.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

Okay, I'm upset. Louder! I'm upset! Louder! Well, look, I'm not gonna lie to you, I'm beginning to feel threatened, and not to mention your breath is an acute miasma of coffee and garlic. I tell you what, you can have the pictures for free fifty. How about that one?

SPEAKER_06 2:31

Give you 300. That's a standard freelance fee.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

Deal, Crikey, that was intense. We're also gonna be talking to Antonio Eugenio about the mastered fashion photography course, as well as his own site, AntonioHyphen Eugenio.com.

SPEAKER_08 2:45

It's actually a brand new website I I just put online like a few months ago. So uh I'm glad you like it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

Um I have to say I I wept a silent tear because there's a few dudes with their tops off um looking very buffed. Uh the the square pecked torso. I just thought, you know what, I just need to get my ass off this chair and do some sit-ups. All that to come. Firstly, a little bit of housekeeping. If you're not there already, head over to the website. It's www.menswearstyle.co.uk. Check out all the show notes features from this particular episodes, interviews, and competitions we also have running over there. Like us on the social at menswear style and subscribe to us in iTunes. Simply type menswear style into the store. Uh, leave us a nice review, and if you want to get in touch with me, then it's Peter at menswearstyle.co.uk. Okay, so without any further ado, are you ready for this one, Mr. Jameson?

SPEAKER_04 3:39

I will fuck you like a pig.

SPEAKER_02 3:41

I'll take that as a yes. Cracky. Here is the interview with street photographer Jonathan Daniel Price, founder of Garson John. I'd like to introduce uh to the podcast now, Jonathan Daniel Price, best known probably for his website, Garson John, uh a street photographer. How are you doing today, Jonathan?

SPEAKER_03 4:03

Hi, Peter, I'm doing really well, thanks.

SPEAKER_02 4:05

Excellent. Uh Jonathan, first things first, could you tell us a little bit about Garson John, the website, please? What's it about and why you started it?

SPEAKER_03 4:14

Well, it originally started uh about ten years ago, actually, when I was living in Glasgow. I had a blog with my best friend called Le Garçon de Glasgow, which had a kind of funny play on words with the Glasgow boys, the famous artists, and um also just the nice alliteration, and that's really where the Garcon John part came about, because when Twitter started, I needed a handle, so it was Garçon John. And then when I moved away, the Glasgow part obviously was irrelevant. So basically, as my interest developed in terms of photography, I realized I had a real interest in uh men's style, talking about men in general, and also street photography. So that is how Garcon John came about, and that was the main sort of theme of that website.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

Okay, great. Um and about the street photography then. So I imagine that you're just there roaming the streets all day asking strangers if it's okay to take their picture. What is a day-to-day like for you?

SPEAKER_03 5:11

That's a very romantic view, but it's not the case, unfortunately. Um mainly now, actually, I shoot only during fashion week, which is actually a bit of a shame to realise, but um I have no time the rest of the year. So I would say about three or four months out of my year spent going to Fashion Weeks and shooting on the street then, and then the rest of the year I don't actually do street photography, I do just mainly fashion and portrait work. Um but yeah, so during fashion week it's a whole different ball game and it's a kind of unusual way of shooting on the street. It's not not how you would imagine it usually.

SPEAKER_02 5:46

I see. And what exactly are you looking for? Are you looking for something that's very peacocky, something that turns heads?

SPEAKER_03 5:53

Not at all, actually. I mean, my style, I guess, if you were to look at it and sort of determine one kind of feeling from it, is a naturalistic, kind of authentic look. And so going hand in hand with that, it tends to be more about um I guess classic style or uh men who are not obviously fashion with a capital F. So even during Fashion Week, uh for sure I definitely photograph people who are wearing trends and people who are wearing this season's clothes. But generally speaking, I tend to be drawn to men who wear um something which just is very subtle and uh yeah, like just stands out in a subtle way rather than the obvious, flashy, branded fashion.

SPEAKER_02 6:40

Mm-hmm. Okay. Um and are there any pet peeves that you look for? Well, don't look for, but just so happen to come across. I mean, you must have shot a thousand different dudes wearing different outfits, and you must have something where you go, Jesus man, that does not look good on you.

SPEAKER_03 6:54

It's hard to say because I kind of like to view myself as more of uh maybe bystander or a documentary type of view. So I'm trying to be really open-minded and look at when I'm looking at people, I'm not thinking, does that look cool? I will may think that after when I'm editing, but I at the time will just be really open-minded and think, following my instinct, does this make a good image? But generally speaking, if I was to look at in terms of men's where what I think people get wrong, because sometimes people ask me that too, I think the number one thing is just fit, really. You know, because you could be wearing a really nice suit, and if you don't get the trousers tailored, then it's a bit redundant.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Yep, I know that feeling where I've got a dozen odd suits that are all unwearable because they're all too bad. Um yeah, I really need to get that sorted. That's my New Year's resolution. Um so Jonathan, uh a little bit of an off-pieced question, but I have to ask this because it's quite pertinent in my mind. How often do you get mistaken for Elliot Carver, the Jonathan Price actor from Tomorrow Never Dies, the James Bond film?

