Interview with Jenifer Bunnett on Photography Trends

Website:
https://www.jeniferbunnett.com/

Country: United Kingdom

Photography Genres: Fine Art, Landscape, Long Exposure and Nature Photography

Favorite Camera Brand: Nikon and Pentax

Socials:
Instagram

What’s in your camera bag?

• Nikon D850
• Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8
• Sigma 14-24mm Art lens
• Sigma 105mm macro f2.8
• ND filters, holders, etc
• Cable releases
• Lots of cleaning cloths
• Lip salve
• Bag of nuts

Are there any specific equipment or gear innovations that you believe will have a significant impact on the industry in 2024?

The trend seems to be toward mirrorless and smaller kits and for the camera to do more and more convenience tricks, such as changing the focal point after the picture has been taken. But one gets used to what one knows, and I have no plans to embrace these things for now.

Where do you get the latest news on new gear? Where do You usually buy new gear?

I chat with fellow photographers and read up about things online. But I only research new gear if I’m in the market and really need something. I find ‘gear’ articles boring and dislike waste. Buying the latest gadget or updating lenses whenever one comes out is wasteful and won’t improve my photography! Being very familiar with what I have is, however, essential.

How is photography making the world a better place in 2024?

Since photography’s invention, it’s been unsurpassed at conveying the brutal reality of famine, war, etc. Now that most people carry a phone with them everywhere they go, they can record every nuance of something like the Ukraine war in a way that was impossible a decade or two ago. The Vietnam War era was changed by being the first to be televised, and today’s humanitarian disasters are changed again by the phone camera.

I use my photography to show both the beauty of what humans must endeavour to preserve and to illustrate how we are so used to the status quo that we cease to notice what’s there. A single photograph can be instantly and uniquely emotive.

What emerging photography trends do you foresee gaining popularity in 2024?

I suspect photography will be used to tell stories. There will be pro photographers using their genre to explain the ongoing situation in their area of interest and people armed with their phones and a passion, chasing stories to engage their followers. It’s a way of becoming engrossed in a subject and understanding it more deeply, then finding ways to convey that to a bigger audience.

Rather than ignore the ugliness of plastic pollution, I am conveying it in the same way I would my ‘beautiful’ images, which I intend to use to illustrate how the unforgivable became normal.

If you could pick a photography mentor in 2024, who would you pick? Why?

Those who know me will anticipate my answer! My father was a brilliant photographer, and I probably wouldn’t have become one myself had he not been. He was unique and special, and without trying or necessarily intending to, he enabled me to look and see. Little passing comments, even unspoken gestures, often had profound effects.

I admire many artists in all genres and have been influenced by them in a variety of ways. I think our past is inseparable from our art. Whatever we do will be dictated by it, whether we’re aware of it or not.

Can you share a specific tool, technology, or software that has revolutionised your workflow and significantly enhanced your creative process as a photographer?

I used to be a photographic technician. Once the digital era hit, I had to learn a whole new world of processing. It seemed impossibly complicated! But I persevered, and Lightroom, once mastered, is very useful. I have my workflow honed to get my image ready in the shortest time possible! I rarely use Photoshop or anything else these days. I don’t want to spend much time at the computer, and Lightroom means I don’t have to.

The unavoidable question: How do you see the use of artificial intelligence or machine learning impacting photography in 2024?

I dread to think! I did a quiz recently which required me to pick which was the AI image out of a series of pairs. I got 6 right out of 10. That doesn’t bode well. However, none of the images were emotive or original. They were formulaic, and I’d not have noticed any of them in passing. A lot of photography is formulaic anyway. It’s hard to imagine machines managing to replicate raw human emotion.

And a very worrying concept. I expect publications, competitions, etc, will begin to request proof of files to show they’re not AI images. But all creatives in every genre must be concerned.

What is your favorite photography-related book or resource that will continue to have a significant impact on your career in 2024? Why?

