Interview - Ricky John Molloy
It’s often the little things that make all the difference. The good picture is a question of detail; a red eye, a wrinkle, a suppressed smile. It’s therefore also more interesting to show a person’s frailty than asking them to jump out of a plane with a parachute on their back. But it’s difficult to reach the essence in the space of five minutes. That takes time.
I studied Photojournalism and was a trainee at “Politiken”, national Danish newspaper. Already at that time I was fascinated by portraits, but at a newspaper things have to move fast, and there is seldom time to go into great depth. It’s a question of rush in – rush out. When I was sent to take a picture of an important business figure, I had the time it took him to get from one meeting to the next. That’s alright to start off with, because it gives you the possibility to try yourself out, but as time goes by a sense of superficiality creeps in; both in your work and in the pictures you produce.
After qualifying, I worked freelance and started to take portraits for magazines. When I visited people, they had often allocated an hour for me to take the picture in, and it was fantastic to be able to work on taking the portrait in more depth. At that time my ambition was to get close to the people I was photographing. That is still my aim. When you’re young and uncertain it’s tempting to hide behind effects. You tend to pile it on; bright lighting and lots of smoke. Later you find out that even the most fantastic lighting and the thickest cloud of smoke can’t rescue a bad picture. If the face lacks life, then everything else is irrelevant.
Today I’m more aware of allowing myself time when I’m taking a picture. I try to find out what kind of person I’m faced with. What’s involved? Is this a person who is interested in spending time on producing a good result? Or is it someone who really doesn’t feel like being photographed? Or perhaps he’s just shy? Taking photographs is not just a question of technique. It’s also a matter of being able to meet other people and understand their lives.
I always make a special point of telling people that it means something to me that we produce a good picture. It’s not just a question of routine. What has worked for me is that I have given people a taste of my enthusiasm and professional self-esteem. Most people are pleased to feel that you are making an effort. But of course, there are people who couldn’t care less; people who have neither the time nor the interest to make something extra out of a picture. In that kind of situation, I have to draw on my experience from “Politiken”: Have a quick look round, find the best lighting and take the picture in a hurry.
I know a Swedish photographer who asks people if they can remember their first kiss just before he starts taking their picture. That kind of thing always produces a reaction. My method is to be calm and get people to slow down. I want people to relax, because otherwise we won’t produce a good picture. But when I succeed, and people start to put something of them into the picture, it makes me happy. You never tire of that kind of feeling.
Some years ago, I was asked to photograph the poet Henrik Nordbrandt for the Danish Rail magazine “Ud & Se”. I went to pick him up at his flat in the morning. He made coffee, and we sat in his kitchen to talk the assignment through. The first pictures were to be taken on the common in Copenhagen called “Amager Fælled”. It had been raining all morning and it was muddy everywhere. And when we were about to leave afterwards, my car got stuck in the mud. “What the hell do I do now?” I thought to myself. There I sat in a pool of mud with one of the most famous writers in Denmark. Shortly afterwards, anyone who happened to pass by was able to witness the lanky poet struggling with a metallic silver station car with mud flying all around him. Experiences of that kind are quite fascinating As a photographer you meet people you wouldn’t otherwise have met, and perhaps that’s the greatest perk with the job. I know I risk sounding pretentious, but what really interests me is meeting people.