SPEAKER_03 8:02

Of course it's a daily basis. I have never once been mistaken for that, but that is quite a good um astute way of looking at it because that's the reason why I go with Garçon John as well, because Jonathan Price, um, in terms of Google searches, would bring up the actor and not me.

SPEAKER_02 8:18

Well, that's I mean, I I'm a huge Bond fan, as anyone who listens to this podcast knows. And when I saw the name come up, I thought, oh brilliant, I'm interviewing Jonathan Price today. Now, please don't take that as light upon your vocation or your uh prestige. But and then I thought, well, this guy must get it at least every other day.

SPEAKER_03 8:36

Uh no one knows, no, hardly anyone does. And people of a certain age, maybe, um, they will know more of it. Um, generally speaking, people don't pick up on it.

SPEAKER_02 8:44

Right, okay. Well, um, thanks for clearing that up. That was actually gonna be right at the end of my questions. I had it written down, but I couldn't wait any longer. I had to get it in. Um Jonathan, um, could you just tell us uh maybe your best city as well for street style shooting? What's your what's your favourite?

SPEAKER_03 9:00

That's something I do get asked a lot by just the average person if they talk about what I do for a living. Um it's hard to answer because I'm obviously biased, but I think London is great. I think um this the mixture of new and old. Obviously, we've got some incredible old buildings and new buildings, so in terms of backgrounds, you get some amazing backdrops. But then also there are so many new people coming through the city that there's always flesh fresh blood, you know, that there's always new style happening, it's a very dynamic place, and it's also quite youth-oriented, which means you get a kind of fresh outlook which is uninhibited. Um, and then going hand in hand with the tradition of tailoring that Britain sort of introduced to the whole world in a way. So it's yeah, I feel like London's a fantastic city for street photography.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

I was doing a shoot in London not too long ago, and I just found one of my favourite places in London is Brick Lane. Um, mainly because it's just got so much graffiti and every other wall is you know almost a work of art down Brick Lane. And then I found, well, actually, this is not so much about what I'm wearing, but maybe the backdrop. So, how do you have to divorce yourself from the scenery to the object that you're actually taking a picture of?

SPEAKER_03 10:16

That's quite a good question because people often will focus just on what someone's wearing in terms of making a good image, but obviously generally just looking at photography, there are so many elements. So I would actually say, in terms of my decision on whether to take someone's photo or not, the number one is light, not even what they look like or what they're wearing. Because if you don't have good light, then it's not going to make a good photo, and there's almost no point in taking the picture. Um so yeah, there's definitely a few considerations, main ones light, the location, and whether that will fit nicely with what they're wearing, and then the third, exactly what I said, what they're wearing, what they look like, the general aesthetic and vibe that they have.

SPEAKER_02 10:54

Yeah. Yeah. Um I you sound like you're my girlfriend in a lot of ways. She's she's lent me this camera that I'm trying to get my head around. And the main thing is that every time the picture comes out crap, it's because of the light, and she just says light is first, and then everything else is um second, third, fourth. So that's good advice there.

SPEAKER_03 11:15

Yeah, and that actually uh contradictory to what I was saying about London is uh always a challenge in London because we do get some beautiful days today, it's a good example, but sometimes the light is really flat and very dim, even in the middle of the day at the brightest point. Um and so with that in mind, just thinking about light, I really love New York because um I think light also is reflective of people's ideas of what the city is meant to look like, and when you get that really harsh direct sunlight in New York, it goes so beautifully with the stripes on the street and the bright um street signs and how brash and bold the people are too. So it's that kind of mixture of uh aesthetic.

SPEAKER_02 11:55

Yeah. Are they bright and brash over in New York? Um I was speaking to Dan Rookwood, who was um the editor of Mr. Porter in the US. Yeah. And he was I asked him, you know, what's the difference in styles between London and New York, and he says they're a lot more conservative over in New York. You know, if you were wearing all the dandy-ish stuff that you can get away with in London, you perhaps turn a few heads more so in New York. Um is that something you uh uh have encountered or agree with?

