any minute now, William Albert Allard will walk through my door….i have not asked him, but i will put him on the spot with any of you who happen to be "on" right now….he will probably be here for a couple of hours or so…since his name comes up quite a bit here, most recently on the previous post, i thought you might enjoy having a word with him…so ask the boy a question or two…i will try to keep him here as long as possible…..
Good evening to the both of you.
Off the top of my head, what is W’s take on the latest topic here, of not doing it quite as alone as it often seems?
ALLARD ANSWERS:
HERVE…
the next answers are being typed by me , but the exact words of allard who is in no mood to type…david
“i have had a great support from my wives and kids…they have given me much more than i have ever given back to them” william albert allard
William Albert Allard is an inspiration to many photographers. WHO does Bill look to for inspiration?
Bill you’ve been making photographs for a while. Do you keep a list – written or mental – of places, things, people you’d still like to photograph? Is there one you might share with us?
David,
If I had one question for him it would be whether or not he is worried about leaving his mark or not for posterity…Reason I ask is that I happen to have seen several of his photographs in some National Geographic reviews but everytime I have tried to penetrate what he has done in more details, I found it very difficult. No actual site that he has on which you could easily look at his work….I know he has published a book but this is dating back to many years now. Why is Bill not trying to make his art more readily accessible and therefore maybe being able as a result to be seen by even more…I have to say that I love many of his images and this is why I ask as someone who would be keen to see more of his work whether in books or even on a site….
Eric
Bill – did you know your old pal, David, was going to rope you into answering questions like this??
Hi Bill,
It is good to have you contribute. I hope David hasn’t had to twist your arm too far?
As David said, you get mentioned quite a bit during the discussions here, which is good to see.
You may remember that we have been in touch in the past by e-mail. The last time you mentioned a possible book on Hemingway. Did anything ever come of that?
I assume that you still get out to visit your Hutterite friends? I had an very interesting and enjoyable experience spending some time on a colony in Saskatchewan. As soon as I finish my book project here in East Anglia I plan to get back out there and make some new pictures. I recently tried to tell David how exciting those flat prairie landscapes are, but he didn’t seem convinced!
It was recently mentioned on here how almost all of your career has been with NG and how you have possibly had to sacrifice the sole ownership of your work and wider exposure in the photographic community (and possibly beyond) because of that. I suggested that perhaps the most important thing for you was living the photographic life and that being with NG allowed you the freedom to do that. Are you able to comment on this?
Your Peru work came up in discussion yesterday. Do you still photograph there, and have you ever considered a book?
Best,
Justin
I can’t blame Bill for not wanting to type. I’m sure he’s a little bemused by this.
I must say, I’m only 35 and I had and still do have my doubts about the value all this internet stuff, blogs and forums etc.
But you’ve got something good going here David and I think if the support of the contributors continues, and I’m sure it will, things can only get better.
JP
Any destination William would have liked to cover, but might never be able to anymore. In a way, any regrets, destination wise?
Thanks. Last one from me, I see the DAH blog buddies have come aboard, it is going to get busy! ;-)
JOHN FULTON…
“I look to painters…Matisse, Picasso, Hopper…if you want to think composition, think Hopper”
JUSTIN…
“the important thing for me has always just been the pictures…and i have definitely lived the photographic life…and i am thankful for all the pictures i did not take too..”
HERVE…..
“i have not been able to get to India enough…i started too late…and i totally missed Africa….”
all quoted comments above by William Albert Allard ….ALLARD LIVE AND IN PERSON…COME ON IN!!!
Need another beer?
Lots of Q’s here already..but -
When you shoot a story, how do you come up with the important components – for example, The Blues – I have read music is dear to your heart, and you wanted to take the time for the people you photographed to feel your positive intent – but when you wanted the shot of the prison workers picking cotton..how did you think of it, and once conceived, how did you get the go ahead?
peace and thanks for sharing your sight..
ps david, rang you earlier, later in the week is good too, but tomorrow am works as well
I totally agree, I’ve always thought painters are the way to go. All you need is a good library of fiction, some artist monographs or history of art books, and perhaps a HCB book and I think any photographer is totally set for inspiration.
Van Gogh has been one of the main inspirations behind my own work in East Anglia, especially his drawings of agricultural scenes.
