My guest today is one of the first photographers in Europe to work entirely in color, and the first guest to return to this podcast for a second time. Harry Gruyaert once dreamed of becoming a film director, until pop art and a trip to Morocco in the late 1970s pulled him toward photography instead. He has been a member of Magnum Photos since 1982 and has photographed the United States, Morocco, Europe, India and his own country, Belgium, in books including Made in Belgium and Roots. We recorded this conversation at Hotel du Forum in Arles, where he has been coming for more than forty years, with his daughters and his seven-year-old grandson Elio close by. Harry is currently showing Sense of Place at Les Rencontres d'Arles, alongside a new book, and a second, more retrospective exhibition is running at Camera in Turin. We talk about what it means to stay excited about a place you already know, why he calls photography a love affair with its own ups and downs, and why the pictures he missed, a scene he saw without a camera, a roll he shot with no film in it, still stay with him decades later. He tells me about the printing process he shares with his assistant Albin, why he moved from Kodachrome to digital, discovering jazz at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair, and why he still calls himself a professional rather than an artist. We also talk about the coincidences that keep finding him, from Bieke Depoorter to Saul Leiter, and about the trust he puts in instinct over words. What you'll learn in this episode Why Harry finds it harder to stay excited about a place the longer he knows it, and how he keeps rediscovering Morocco, India, New York and Belgium after decades of returningWhy he insists he is a professional and a craftsman, not an artist, even after more than forty years as a Magnum memberHow the printing process with his assistant Albin, and the recent switch from Canson to Hahnemühle paper, is as much a part of the work as taking the pictureWhy the photographs he missed, one because he had no camera, one because there was no film in it, still matter more to him than most of the ones he actually gotWhy he calls himself "a kind of pickpocket" who works entirely on instinct, and how that shapes the way he moves through a city or a crowdWhat "sense of place" actually means to him, and why he keeps coming back to the idea that a photograph should say as much about a place and a time as it does about compositionWhy he believes being European, rather than American or exclusively French, has shaped the way he sees and travels Free webinarWant to know what the photographers who keep growing actually do differently? In a free webinar, I walk you through the five patterns I see consistently in this podcast, in masterclasses and in my one-on-one mentoring, and how you can apply them yourself. Sign up here Live show: De Donkere Kamer on stage in Amsterdam On October 16, De Donkere Kamer goes on stage at Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam, in conversation with, among others, portrait photographer Nadav Kander. Tickets are 20 euros, so cost shouldn't be what holds you back. Get yours here. Partner of this episodeAlongside creativity, photographers simply need the right tools, whether that's a new lens or a camera you can rely on during a client shoot. The specialists at Camera Nu think along with you and give honest advice. Head over to cameranu.be and use code DDK10 for 10% off your next purchase. Links and resources Free webinar (5 patterns of photographers who keep growing): donkerekamer.com/webinarLive show, October 16, Pakhuis de Zwijger Amsterdam, with Nadav Kander: donkerekamer.com/showsAll info on mentoring, masterclasses and workshops: donkerekamer.comCameranu: cameranu.be (code DDK10)Harry Gruyaert's first appearance on the podcast, episode #177: hereSense of Place at Les Rencontres d'Arles: Harry Gruyaert retrospective at Camera, Turin: Harry Gruyaert at Gallery FIFTY ONE.