SPEAKER_03 12:22

I do agree. I was actually meaning more personality-wise, the Brighton brush. Um but you're right, in terms of clothing too, like that is a obviously a major consideration. Um, yeah, it is a little more conservative, generally speaking. Um I think also just population-wise, the average person I would say in even New York, you know, obviously the states in general, but even in New York, won't take a quote unquote style risk. But a Londoner would. I think the average Londoner would try something new, particularly because of the high street that we have here. But um what you get in New York more, which I don't think you get here, is the um real eccentricity. So you will sometimes get some really cool older guys here who wear their three-piece suit and have been doing it their whole life, and I love that. But in New York, what you'll get is um, for example, when I was there last a couple months ago, a man was wearing uh a metallic silver jumpsuit, and it was crazy cool, like unbelievable. He had like um cornrows, this silver suit, the sunlight was really harsh direct on him. Like you just don't see that in London. People don't do that kind of very odd thing. And he also, when I talked to him, had no idea that he looked unusual. This is just who he is, and it's like just this real owning yourself, owning your personality.

SPEAKER_02 13:42

Yeah, it sounds like he's just been transported from a different time. Yeah. And he's thinking you're weird and not him.

SPEAKER_03 13:48

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 13:49

Um, John, can you tell us a little bit about your favourite picture? Do you have a top three or maybe something that really stands out for you, a picture you've taken?

SPEAKER_03 13:58

Um I'm actually going through my archive at the moment, so I've been digging through a lot of old pictures. Um, it's really nearly impossible to say, because particularly if you just look at my street photography, um, I have so many photographs. Um, purely by the nature of street photography, you can take so many images as opposed to in a studio, for example. Um there's one that I've used as an example in the past when people ask me this, and I still still really like the image. And it was a photograph that I took in 2012 of an artist called Richie Culver for a book that I did in the same year called 100 Beards, A Hundred Days. And I was walking around in Doston. I'd used that project, the 100 Beards Project, as an excuse to really explore London in lots of different areas I'd never been to. Um, I had been to Dolston, obviously, but that was one of the days that I was there. And I looked down the end of a street and I saw this guy, and I thought, he looks like he might be cool. And that thought, you know, can come so many times when as you get closer and you see more clearly, it doesn't transpire to be correct, or sometimes it does. And he looked incredible, he looked so cool, he had an amazing long beard, and he's got so much personality just in his eyes. Um, and it was one of those moments where everything came together. We were at a great, perfect location, we didn't have to walk anywhere. The lighting was fantastic just where we were. Probably shot about five frames, so not that many. And I yeah, really just loved the image that I that I got of him. It's a quite a simple portrait, but I think it says a lot about who he is.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

I mean, can people find that over at the site thehundredbeards.com?

SPEAKER_03 15:28

Exactly, yeah. So I think that was day maybe ninety-eight or ninety-nine, so it's numbered, and and yeah, so if they wanted to have a look, they can find it there.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

They can check that out there. Okay, great. Thank you. Uh Jonathan, I had a just a personal question. Um because like I say, I've just started out in photography myself. Uh the one thing that I find a little tricky is when I come to edit the picture, and sometimes I'm looking at it for a long time, I'm switching between colours, fades, contrasts, and I often just want to put everything in black and white. Now, do you have that filter as well where you think, you know what, I'm just gonna bung this in black and white because it looks better, or do you deliberately have to shoot something in black and white first? How does it work?

SPEAKER_03 16:08

That is actually a really great question because it's the same vein as thinking maybe that a filter is gonna correct problems. And I think definitely black and white um often does look more striking and obviously has this timeless appeal um to images, but I think it is a common mistake to think that if you put it in black and white, it will make the image look better. And what you said about shooting in black and white intentionally is a good point. For me personally, I think even though I'll be shooting if I'm digital, I'll be shooting in raw, so it means that it will still be colour, even if I have the setting on black and white in the camera. Um, I will be shooting with the intention that this will be a black and white photograph. Or obviously, if I'm using film and I'm probably shooting more film than I ever have at the moment, other than when I was a student, um, it will be a black and white film. So I will know it's black and white. And just through experience, I know what works in black and white better and what works in colour better. Um so so yeah, I would say go in with the intention. Go in with the intention, knowing how you want it to look and how you want the edit to be. And sometimes it won't work out that way, and you need to be open to that and know that uh you know fantastic mistakes sometimes make the best images, in fact, more often than not. But um yeah, go in with an idea of how you think you'll want it to look in the end.

SPEAKER_02 17:24

Okay, excellent. Thanks. So if I was to deliberately want to shoot in black and white, it's best to actually start with the settings on the camera that will complement that first.

SPEAKER_03 17:33

Yeah, and maybe experiment with that at first.