And as for Hopper, every photographer should study his work. These are things we need to discuss in more detail on here David.
Justin
ERICA…
“what throws me here Erica is your use of the word “conceived”..not sure what you mean by that….i did not do anything different or think anything different than i did with the musicians…i always had permission one way or the other…but, i could never be in one place too long…prison guards do not really “get” what i am doing…”
William Albert Allard
Erica:
that photograph of WAA’s of the prison workers has always reminded me of the old prison work songs, such as those recorded by Alan Lomax.
I wonder if that is what he had in mind?
Justin
JUSTIN…
” i know of Alan Lomax, but i do not know his music….”
William Albert Allard
William..hmmm..
what I mean, is, did you think at the beginning, maybe before you shot anything for the piece, that that shot would be an important component to telling the story and then went about getting access..or where you nearby and then it made sense or did someone else mention the idea..in short, do you plan out important elements in advance, or do they find you?
You have to forgive me a bit..my ‘stories’ aren’t very complex nor do they have many ‘parts’..
You should check out the many hours of his field recordings which are available on CD by Rounder records:
http://www.rounder.com/series/lomax_alan/
Do you know of the music and photographs of John Cohen? I think you’d be interested in him too:
http://www.johncohenworks.com
Justin
Mr Allard,
Have you been writing? I miss your writing. Especially when accompanied by your photoraghy. Can we expect to have this combo again soon? A book perhaps?
ERICA…
“Willian Faulker wrote a book called…hmmmm, i am having a senior moment..cannot remember the name..anyway, the book was about convicts who, taken out of prison, to help out people at the timem of the “great flood” and a lot of blues music comes out of the prisons…that book got me interested in convicts in connection with music…”
William Albert Allard
WE CAN TAKE ONE MORE QUESTION…
Thanks, that makes sense, a seed planted and left to germinate bore fruit down the road..
Wild Palms/Old Man??
Glenfiddich or Glenlivet?
NEGRO MODELLO AND SOME GOOD HERB
Hi Bill and David,
One question regarding your NG assignments… how do you prepare in advance for such work? Where do you get your inspiration from? It seems that literature is a strong influence… but do you read other specialized material?
ha! very nice..thanks for playing..
BEATRIX…
“i rarely read anything other than literature to prepare for an assingnment”
William Albert Allard
HELLO ALL….
ok, bill and i are going out to an “art dealer party” whatever that is…sorry more of you were not around for this, but , hey it is saturday nite…live!!!!
cheers, david
Thanks Bill and David! Good humor both of you.
Thank you Bill and David and enjoy the party!
Hi Eric,
Nice pictures from Guatemala. I must say that I liked the ones under the title “around antigua” a lot. I think those capture the country’s multicultural essence!
Its a pity I didn’t know you were coming to Guatemala…
Hi David and William, just returned from a sampling of a friend’s homebrew and saw this post. Last year, I saw Allard’s exhibit at Festival of the Photograph and loved it. The prints were for sale and exquisite. I should have bought one. Greetings from obx.
Mike
Bill – what do think of your buddy Harvey’s blog? And when are you going to start one, too? Cheers, Lance
Well, as Bill did not answer my question….I hope he did not find it rude…I actually meant this very genuinely. I have come across so many pictures of him that I really love (the portrait of this Italian/ Sicily woman that David has used before on his post is really great, the picture of the little boy in Peru who is crying because his lamb has been killed by a car moves me every time I see it…). Because I came across so many of his great pictures somewhat randomly or by luck in some former NG books etc, I have been hoping for a more dedicated book to really showcase his work over the years, sort of the equivalent of Divided Soul of David…. Somehow a photographer of his talent and stature should really try to publish more (book vs magazine only). I know that he had a major retrospective opf his work in Charlotte last year? Do any know if this will lead to a book (maybe it is out there already and I missed it….). Well, maybe I will ask the question differently next time….. Eric
Eric
I didn’t find your initial question in any way offensive and was
surprised that it wasn’t responded to.
FWIW,I share your sentiments about many of WAA’s images
and would jump at the chance to purchase a collection of
his work.
Perhaps,since he has a strong contractual affiliation with
National Geographic his hands are tied for some reason.
