Interview Jessica Smart, Surf Photographer from Australia

Jessica, c'est la grace et la classe australienne!Elle vie entre l'Australie et l'indonésie et elle prend des photos lors ces nombreux voyages! Elle a pris le temps de répondre à une interview exclusive entre deux trips!

Where do you come from ?

Australian

 

Cool! I love Australia.I made a surf trip in this country and it was fantastic!

Could you describe you in few lines?

I am adventurous and passionate. Security is important but really living life is equally so. My mum tells me Im formidable! I have become more spiritual as I grow older - I always try to be true to myself, my path, to do everything I want to do in this lifetime and be open to new experiences that enable growth.

Where do you live? Is it cool ?And Why it is cool?

I spend half the year in indonesia and half in Australia ~ summer all year round, I have a great lifestyle, travel to exotic places, always meeting new interesting people, excitement, freedom, world class waves.

Could you tell me when and how did you get the urge to make pics? I find yours pics really beautiful.

I have loved taking photographs since i was a child. In the days of film there was the added fun of anticipation whilst you got them developed.
I travelled a lot and loved spending time in Indonesia.. I decided to take the plunge with money that I had saved up, buy a professional camera and lenses. I could do something I loved that could also sustain the lifestyle I had chosen.

You took the course or is a natural gift?Your influences in this area?

I have never studied photography, I have taught myself every step of the way with a lot of practise and a lot of mistakes! Professional cameras are complicated and it took me a while to figure them out! I have only been doing surf photography for one year so its a learning process

Your influences in this area? Happens to you there to exchange ideas with other photographers? And if so, which ones?

Surf photography was not initially something I was planning to concentrate on but in Indonesia its all about surf and after an exciting trip to the Mentawai Islands shooting from a boat I was hooked! It is great to sit down at the end of the day of epic waves with a group of stoked surfers and look through the shots together.
Surf photography has a big niche here and can be a good way to make a living, giving me the lifestyle I want - travel and the freedom that comes with working for yourself

I have bought a water housing and this year will attempt to learn in water photography. Water shots are stunning and although it scares me I am excited to get in there and create some amazing shots!

I am Influenced by the photography I see day to day, images captured in a moment, an image that has soul - in surf photography I admire Brian Bielmann, Tim McKenna, Bill Morris, Brad Masters, Jason Childs, Mick Curley, Dustin Humphrey, Zak Noyle…

I find surf photography very competitive, nobody really wants to share ideas as they are all trying to get 'the shot' in a world where that one shot could make a cover bringing money and notoriety.
Its very male dominated and I am often the only woman photographer. This has its advantages and disadvantages!

You started directly from the photo action / sport?

Yes, I started photography professionally straight into surf but I also love photographing people, culture and lifestyle.

I like my photos to have feeling. A tangible quality, depth…. I like them to have soul. there are so many important aspects that make a great photo stand out from the rest. Light, framing, colour, capturing the exact moment in that something is revealed. This is especially true of photographing people. I drive my family crazy pointing the camera at them for so long, but I am waiting for that moment they forget the camera is there - a look in the eyes, a vulnerability, a natural feeling.

What inspires you most?

Capturing the soul of a subject or a moment is what inspires me most…

Is there a cliché especially important in your eyes, an image that symbolizes more than it is? Or all your photos they all convey a story in their own way?

I like my photos to convey a story in their own way, a cliché image to me is missing the point…

This job requires a lot of implications, dedication and sometimes sacrifices, what advice would you give to someone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

Yes, it has been an amazing journey but it has required a lot of sacrifices ~ I am often travelling alone and roughing it, without the comforts of the western world.. no electricity, internet/phones, running water, extreme heat, travelling long distances by motorbike loaded up with all my gear, experiencing difficulties of cultural differences…all this whilst working in an environment where 99% of people are holidaying/partying and generally having the time of their lives! It is competitive and you have to be prepared to commit 100% to doing the hard yards to reach your goal… If you are willing to do anything to get there you will be rewarded - it is important to me to be doing something i love no matter how difficult the journey may sometimes be..

One or more anecdote (s) on the joys and dangers of life as a photographer of surf?

The scariest moments for me have been photographing from fishing boats in remote places. They speak no english, have no concept of surfing let alone how to navigate a boat around waves, positioning for best angles or watching for rogue sets that can come from nowhere and send the boat smashing onto the shallow reef 20 metres away! I have had two experiences (at a wave that does not really have a shoulder so can only be photographed from this angle under 6 foot) in which the fisherman driving the boat was busy smoking Gadang Garam cigarettes, fascinated by the surfers getting barrelled and forgetting to keep an eye on the swell size. I have had to stop photographing, point out the huge wave that is bearing down on us so that he can turn the boat around and accelerate over the top of it before it picks us up and smashes us on the reef!! I have a pelican case with me but the thin shape of the fishing boat make it impossible to position it open in preparation for needing to throw my gear into it - so as well as my life being in danger there is the possibility I could lose all my gear and whilst it is insured it would set me back weeks waiting for everything to be replaced. On one of these occasions I have lost an iphone overboard!

The reward for enduring all this is the photos I capture, there are always some very special shots that make it all worth while!

www.jessicasmartphotography.com -
See Blog for photos/adventures from around Indonesia and Australia

A last word ?

 "One day you will wake up and there wont be any more time to do the things you've always wanted. Do it now.' Paulo Coelho

THANKS A LOT!