Interview with Kieran Russell
#1 Please introduce yourself
My name is Kieran Russell and I live in Waterford on the South Coast of Ireland.
#2 How did you get interested in photography?
I picked up a camera a few years ago primarily to take decent photographs of my kids as they grew up. As time went on I have found myself making more landscape images, particularly B&W images of the coast. I find my style changing and developing slightly each year, veering more towards more minimalistic images to highlight the natural beauty of the structures I try to capture. I don’t get a chance to practice very often but when I do I try and make the most of the time available by carefully planning where I am going to make the most of the opportunity.
#3 Do you have an artistic/photographic background?
I have no background in any artistic endeavours. I use photography as a creative outlet as well as an excuse to get out in nature.
#4 Which artist/photographer inspired your art?
There are many people’s work that inspire me, my favourites would probably be Michael Kenna and Sebastião Salgado, I always enjoy looking back over their portfolios when I need a bit of inspiration. There are many of my social media contacts that regularly inspire me with their posts and to name a few that people should check out, Christopher Soukup, Rohan Riely, Dennis Ramos and Trevor Cotton to name but a few.
#5 How much preparation do you put into taking a photograph?
For me it’s all about getting to know an area well by visiting it on numerous occasions, to get familiar with tides, features and the way light effects the scene at various times of year. A lot of the time it’s just luck but on some occasions it’s about knowing where to be in certain conditions. If it’s a new location there are a few apps that I use regularly to help with this, particularly TPE and local Tide prediction apps. I will try and get to a location at both dawn and dusk to experience it, as well at high and low tides.
#6 Which places have been your favourite shooting sites so far and why?
The Copper Coast in Waterford on the southeast coast of Ireland is very close and I have become very familiar with it and would be a favourite of mine. On a short stretch of coast there are easily 5-6 locations with plenty of coves, beaches and stunning sea stacks. Kerry on the West coast of Ireland is another favourite of mine but need to spend more time there to really get to know the area.
#7 What do you do in your life besides photography?
Photography is really just a hobby for me and an excuse to get out in nature. I work as an engineer during the day and with 3 small kids trips out are usually confined to the rare dawn of sunset shoot. I also enjoy running and often combine long runs with a little photographic scouting of areas new to me.
#8 What future plans do you have? What projects would you like to accomplish?
I like to work in small projects, picking a particular area and focusing on it for a few months, culminating in a short blog post for my website (www.kieranrussellphotography.com), and to this end there are a few places I am working on at present along the Copper Coast. I really want to plan an extended trip to Donegal on the north coast of Ireland as it’s an area I haven’t visited before and I feel it has huge potential and not very frequently photographed.
Website: www.kieranrussellphotography.com
One Response to “Kieran Russell”
Kirk Lindgren
Great interview. Thanks.
Very honest.