SPEAKER_02 17:35

Excellent. Well, thank you, Jonathan. Uh I didn't want to turn this into a 101 uh tutorial for me, but it was fascinating um hearing about some of your projects. And if people want to check you out, I guess it's GarsonJohn.com, it's probably the best place to go. And on the social, it's at Garsonjohn. And what you got coming up next, Jonathan?

SPEAKER_03 17:55

Um, well, I'm working on two books actually, which is really exciting. I'm working on a retrospective kind of book, which will cover a lot of my work over the past few years, and then also over 2017, I'll be shooting new work, which will be a mixture of men's style and street photography and interviews, like I do on GarsonJohn.com. And then also for the past couple years I've been working on a book about British manufacturing, so I'm still plugging away at that and going to factories across the UK.

SPEAKER_02 18:23

Jonathan Daniel Price there from Garson John. And now a word from our sponsor.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

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SPEAKER_02 19:12

Austin Powers there, and that's what it should sound like on every photo shoot. And now we're gonna have a chat with Abdel Abdoulai, the brains behind Boy from Dagbon. Okay, I'd like to welcome to the podcast Abdel Abdulai, who's better known as the Boy From Dagbon. How are you doing, Abdel? I'm very well, thank you. And you? I'm very well, thanks for joining us. Um Abdul, just tell us a little bit about your website, please, your blog, which is The Boy from Dagbon.

SPEAKER_09 19:42

Yeah, so my uh website is um it's pretty much, I as I like to call it, an encyclopedia of style. You know, I like to put together, you know, all the stylish gents that I see either on the street, you know, during fashion week, you know, just put it together, you know, onto onto which also is sort of my portfolio for everyone to to see, enjoy, you know, look at, reference to, you know, that sort of thing. So, you know, that's what I try to capture with my well show with my site.

SPEAKER_02 20:12

Awesome. Um, Abdo, I've got to say I'm just starting out in photography myself. Uh and I I like the idea of stopping strangers in the street and getting their picture, but is there a knack to it? Is there a polite way or how do you go about it?

SPEAKER_09 20:26

Um, I mean, the it really isn't, you know, the only way is to to be polite and just to ask, you know, if you spot someone, you know, you ask them. I mean, most times people will say no because people want their privacy. You know, most people don't want to to appear. You know, sometimes people will ask you who you're working for because they don't want to appear on your newspaper, that sort of thing. You just have to ask. You know, you just have to ask. Um, and yeah, you know, with time, you know, it just changes. I mean, most of the time these days, people will stop when I stop them to take the picture. But when I first asked, I don't know if it's because you know, my being nervous also showed that people were used to be reluctant, but I I don't get that anymore.

SPEAKER_02 21:07

Right. And do you always have like a business card to hand as well, so you can kind of make that bridge, if you like, to who you are and what you represent.

SPEAKER_09 21:15

Yes, indeed, I do. Um, but most you know, most times people want to know where the picture's going to end up because they also would like to share it onto their social media. So I usually have a set of cards, you know, on me for for whenever I'm asked, you know, and then I hand them out. And most times I just give them out because you never know whose picture you're taking as well. So it's it's quite a good way to network it at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

Excellent. Yeah, it's good. I mean, I was thinking of maybe just having a t-shirt that said, Can I take your picture or something something camp and novel, but I guess just having a decent camera in your hand is a good start, and maybe just a nice way about you can go go places as well.

SPEAKER_09 21:56

Absolutely, absolutely. Having a camera, you know, and maybe something not too intimidating. Because you don't want to come across as a paparazzi, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:03

Something in between. So is it um is it tedious waiting on the street all day? Uh do you uh do you go to fashion weeks primarily or do you also do it in your in your downtime?

SPEAKER_09 22:13

Um I do have my yeah, I do have my downtime as well, and there are days where it is tedious. I mean there are days where I could, you know, I I I I fix different parts of London on different days, you know. There's some days where I'll do Carnaby Street and I'll probably make I'll probably get like two to three images. Um and that's just from walking up and down, stopping for a coffee. I mean, it's a lot of coffee drinking while you're waiting. Yeah you know. Um yeah, I'll probably go home and I'll end up with I mean I'll take about 10 to 20, you know, images, but out of all of that, I'll probably have like three to four decent ones. So uh yeah, the days where it you know the days just seem to seem to be a lot longer. And the days where it's just amazing, you know, you you see someone like every few minutes, you know, and and you tend to feel good about it.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

Yeah. Can I ask, uh is it primarily men that you shoot, or is it women as well?

SPEAKER_09 23:08

Um primarily men. Um I have I have started shooting women again, you know, sort of on the side, because women is actually where I initially started, was cap was shooting at Women's Fashion Week doing women's street style uh and runway. Um but then I decided to branch off into men's because there had to be someone, you know, capturing auto style and sharing it with all the other guys who just you know who want to know you know where to find things or what styles are out there, what's trending. Uh yeah, so but I mean I again I have begun shooting women again on the side, but that's just for for paid work.