Mark
“art dealer” party
———
Is that New yorkese for “Dirty art” parlor?
:-)))
ERIC…
sorry, we (me) just did not see your question….my fault, i just flat out missed it…
i would have love to have had Bill answer that question myself … that is my primary “worry” about him as a Natgeo photog and it was this that got the discussion going about him in the first place…
cheers, david
HERVE…
well, i just got home at little after midnight…so, the party obviously was not so hot….
cheers, david
Would you believe it?? Been off and on the blog all day and the few hours I’m away we have Bill Allard on live!!!! Bloody Murphy and his law again… :-)
If you get the chance David… Is Bill doing personal projects too? And.. if he is planning a retrospective type book then Amazon would sure be seeing my credit card!!
There must also be a huge amount of unseen work of his too…
Thanks for giving us the opportunity to hear from Mr Allard.
OK!
I understood! You waiting when I will go to sleep and then you organize the party with great photographers and have a fun!! Ok why not…
Ok… OK Ok…. Ok… Okkkkkkeeeyyy!
Mr. Allard
I hope you will visit us someday again soon.
Lance
where have you been?????
where I can see your new pictures??
Ohhhhhh that is the price of living overseas…. I was sleeping!! and just tonight due to a strange economy rule we have here, we had to change the clock at 2 a.m. that became 3 a.m. so we missed one hour sleeping. Now it is too late. William Albert Allard is gone and David sleeping…. snif snif…. I would have loved to ‘chat’ a bit with big photographer William….
Thanks David for bringing close to us such a Photographer (in capital letters). Very interesting and encouraging!! Thank you!!!
And well, sorry that the party wasn’t that hot :-P
Cheers
Yes Ana, same problem for me! While “THE PHOTOGRAPHER” was answering in this blog and the time here in Europe was changing I was in a quite hot party… but not hot enough..
Anyway.. my favourite question (about the inspiration, one day I would like to talk about it with the people in this blog) was answered so .. IT’s a wonderful sunny morning here in Rome!
Love
Laura
David et al.
A Big thanks for bringing WAA to your blog, and also another big thanks to all of you that was online, and were able to asked some interesting questions!
cheers,
jarle
Missed him! David, get him back sometime. I really rate WAA and can only echo Eric’s comments about not seeing enough of his work. Every time I Google him all I get is Nat Geo and Blues Highway -which is good but he has done SO much more. Is it because Nat Geo own the photos? How do you fare with your photos from Nat Geo days David? Do you own them? Have access to them?
Thanks for bringing him in here: maybe he’ll join in!
Mike.
HELLO ALL…
yes, yes saturday night in New York is probably the worst possible time to have gone “live” with anyone…but, of course, i had no choice…if you like this sort of exchange , i can try it again from time to time…
MTOMALTY…
Bill’s photographs are copyrighted by the National Geographic Society…but , i am sure there is some way through the Society Image Collection, that you can purchase prints…
LANCE…
you logged on just minutes too late…but,like me, Bill hates the word BLOG… really ugly!!!
Bill will “retire” soon i think and move out to Montana…maybe by then we can get him somehow interested in the net and get him to write a bit…
can you imagine why i have such a headache this morning??
MICHAEL RAWCLIFFE….and ALL
well, as i said before, that was the crux of the whole prior discussion on Allard…as a staffer, the Society owns his pictures…he traded security and salary for copyright…
i own all of my work including the published photographs….i even own the photographs i have done for advertising….with Magnum photographers most freelancers, ownership of our creative material is everything…our archives are “sacred ground” to our way of thinking…all of you really need to think CAREFULLY about your “ownership”…now, mind you, i too was very very tempted by the staff job at Natgeo, and even joined the staff twice in my career…but each time, even though the security was terrific, i just could not live without actually owning my work….
cheers, david
Hey David,
I’m in Australia and as usual missed the whole thing. I’ve been reading on and off for some months now, but I always seem to find your entries a few days too late.
I did write a long speil once back in Nov last year…
I must say it’s a great thing your doing with this forum, thanks, it always inspires me.
