Digitalab Featured Photographer: Steve Mayes
At Digitalab, we appreciate the power of photography, whether it’s personal or professional. We asked Steve Mayes for one of his images and posed a couple of questions to find out exactly what it is he loves about photography and what he’d say to any enthusiastic photographer hoping to make a career out of their passion.
Tell us a bit about this image and why you chose it to be featured.
This is a negative shot of the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle. It’s shot from the top of a building in Gateshead with a large zoom lens, so the view captures part of Gateshead and Newcastle, divided by the bridge. One of the aspects I particularly love about this area is the fact that the Newcastle and Gateshead are built on hills that rise fairly sharply from the river, giving shots from certain angles a very layered look. As an architectural photographer I’m interested in shapes and form and so the decision to work in negatives came from that – wanting the shot to be about how the buildings all sit together, rather than representing what the view ‘truly’ looks like.
Which styles of photography most interest/inspire you?
I’m an architectural and landscape photographer, and I stick to those areas because that is what I’m interested in and passionate about. I have a particular fondness for black and white, and for dusk photography, particularly in cities. I find myself torn between striking panoramas and abstract details that many may miss, depending on my mood!
What one piece of advice would you give to an aspiring photographer?
My advice to aspiring photographers is not to worry too much about whether you’re ‘doing it right’. Just get out there are photograph what you’re interested in. You’ll learn which of the ‘rules’ you’ll want to follow and which you’ll want to ignore as you go along, and discovering for yourself is the best way. The final image is all that matters.