SPEAKER_02 23:46

Right, okay. I mean, I imagine that you don't really have a regular nine to five. I mean, don't let me put words in your mouth, but I can't imagine you get up and do exactly the same thing every day, like working on a production line.

SPEAKER_09 23:57

No, no, no. I actually free I do freelance IT as well, um, and I do that, you know, every every now and again on the side. So it's a combination of the two, but it's it's pretty much what's you know what's paying, you know. Um I try to balance, you know, both both jobs.

SPEAKER_10 24:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 24:15

Um because obviously there has to be another source of income, you know, but there are times where I just do photography because that takes up a lot of time.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

Well, is it a case that it's I mean, I imagine photography since the advance of phones and cameras being on phones that it's such a saturated market now, and plus everyone thinks in some way or other with Instagram and the likes that they are a photographer, where there's actually a very keen difference to being, you know, just a guy that walks around with a half-decent camera and someone that actually knows their onions.

SPEAKER_09 24:44

Absolutely, that is true. I mean, you know, most people these days, as you say, you know, with Instagram and camera phones, and you know, and don't get me wrong, I'm there some camera phones that take great pictures, but it's nothing as decent as what a professional can produce with with a professional camera. You know, also it takes knowing what you're doing, how to work the lights, how to work the shutter speed, when to take an image, how to play with the light, play with your surroundings. You know, there's so much involved, you know, and yeah, there are times where I see, I mean, my my my siblings do it, you know, they'll take in a picture and be like, oh my god, look, check this out. You know, I'm I I'm such a great photographer, and yeah, it's a good picture, but it's certainly it won't won't get you on the front of uh on the front page of GQ.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

Well, I was gonna ask you something else, perhaps a bit tangential to what we have been speaking about, but do you think that people are more interested in taking pictures of themselves these days, thanks to this kind of revelation of the selfie and Instagram, that we've somehow compounded this weird euphoria of narcissism where it's more interesting to have my picture on a platform than it is to have, say, some graffiti or a sculpture?

SPEAKER_09 25:52

Um, I do know what I'd say it's a combination of both. I think you know, we do like to take a lot of pictures of of ourselves because of camera phones, but at the same time, I think people because people have camera phones and and can take good pictures, people like to, you know, to capture their environment, I suppose, and their surroundings. You know, you see, you you see most of the time, especially when I'm out about taking pictures, you know, people are either doing selfies or taking pictures of the signposts in Carnaby Street, you know, and there are times where I'm sure the same image of the lights on Oxford Street and the lights at Carnaby Street probably ends up on everyone's Instagram page.

SPEAKER_02 26:28

I've seen it, it's the uh the hope sign above Carnaby Street.

SPEAKER_09 26:31

There you go, there you go.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

I haven't even been down Carnaby Street for a few months, and I know exactly where people are when they take pictures.

SPEAKER_09 26:37

That's exactly my point. You know, it's exactly my point. You know, pe everyone wants to take a picture because it looks really nice, and we all want we know we all want to are supposed to carry that memento with us.

SPEAKER_02 26:48

So yeah, I guess so. I I don't want to sound uh misanthropic or anything, it's just I'm seeing so much of it, I just wish it it would everyone would just take a day off.

SPEAKER_09 26:56

You know what? I'm the same. I walked past Conobee Street the other day, and the funny thing is I actually pulled up my phone to do the exact same thing. Uh I was like, what are you doing?

SPEAKER_07 27:04

You know what have you become?

SPEAKER_09 27:06

Yeah, what have I become? You know, and to be honest, it'd probably end up on my on my Instagram and no one would even care. I probably wouldn't even get any likes.

SPEAKER_02 27:12

So that's the thing, it's so disposable these days as well. It's not like everyone has to be precious about a particular picture because it's gone in a second, right?

SPEAKER_09 27:20

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 27:22

Are there any uh particular things that you look for when when you're taking a picture in terms of the style when it comes to people in the street and what they're wearing? Is there something that grabs your eye in particular?

SPEAKER_09 27:32

Um I I tend to look at people themselves, you know, people who are confident with the way they dress, um, with you know, and also edginess, you know, something edgy, smart is always good, but maybe playing with smart, you know, being edgy with being smart, you know, just mixing up a little bit, just something that I know will stand out, you know, and that people would want to see. So I mean that's generally what what you know what I tend to look for. And it it yeah, it's just all day long. I don't I yeah, as long as you you look confident in the way you're dressed and and you also look good within that, you'll always make a good picture, you know, because yeah, it it shows.

