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| Scott Hallard |
| interview with Scott Hill |
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| How did you get interested in photography? How would you describe your style. |
My parents gave me a Kodak Fiesta in 1964 with black and white film. My mother had it processed at Freddy Robert’s in St. George’s. I think the miracle of exact reproduction may have initially been the motivation to persist. Even today a large part of my photography is still documentary in nature; however, over the years I’ve learned to create my own viewpoint, unique in its angle, emotion or tone. I am no longer just interested in what it looks like, but more what it feels like.
I have always leaned toward outdoor, natural light colour photography although I collect black and white. If I have a strong point, it would be observation, which is essential to a photographer of course. My first love is travel and expedition photography, with indigenous peoples predominating over landscape. I try not to follow ‘rules’ or imitate others as this blocks creativity. I trust my instincts out in the wild. I research heavily before and during expeditions and immerse myself in the culture and environment. No photograph I’ve taken artistically compares to the first photo of my son, Kade, as a newborn! |
Publishing one book may be photographer’s dream. You have published seven! Do you have plans for another book? |
| After my Bermuda books, I photographed and wrote a book based on a month long expedition to Irianjaya (Western New Guinea) about 15 years ago. I may publish by next year but I am constantly tweaking it, adding on as if it were a collage. Another book awaiting funding to publish is an expedition to Northern Greenland’s Arctic, with Inuit hunters called “The Last Hunt” going back almost 12 years ago. I have laid out another Bermuda book called “Back in the Day” based on my collection of colour photos from the 1950’s depicting a cross section of life. The fourth project is a book called “Wandering Abroad” depicting the most interesting images I’ve taken in over 50 countries but I can’t seem to finish with so many great places left like Palmyra, Bhutan, Kamchatka, Mustang, Rajasthan, Darjeeling, Easter Island… |
| You have over 50,000 original transparencies in your library. Have you merged into the digital arena as of yet? If so, please tell us what you think of digital compared to film. |
| Actually I have over 300,000 colour slides with about 50,000 covering Bermuda. I can’t waste time sitting at a computer; I’d never get to actually live a ‘non virtual’ life shooting all over the world. As far as digital is concerned I will leave that up to everyone else. Photographers need to differentiate themselves, so I’m happy to shoot traditional film just as the greatest photographers did producing the iconic images we have seen for decades. After a month long shoot in hazardous conditions, twenty odd flights, weeks of processing, editing and printing, the last thing you want to hear is, “He probably Photoshopped it”! The digital image cannot be relied on for the truth, which I require. |
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