I loved English lessons and my enthusiastic teacher, who brought it all alive. Wordsworth’s words follow me around. He stole a boat, and as he rowed, the hilltops loomed in front of him. Rowing harder to get away, they loomed even larger. He quietly rowed back again, and the monsters subsided. That scene plays out in my mind all the time while I’m out with my camera!

Similarly, in “The Tables Turned”, he implores you to get out there and learn from nature. And at the end of his famous “Daffodils”, he casts ‘upon that inward eye’ while recalling nature’s lessons. I love my photography books, from Don McCullin to Nick Brandt, but it’s the words in my head that accompany me on photo shoots.

What is your go-to method for overcoming creative block and finding inspiration in 2024?

I am getting out there and mooching around. Something will strike me sooner or later. And if it takes a while, well, at least I’m not sitting on my sofa fretting.

If you could give one piece of advice to a beginner in photography, what would it be?

Do it all the time, and if you think you’ve done well, do it better.

If you think you’ve done well, do it better.

Jenifer Bunnett

NFT and photography? Any thoughts?

At the moment, not for me! I have been asked many, many times to sell my work as NFTs. The sums of money being offered make it very tempting. But I have two misgivings. One is the well-documented issues NFTs have concerning the environment. The other is that I find it hard to see the point of my image being a token.

I love knowing they’re hanging on a wall, with a beautiful, tactile substrate enhancing the image. If NFTs continue to be popular and cease to have such a detrimental impact on our planet, maybe I’ll come around, but I will always aim to get my artwork on walls, first and foremost!

What is your biggest strength and your biggest weakness as a photographer in 2024?

I have become increasingly critical of my own work over the years. I try to make sure an image really has something about it before I release it to the world. Perhaps that’s also my biggest weakness! I see many photographers claiming an idea is uniquely theirs when I’ve seen it a hundred times before. It’s very hard to be completely original, but I at least try to be brutally honest and critical of my work, and I hope to offer something refreshing.

What is the biggest challenge in your photography genre in 2024? What are the solutions?

Other than AI, I guess it’s managing to ignore all the ‘noise’ around me…the “you should be doing…” or “unless you…” type stuff. I’m not sure I’m right to do so, but I spend very little time on social media at the moment because I want to contain my own thoughts, not deal with someone else’s. Photographers become slaves to social media, and while it’s nice to pop in and say ‘hi’ every now and then, for me, giving it a wider berth is suiting me well.

What is the most important factor to consider when choosing a photography niche or specialization in 2024?

I don’t think one chooses a specialisation. It chooses you! If you start out by photographing everything that crosses your path, you will find yourself more in tune with certain aspects of photography, portraiture, wildlife, documentaries, and so on. It will resonate with your beliefs, principles, tastes, etc. Then, once you find yourself naturally drawn to certain things, you can start learning how to do those better. Always look at lots of art! It’s amazing how it seeps into you, and your unique version will find its way out.

Is there anything else you would like to add or any final thoughts you would like to share about your artistic journey, inspirations, or the impact you hope to make through your photography?

I realise that whatever I do next, my past will be part of it. I briefly mentioned the photographer Nick Brandt in one of the questions, and when I first saw his work at ‘The Photography Show’ in London several years ago, I was more moved by an image than I had been in a very long while. I’ve been an animal rights activist for decades, and the tragedy he portrayed in his work was stark. I don’t photograph animals, although as a student, I did make a film in a slaughterhouse, which is possibly why I don’t. I am too emotionally involved in their survival to cope with that.

But Nick Brandt’s images reminded me or refreshed my memory, of photography’s power. In the coming years, I hope that my photography and that of others can find a way to help change things for the better. It can be a subtle, non-preachy sort of medium that quietly lays bare what our planet has become and what it could be.

Would You Like to Know More About Jenifer Bunnett?

Listen to our podcast interview with Jenifer Bunnett.