HENRY HANSEN

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EVERY-TIME I TOUCH THE CAMERA IT FEELS LIKE A DIFFERENT WORLD I’M ABLE TO CREATE TO MY FULL EXPECTATION. Ever since that day I’ve just been moving crazy with the holy spirit.” There’s just certain talents that are bizarrely passed down and will be a fight to ignore. The folk who decide to walk toward these desires imprinted in them could find it very hard to ever look back. This is Henry’s testimony. It’s an ode to spirituality and art becoming way more personal than ever before. Speaking to him, one could tell of a surrendering that happened on his journey of meeting photography. His humble beginning is like an enlightening to welcome a purpose when you’re called to serve.

WHERE DID YOUR JOURNEY BEGIN?

It all started for me when my cousin came from Ghana to South Africa to find greener passages. So, we tried almost everything. There was a point when I worked at an internet café and it got to a point where I wasn’t seeing anything with the business and my boss was not willing to push up my salary. I was spending all my money on transportation to work. It just got to a point where it was really tough and one of the ladies at the workplace saw I was good with computers and I started assisting her with car registration, taking pictures and getting papers signed. She was also struggling to pay me. So, my cousin who studied graphic design back home in Ghana was trying to get a job in graphic design but it was tough at the time so he ended up assisting someone in carpentry. We would laugh and say like even in your own country you wouldn’t be working as a carpenter so the struggles are so tough where you have to take certain decisions that you’re not comfortable with but you have to do it to survive. My cousin suggested we buy a camera, and said that someone back home taught him a few things. So, we ended up having to lay-by it for 3 months and on the 3rd month we didn’t have money to claim the camera, we had to borrow money to pay it off and then pay the person back. So, basically we were working to pay the person. My cousin was getting tired of living that life and wanted to go home. God had a plan because as soon as he left my career started picking up and I started learning a lot and meeting a lot of people. I never thought I’d become a photographer. This was a gift given to me by God. Everytime I touch the camera it feels like a different world I’m able to create to my full expectation. Ever since that day I’ve just been moving crazy with the holy spirit. The only thing I can relate to besides the camera is the bible.

YOU CREATE THESE OTHER WORLDS THROUGH YOUR WORK. IS THIS YOUR HEALTHY DOSE OF ESCAPISM?

When it comes to that I work with a friend called Nathaniel who does the CGI work. I remember the first job we got together - was when there was a girl that approached me who wanted to be in a wine glass. So, I approached a friend and told him I really think he could pull it off, and this is what this girl wants. The first attempt came out crazy. CGI has helped photographers to create imaginary worlds. To be able to build a whole new world. Ever since that day my friends and I’s lives have not been the same. He’s been doing a lot of work for artists in the industry and I’m really happy. We ignite something for people to grasp.

WHAT SUBJECT MATTER, SETTING OR ELEMENTS APPEALS TO YOU MOST IN A BODY OF WORK?

I think lighting. I think lighting plays a huge role in an image in terms of placement of subjects, how you’d light the image, where you’d want it to be contrasted and where you want the light to bounce off. Also, whether you’d want to create shadows and shapes with lighting. It’s something that I really pay attention to. If you look at the CGI work we actually light it the way it should look on post production.

A CREATIVE PROCESS IS A REFLECTION OF THE MANY THOUGHTS THAT WILL COME OUT INTO A FINAL PRODUCT. WHAT DOES YOURS LOOK LIKE AND DOES IT GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO REALLY UNPICK AND UNLOCK PARTS OF YOURSELF?

I like to have my creative process in control. I shoot my own images, I retouch my own images, I colour grade my own images. I have full control. I edit each image according to how I feel at the moment. Each image has a different colourtone and colour-feel. What happens in my creative process is that I start off by going through the images and doing selection. I think selection is a big and significant part of photography. You can take so many pictures but if you don’t know how to select you fumble. You should have an eye to pick the images you want to print. From there I colour grade and use Capture One and Photoshop, to retouch and do effects. If it happens that I want CGI done I will just call up my friend and tell him what I want to be done.

WHAT LEAVES YOU SATISFIED WITH A BODY OF WORK.

I think there’s times when I’m not satisfied. But, I would show friends and ask them “what do you think of this?” I normally hit up my friend David Black and ask him what I should change. So, it’s an on and off thing . There’s days where you’re satisfied and then there’re days where you’re not sure. As an artist it’s okay to feel that way. Sometimes your ‘not sure’ is great to people out there.

WHERE DOES SOME OF YOUR INSPIRATION LIE THESE DAYS? WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING, READING, OBSERVING ETC

I’m not observing much. I watch YouTube channels to educate myself in certain skills on photoshop or certain skills in lighting. I remember I woke up one day with ideas of what I want to create in my head. I could just walk and see images of something I would want to shoot without finding any reference images of it on Pinterest. There’s a project I’m working on in the pipeline. I’d like to have my own exhibition this year. I had a dream of something I really want to touch the world with. I had a conversation on set with someone and they were like I should make an AI thing where people can wear goggles and actually feel like they’re in the image because the image is 3D. So, imagine an exhibition in 3D format where everyone feels like they’re in the image. It was a dope conversation.