SPEAKER_02 28:09

I guess it's a fine line of standing out and trying to look cool and not actually feeling comfortable with the skin that you're wearing.

SPEAKER_09 28:16

Yeah, that's that's you know, that's exactly what it is. You know, you can you can sometimes you can be dressed in a certain way and you just don't look comfortable. And that resonates, you know, in the image. You know, you you put a picture of like that anywhere, no one would really care because as long as you're looking comfortable in it or confident in what you're wearing, people won't I don't I suppose there won't be that connection, you know, from who I was looking at the image and probably wanting to you know to emulate that style.

SPEAKER_02 28:43

Um I I also saw just a a brief video by a photographer called Steve Smith. Yeah. Um you've probably seen it, it's a very popular video about how he's just going around taking pictures of things that catch his eye. Yeah. He walked onto a a construction site and stopped a dude up a scaffold and just said, Look, I I quite like the way you're hanging off that scaffold and like having a fag between his lips perked in the corner of his mouth. He said, Can I just get a picture? And it almost turned out to be the best picture from the shoot. And it wasn't anything stylish, it was just a really good frame and also a really cool angle because he's at the bottom and he's taking a picture up that way. Do you have a very cool picture that you've perhaps stumbled upon by accident out of your portfolio?

SPEAKER_09 29:22

Um, let's see. I have to I have to think think back. There are quite a few. I mean, I haven't had anything quite similar to you know to a guy off uh off a s off you know at a building site or anything like that, but there's some images that I've stumbled upon. I think maybe perhaps my coolest, unfortunately, you know, unfortunately, is gonna be someone famous. Will be an image I took of Kanye West a couple of years ago at Fashion Week, and I just happened to be at the right place at the right time, you know, where I I spotted him, you know, literally shouted his name, and I got him gazing right into my lens. And I quite the frame was actually pretty cool because the way he looked up, you know, the way he was glaring into the lens, it it just had quite a really cool look to it. It's probably one of one of my decent best and best images.

SPEAKER_02 30:11

And I guess that's a qu must be a real relief when you have a picture like that come through the other end and everything's in focus and nothing's blurred or there's no absolutely, you know, and it's I suppose it in in a way it was it was a money shot, you know, everything was in focus.

SPEAKER_09 30:24

He was looking right into my lens, you know, and I was shooting from above and he was below. So the portrait shot just you know pretty looks pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_02 30:32

I guess what um people didn't see was the frame after where he sticks the middle finger up at you and calls you a rename under the sun.

SPEAKER_09 30:38

Yeah, yeah, with his security guards running after me and me running off.

SPEAKER_02 30:43

The sniper rifle, that little dot just appears in between the lens.

SPEAKER_09 30:47

Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 30:49

It's like uh it's like something out of a James Bond film where you just see the barrel of the gun and the and the blood dripping over the lens at the last minute.

SPEAKER_09 30:56

Yeah, that was me. I'm surprised it didn't make the news.

SPEAKER_02 30:59

Um what have you got coming up next?

SPEAKER_09 31:01

What can we um expect to um so I've started prepping for obviously LCM um and pity, which is obviously next on the cards and will be in January. So I've just been speaking to some of the publications um that I work with, just planning what we're going to capture, what we're gonna how we're gonna do it, um, and that sort of thing. So that's and that's pretty much around the corner. So that's next on the cards, it's planning the that. So my January and February for me are going to be busy months because I'm pretty much going to be all over the place, you know, London to Florence to Milan, um, and then later on down the line, I may possibly go to Paris. I'm still contemplating that. Um, and yeah, and that's that's next. And then maybe somewhere down the line, maybe maybe Africa. I'm still working on that as well.

SPEAKER_02 31:50

Wow, excellent. Sounds like quite a range. Um I I was just in Milan a couple of weeks ago. It's a fan, it's it's almost like an orgy for photo photography in so many decent places.

SPEAKER_09 32:00

I can imagine. I've never been to Milan, I've been to Florence a few times, um, and that's beautiful. I mean, the city itself is is pretty amazing, but it's Italy, so hey. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:10

Everything's a screenshot, right?

SPEAKER_09 32:12

Exactly. And everyone looks cool.

SPEAKER_02 32:14

Yeah. Uh I recommend, lastly, if everyone wants to check out your site, it's Boy From Dagbon, and that's D-A-G-B-O-N. Um, in case I'm not saying that correctly. That's right. Boy from Dagbon, and check him out on the social as well. Thanks, Abdel.

SPEAKER_09 32:28

No problem. You're welcome, Pete. Thanks very much.

SPEAKER_02 32:30

Abdul Abdullah. So before we interview our last guest, I just want to make sure of you, Mr. Jameson. I've definitely got a job at the bug, alright?

