Austin, Texas
www.johndavidson-photography.com
All images © John Davidson
“Cured Fish”
Third Place – Editorial
“The image was shot for Texas Monthly’s Best New Restaurants feature, with a Art Director’s suggestion to ‘play with shadows.’ The magazine’s amazing art/design team provides great direction when needed, but equally significant, often reminds me to ‘feel free to experiment.’ It’s a permission that allows you to work creatively with the sense of a safety net.”
ASMP: What was your inspiration for taking this photo?
John Davidosn: The image was from my third restaurant shoot in two days, in Houston, TX. Really, the inspiration was what you see here: a beautifully composed dish (thanks Chef!), a surprising play of light, and the unusual color of the chair.
ASMP: What type of setting do you prefer?
JD: Somewhere with gorgeous natural light, a variety of interesting table-top surfaces, and pretty tableware!
ASMP: What type of lighting did you use for this image or series?
JD: The image was shot in late-afternoon sunlight. I’ve recently started playing with a studio light on location to mix things up a little stylistically, but it can be a challenge to manage artificial light when you have a lengthy editorial shot list at a restaurant and a short window of time to get it all done.
ASMP: How long have you been shooting this type of photography?
JD: About 6 years. I started shooting food because I had restaurant connections. The food work I’m commissioned to do these days may often be tied to a travel story, though I continue to work regularly with Texas Monthly on food shoots. Either way, it provides a welcome change of pace from my bread-and-butter (no pun intended), which is portrait and work culture imagery for tech companies.
ASMP: What other photographers’ or artists’ work inspires you?
JD: Let’s keep this one local. There are a lot of great photographers currently working in Austin, TX (where I’m based). My particular pantheon includes The Voorhes, Casey Dunn, Nick Simonite, LeAnne Mueller, and of course, Dan Winters.
ASMP: When did you join ASMP and what do you find most valuable about your membership?
JD: I joined ASMP almost as soon as I transitioned from freelance writer to full-time photographer, around 2011. Beyond the important advocacy work it does, ASMP allowed me to connect to photographers in my city, to ask questions, and begin the vital work of finding and helping to create a supportive network.
ASMP: What kind of gear do you use?
JD: I’m not much of a gearhead – perhaps to my detriment on occasion. I shoot with a Nikon D800 mostly, but I’m more interested in the aesthetic outcome than the technical elements that make it happen. I want to know that I have the tools to get the work done properly, but beyond that, the name on the box isn’t the important thing for me.
ASMP: What do you know now that you wish you had known when you first started your career as a photographer?
JD: I wish I’d assisted other photographers, but that’s not how it worked for me. There’s a large cadre of Brooks Institute alumni in Austin, and I sometimes wish I’d had their educational experience to ground me in the technical aspect of photography. On the plus side of course, I don’t have huge sums of student debt to pay off, so there’s that! If you’re curious and willing, you can find your way.
ASMP: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your work? Go ahead, surprise us with something unique and unusual.
JD: When I was twenty-one, I moved to Los Angles from Manchester, England with designs on being a fashion photographer. That lasted about three years, and fun as it was, it wasn’t exactly a career. For more than a decade after that, I pursued a career as a writer (or as I sometimes think of it, working for my own non-profit organization). I picked up photography again when I left New York City for Austin, having completely missed the digital photography revolution. I had a lot of catching-up to do, but thankfully, it seems to have worked out.