Interview with Ken Wright of LightWave Photography KAIKOURA WINTER SUNSTRIKE F16 ,0.4s, ISO100 KEN, CAN YOU TELL OUR READERS ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR DESIGN + PHOTOGRAPHY BACKGROUND? I am originally from the UK. I lived in the City of Lincoln and went to Lincolnshire College of Art and Design from 1976-80. During my four years at Art College, I studied Graphics, Illustration, Exhibition Design, and Photography. I had not encountered photography before Art college and was instantly hooked. After a strange set of events in the UK, one of which was my mother passing at age 56, we made a monumental decision to leave our home and country and move to the other side of the world. It was one of those OMG moments, what if, someone told you that it’s all over at 56? What would you do? We left everything and everybody packed 5 suitcases, and with two boys (7 and 4) and my wife Karen pregnant with our third (and on the last week that she was allowed to fly!) we came to New Zealand to start a new life. That was 21 years ago, we are now citizens and love New Zealand. I have been very fortunate to have spent 35 years in the creative industry. During my time as a senior designer and creative director, I have art directed numerous excellent photographers both in the UK and NZ. Design wise, my claim to fame is being principle designer and team leader for the millennium banknote. After a health scare, I left the design industry in 2011 to focus purely on photography. WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING WITH? Currently, I am shooting on a Nikon D750 which is about a month old. This replaced a D610 which alongside me took a bath in the sea! Thank goodness for insurance. I have been with Nikon from the beginning and I guess it’s a bit like the Ford and Holden cliché. Out of preference I mainly shoot ultra wide angle with a 16-35 Nikkor lens. CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY STYLE? I would describe my work as “in your face”. I like my images to be close to the action. I want my viewer to feel that they can walk into the image. So most of the time I am shooting from right in front of the tripod to the horizon. I believe it’s what makes my seascapes more dynamic. I said at my first exhibition “If you are not wet, you are not close enough” however, as I found, there is a difference between being close and a drowned camera. Also, I would describe my work as “full spectrum colour”. We live in a world of intense colour and I like to bring that out in my images. YOU’VE SPENT 35 YEARS AS A GRAPHIC DESIGNER… HOW DID PHOTOGRAPHY BECOME YOUR CAREER? During my career, I have either art directed or taken images for brochures/adverts etc. In the early days, as a designer working remote, (and I don’t mean location - I mean before computers and internet) a designer was expected to cover all disciplines so there were many occasions when there was no ‘photographer’ to hand and you just got on and did the shot your self. How I came to be doing what I am doing now is another story. About 11 years ago I had a run in with bowel cancer and this stopped me in my tracks. With several months recovering I had time to take stock of my life and what I wanted to do. It’s easy to get caught up in life’s perpetual treadmill of career, house, car, toys etc when life is really about living. OTARAWAIRERE SUNRISE F22, 1/6s, ISO50 4 <strong>NZPhotographer</strong> <strong>July</strong> <strong>2018</strong> 5
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