SPEAKER_05 32:37

But never said you have a job. Meat! I'll send you a nice box of Christmas meat. Best I can do. Get out of here.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

That's most kind. Okay, so we're gonna have a last guest on now, Antonio Huginio, who's gonna tell us all about the fashion photography course for Mastered.com. On the podcast now, I'd like to welcome Antonio Huginio, who is a fashion photographer and under the umbrella of talent care at Mastered. How are you doing today, Antonio?

SPEAKER_08 33:05

Uh really good, thanks. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 33:07

Antonio, I always like to ask, did I get your name right? Yes, really good. Okay, so we're off and running. Um I I stumbled upon Mastered and a ten-month course uh with the photography. Uh could you just tell us a little bit about it, please? What is Mastered and perhaps what people can expect from the course?

SPEAKER_08 33:27

Uh so it's an online course um that I've done with Nick Knight. Uh when I did it, actually, it was more like a six or eight-month course. Um, to be honest, when I started, I was a little bit um uh anxious because it's online, so you do not meet the teacher or the mentor. Uh, but at the end of the day, I was really happy to uh to uh do it because it's really uh help you to push you outside of your comfort zone. It really helps me to produce a lot and to see uh how uh big names like Nick Knight or um other big names in the in the industry are working on uh editorial or uh campaign or fashion film. So yeah, it was really good. Actually, when you start uh on Master, you have like um a courses through videos. You see uh Nick Knight and Otomancho talking to you and giving you advice. Uh and each month you receive a brief that you have to achieve. Uh this is really the part of uh of uh master that I really enjoy because each month we had to uh to deliver uh a different kind of job. So far, it was something like an editorial, a fashion film, uh a campaign. So it really it really helped me to to get out of my comfort zone. I did my first fashion film thanks to uh to uh this course.

SPEAKER_02 35:01

Oh, excellent. Uh I'm just reading the bio on the website, if you'll forgive me for just reading it back to you. It's mastered.com, uh which is the site where people want to go and just click under the programs and you should find it. It's a 10-month accelerator for 200 ambitious fashion photographers, led by some of the biggest names in the fashion industry, delivered online and in person and designed to run alongside your professional career. You'll create amazing work, get expert feedback, and have access to the network. You need to claim your place at the forefront of the industry. So, Antonio, is it like where you download a series of videos or is it live? Do they talk to you live through the online site? How does it work?

SPEAKER_08 35:39

So uh most of the video are on the platform, so uh you can watch them uh when you have time, when it's the most convenient for you. Uh then you have some uh live QA where uh you can uh chat with uh the mentor. Um and also you have so you can watch the video when you want, but uh regarding the brief, you really have uh to follow the deadline. And when you send your your work, you're gonna have a feedback like a few weeks after it, right? Like uh a personal feedback from one of the mentors of the course, which it's really it's really good and really helps you to uh to understand what you're doing right and if you are on the good track. And and next to that, what I also really appreciate is the dynamic that you have between the other uh fellows on the on the website because you can chat with everybody, you can see the work of everybody and give your own uh point of view or advice. It's it's really uh also about sharing. So it's a pretty good platform.

SPEAKER_02 36:47

Yeah, so um you get a sense of community, I guess, and you get to that's it. You get to network at the same time. Okay, great. So people can check that out. Once again, that's mastered.com. Um Antonio though, your site uh is AntonioHyphenHugenio.com. I'll put all this in the show notes. Um it's a fantastic site, mate. How long has it been up and running?

SPEAKER_08 37:08

It's actually a brand new website I I just put online like uh a few months ago. So uh I'm glad you like it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:15

Um I have to say I I whipped a silent tear because there's a few dudes with their tops off um looking very buffed, uh the the square pecked towards those. And I just thought, do you know what? I just need to get my ass off this chair and do some sit-ups.

SPEAKER_08 37:29

Um yeah, so actually actually I for I decided to focus my work on uh on men's where um that's why I'm I'm mainly shooting guys. Um yeah, so it uh when I started, it's like um I think that when I started to do the master's course, everything just came really quickly because the work I produced for the course has been published on magazine, on online magazine, and it helped me to give me a lot of exposure. Uh that's a bit also how I start working uh on the direction of Banitin magazine, which is a menswear magazine uh dedicated to uh the new phases of the industry. So now I'm working with Denmark for two issues. So I'm doing the kind of uh a direction of them on the magazine, the print magazine. I'm also doing uh editorial for them, uh portrait picture, and uh and I'm writing some article for them. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:33

Um and also you do stuff for Wonderland magazine. I saw the front or uh Tori did for that as well. That looked really good. So uh just tell us a little bit about what you look for in regards to fashion. I know you're not necessarily geared towards street fashion, so I don't think you're out there stopping people in the street and asking to take their pictures.