What’s particularly interesting for me is that i’ve just finished a ‘homeless’ period of my own, living out of a backpack… I set out expecting a year or so of adventure and it’s 5 years later that (along with my wife a 2 daughters) we’ve finally settled. I never would have dreamt i’d end up in Australia, in a small town in the forest after London…
The whole process has been fantastic.
I have a question for you:
when you set out on a new project you have a plan and a direction. But how FIXED is that plan? do you allow yourself to be drawn towards things (images/moments) that maybe don’t fit your original idea, but could work well if you adjusted your overview?
I’m not finding this too easy to put across, but what i’m trying to say relates to my own experience. I set off on a photo project and it evolved into something far more personal than i’d expected. At first I resisted and rejected what was happening, but then i had a change of heart and mind and let it follow it’s own course and not my premeditated plan. I like what happened and i feel it’s helped me grow as a photographer.
I hope you get a minute or two to reply as i’ve been meaning to ask you about this for a while, just wish i could be a bit clearer…
all the best
Sam
P.S. I understand that if you were shooting a magazine project you’d need to keep things tight, but when it’s strictly personal work, freedom etc.?
JUSTIN…
yes, i agree about Hopper..who would not? well, he is probably a bit too too much about composition for some..perhaps not “loose” enough for many…anyway, we can discuss this topic as much as you want…
now, one thing you said that is not quite correct…i love love the flat praries and i have no problem at all with the LAND in your working environment…i was just looking for more of a connection between the land and the people…it could just be the glint in a farmer’s eye, or a subtle moment tying man to land…in any case, you are very close….i will bet you anything that your next layout will be “right on”….
cheers, david
SAM…
yours is a very good question….
well, i am much much more about SERENDIPITY than i am about having a “fixed plan”…i like to go where the wind takes me…i do like to read and think and mull things over and over in my mind, but then the “action” is quite often a surprise…
conceptually, i have things in my head about my new “mission”, but anything could happen….i really like to let my subjects dictate where things will go…let THEM speak…i will put in my WAY or my LOOK, but it is voice of my subjects that will be most important….
it does sound like your wandering led you to family…nice trip!!!
peace, david
David:
I was not referring to your comments on my book dummy, but to when you were talking about your experience on the wheat train in Canada. But perhaps it was being stuck on the train which was the problem? I actually found that story up yesterday and it looked like you had a good time to me. Good to see you went to Moose Jaw. I spent a few days there but it was pretty cold apart from a couple of days and not many people where on the streets, but I felt there is potential there for some good pictures.
I have to question that picture that they ran from inside the tunnel. That piece of white paper from the blown out highlight of the tunnel exit is just so ugly.
That’s one of the things I am very cautious of being a slide shooter, blown out highlights and I will not use an image if part of it would reproduce as white on the page, unless perhaps it was a very minor area of the frame.
Yeah I guess Hopper’s composition could be seen as not loose enough, but that has never been a problem for me. I think I’m drawn to more formal compositions anyway, apart from some of Chagal’s work.
I’m trying to find time to work on the new layout, but there’s lots going on right now, including my mother be pretty sick in the hospital, so it’s difficult. As far as the book goes, I received some very useful advice in Oslo, but at the same time I returned home more confused than ever because everybody had a different opinion. So who do you please, all those other photographers who bring a little bit of their own ways of seeing and likes and dislikes when they look at your book, or yourself? I’ve decided I have to please myself because it would be wrong to finally get a book out after all these years and not be happy with it.
The more I go through this process, the more subjective it all seems to be.
I’ll just have to hope that what pleases me, pleases a publisher and at least a few other people along the way.
Enjoy Brazil.
Cheers,
Justin
PS. David,
I hope you’ve got some Grateful Dead on your iPod?
JP
JUSTIN…
ah yes, the Canadian Pacific Railroad..i did not realize that was your reference…i loved that land too, but i was on a wheat train with no passengers and two engineers driving the train and very few stops..i did get to “drive” a 100 car train, which was the best part of the whole experience…
yes, i too hate blown out highlights and that was a problem for that picture…someone should have at least put in some 20% gray tone or something to have saved it…but i think the blown out look is even worse when it is on the edge of the frame..
you have to please yourself…too many opinions will definitely confuse…OR, the best way is to have just one serious collaborator and make a few key decisions with that one person…but ultimately, you just have to go for it…
cheers, david