TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY: Interview with Felicity Handford

All images ©Felicity Handford

Felicity has been a member of Viewfinders since about 2010. At various �mes she has shared images of some of the fascina�ng countries she has visited, giving us glimpses of their cultures. But what makes a picture a good travel photograph? Clearly it is far more than an image being technically correct in terms of focus, exposure and framing. A good image draws the viewer in and causes them to stop and look at it. I enjoy looking at images that make me wonder about what is going on, that make me curious about who this person is, or what has (or is happening) in that place. For me travel photography is photography that takes place outside the area that I live in, that I’m not familiar with. For me it includes landscapes, cityscapes, buildings and of course people and what they are doing. The ‘people’ photography might be documentary, or it might be portraits.

Felicity, how long have you been travelling and how did you discover your love for photography? I started to travel and take photographs seriously in 2011. I’ve always enjoyed taking photographs, but I really wanted to travel to Iceland. I realised that if I was to really get the most out my trip then I needed to buy a DSLR camera and learn how to use it. So, I enrolled in a basic DSLR camera course and looked for photographic workshops in places I wanted to visit. Every country I have visited has been interes�ng, and going on photographic holidays means that I’m with a group of likeminded people. The trips are arranged with photographers in mind, and being pushed out of my photographic comfort zones means that I have learnt about different genres of photography, and it has helped me to begin recognising what interests me most, and to begin to develop a personal style.

What would a�ract your a�en�on and make you take a picture? I try to take images that say something about the place or what the person is doing and feeling. I’m only just beginning to understand something of how this might be done. It’s what interests me about photography, it is a constant challenge to learn and improve. In observing people from across the world I have begun to realise how similar people are to us, even if they live in distant countries, and despite their different clothes and cultures.

Pripiat, Chernobyl, Ukraine

Do your prepare your trips taking into account precise photo loca�ons or do you discover them on the spot? Clearly, if you understand something about the culture and what you are going to see it really helps, and hopefully as a result you take be�er photographs. On these holidays, at the end of each day, we are shown some photographs taken of the place or event we are visi�ng the following day. It gives the group a chance to think about what we are going to photograph. However, I think that I take my best photographs if I walk in the opposite direc�on from everyone else. I am then free to take the photographs that excite me without feeling that I should be taking the same images as everyone else.

What equipment are you usually travelling with? I like to travel as light as possible. I used to take two cameras in case of problems, several lenses and a tripod. At the moment, I have a Nikon Z6 and the lens I would now travel with is a 24-200mm. Some of the places I have visited have been very dusty or rainy with no cover to change lenses. Unless you are going to photograph landscapes or in low light, I’m not sure that a tripod is absolutely necessary. A really good camera bag is essen�al and knowing how you are going to travel around is another.

Which advice would you give to someone who travels for the first �me with more 'serious' equipment? It depends on where you travelling to, what sort of photography you are hoping to do, and what sort of hotel or place you are staying in. If you are going to stay in a 3-4 star hotel then security and charging equipment should not be a problem. However, if you are staying in a remote village you would do well to take an external ba�ery with you. I think also that it is very important to be sensi�ve to the people and culture around you. To try and communicate and give something back to the people you want to photograph, I believe that it is a privilege to visit other countries and we need to respect the people, their tradi�ons and places we visit.

Bera man smoking during holy festival, India