SPEAKER_08 38:51

No, well, it's if I've done the fashion week here in London and in Paris uh this last summer, and it was really interesting to see how it works and how uh everybody's really into it. I I did mainly a backstage backstage picture. Uh but outside, yeah, outside it's really funny to see how um a lot of actually when you see the picture from outside you have the feeling that everything is really spontaneous, which is absolutely not the case. A lot of people are just staring um in front of a photographer to be sure that they're gonna be uh uh photographed. Uh a lot of photographers stop people and ask them to to strike a post, so it's it's a bit less spontaneous. But uh yeah, it's is the I fear I assume is the way uh to have a good picture.

SPEAKER_10 39:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 39:41

Um but yeah, this is not really uh what I what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_02 39:46

Yeah, so I mean Antonio, maybe you could just help me out for a sec, because I'm starting out in the photography world as well, kind of running that alongside with the editorials that I do for magazines. I'm finding I got thrown in at the deep end because my girlfriend uh kindly lent me her very uh uh uh high-end camera. So I went straight from you know the iPhone 6 camera to uh a Nikon D300, I think it is. And I'm getting a little bit bogged down in apertures, uh shutter speed, uh everything's been given to me at once, and uh and I literally it's a sink or swim for me. I'm getting quite frustrated. Would you recommend going A onto the mastered course for one, but maybe going back and getting a beginner's camera, or how how would it work for you?

SPEAKER_08 40:32

Uh to be honest, um yeah, to be honest, the mastered course is not gonna help you to uh to understand how you you how your camera is working and how uh you can um produce training picture thanks to certain kind of lighting. Uh because it's not really uh uh based on this kind, it's not really based on technical issues or for beginners, to be honest. It's more uh related to people who already have an experience in photography, who knows how to use the camera. And so the the the the courses are mainly uh focused on um how to help you to produce a story. So we were talking about fashion, so the the the main goal was how to produce a story, a consistent story, because um, as you know, an editorial it's about between six and ten pages, uh sometimes a little bit more, and so all those pages have to tell a story. You have to be sure that they are consistent between each other, they're not too different. And um, so the course really helps you to understand uh where to find inspiration to produce those pictures, and um how also how to be surrounded by creative people, because you can't do an editorial on your own. You need stylists, you need airstylists, you need makeup artists, you need uh people who's gonna understand your point of view and really wants to work with you. Um so, yes, the course was mainly based on this side of uh the fashion photography. It's not if if if you are brand new with a camera, I would suggest that you you get like a beginner uh course for beginner.

SPEAKER_02 42:18

Thanks, Antonio. Thanks for clearing that up. So, what can we expect from you next?

SPEAKER_08 42:23

So um the new issue of Anitine is just out like now, so uh you can uh find it on any uh good um kiosk and uh and bookshops. Uh I've done uh a feature with uh RISC Incoring, which is uh a really good model we will work for Givenchy, Armani, and Vuitton. Uh so you're gonna see my uh portrait picture of him in the magazine. And then I have and then I have uh a few other projects who's gonna be coming up um in the next days and then in the next year. So things that I can't tell right now, but yeah, if you can you can just follow me on Instagram or on my website and you're gonna see more of my upcoming work.

SPEAKER_02 43:09

Yep, and if you want to check out Antonio's Instagram, it's Mr. Antonio Eugenio. Um again, all that will be in the show notes. Well, thanks Antonio. Thanks. You're welcome.

SPEAKER_08 43:19

Thanks, Peter, for for this.

SPEAKER_02 43:20

No problem. Um, I hope to bump into you on a catwalk somewhere at some point soon. Hi. I won't be on the catwalk, by the way. I'm nowhere near the catwalk.

SPEAKER_08 43:28

Yeah, but I won't be on the catwalk neither. If you are if you are in in London uh during the fashion week, yes, please it will be a pleasure to meet you.

SPEAKER_02 43:37

Antonio Eugenio there. I'd like to thank Antonio and all of my guests this week. I'd like to thank Jonathan Daniel Price, Abdo Abdulai. I'd like to thank you, Mr. Jameson, for coming in.

SPEAKER_04 43:48

I will fuck you like a pig.

SPEAKER_02 43:50

Understood. And thank you, the listener, for joining us on yet another episode of the Menswear Style Podcast. Head over to the website www.menswearstyle.co.uk. Most importantly though, do tell a friend, support the podcast. If you want this to carry on, if you do like what you're hearing, then leave a review, share it on the social at menswear style. Do all that gubbins, it will help me stay in a job for the new year.