Jono Blackham
‘I just want people to believe. And if it conjures up even just a flicker of emotion. Then I’ve done my job.’
Really glad to feature an interview with Jono Blackham, a lifestyle photographer based in London.
When I discovered his work, I was really impressed by how he manages to create emotions and tell stories through his advertising and lifestyle photos.
For Travelling Light Club, he is sharing his photographic journey, what inspires him and the favourite photos in his portfolio.
Jonathan Blackham © All Rights Reserved.
Vincent Dupont-Blackshaw: How did you get into photography?
Jono Blackham: I was working in the film industry when I dated a girl who was a wedding photographer and her father was also a photographer! They convinced me that 20hr days, hanging of the back of a lighting truck 6 days a week with zero creative influence could be trumped by becoming a photographer!
V.D.B.: In a world where everyone is taking pictures all the time, do you remember the first time you felt like a photographer?
J.B.: Despite studying cinematography, I’d been taking landscape photographs in my backyard (The Namib Desert) since the age of 15 with an old Olympus OM-10 that my uncle had given my older sister for her after school travels. It sat under the back seat of her car gathering dust for a few years until I basically stole it from her.
It had the standard 50mm f1.8 lens on it, so it was sucker proof and I would just go through 1 x 24 roll of film over about 6 months and then eagerly await the development. I took an amazing picture of 5 Gemsbok wandering across a windswept plain in the Richtersveld. At 15 I thought I was 1 step away from a National Geographic front cover! lol
Jonathan Blackham © All Rights Reserved.
V.D.B.: Is there a photographer whose work you particularly appreciate?
J.B.: International conflict photographer James Nachtwey, came and delivered a photo essay at my school in 1994 about the Rwandan Genocide. I was blown away by his imagery and it left a lasting impression on me to finally become a photographer, albeit lifestyle. It opened my eyes to the power of imagery. His style of photography was also what introduced me to the “Bang Bang Club”. 4 conflict photographers from South Africa who covered and exposed a lot of what was happening in apartheid South Africa at the time. Their names worth mentioning… Alf Kumalo, João Silva, Ken Oosterbroek and Greg Marinovich.
V.D.B.: Is there a photo of this particular photographer that you wish you had taken yourself?
J.B.: It’s more the power of the images from these photographers that resonated with me and I don’t believe I would have the internal strength to do what they do and cover the subject matter that they did.
V.D.B.: How do you define your work?
J.B.: Curated lifestyle but with an essence of spontaneity. I really enjoy meeting and working with new people and making them feel comfortable enough to be themselves around me. Often I’ll have an idea of what I’m looking to achieve as a starting point, and once we’ve exhausted that and had a few good laughs while doing so, the subject seems to just take over and exist in this new world we’ve created but according to their own personality and ideals.
V.D.B.: What equipment do you use?
J.B.: Canon R5, Capture One Pro 22 and Photoshop.
Jonathan Blackham © All Rights Reserved.
V.D.B.: What is the most curious story behind your photograph?
J.B.: I was commissioned by Blacks Outdoor to shoot some landscape and lifestyle imagery for them in Scotland. They’d managed to find a guide who was so passionate about the brand that he’d been collecting and servicing old Blacks camping equipment and kit, some of which was over 80 years old! He guided us to a bothy (Mountain Hut) which was about a 3 mile hike across a few rivers in the middle of the Glencoe country. It rained and blew a gale the WHOLE hike there, the whole shoot which we could only do inside the bothy and by the time we had to head back the rivers had swollen so much from all the rain we pretty much had to swim across holding camera bags and lights above our heads! It felt like real adventure though and the images were EPIC!
V.D.B.: What are your three favourite photos in your portfolio?
J.B.: It’s kind of like trying to choose a favourite child! You love them all but for different reasons! However, these 4 pictures (1 landscape, right place at the right time, 1 personal picture of my daughter watching her first sunset, 1 of my best friend with his new born son just a few days old and 1 from a recent advertising campaign where we used a real family). It’s what I’m all about. Family moments and us humans, interacting with each other and the natural environment.
V.D.B.: What do you want viewers to take away from your work?
J.B.: I just want people to believe. And if it conjures up even just a flicker of emotion. Then I’ve done my job.
V.D.B.: What is your favourite place in the world?
J.B.: I’m totally biased because I’m from there, but I justify it by saying that through all my travels I’ve never found anywhere like South Africa. It’s as diverse as the USA, with mountains, forests, jungles and deserts but about a tenth of the size and we have WAAAAAY cooler animals! I mean Giraffe’s! They are just such weird and amazing animals!
V.D.B.: Any idea of your next trip?
J.B.: Keeping it local and have a shoot up in Norfolk in June. Beautiful part of the island.
Jonathan Blackham © All Rights Reserved.
V.D.B.: What are you working on at the moment? What is your next project?
J.B.: My current focus is on an ESG portfolio involving bodies of work around sustainable agriculture and green energy. Everything from the Landscapes, the engineers involved and the end user. IE the lifestyle commercial side.
V.D.B.: What else do you do besides photography?
J.B.: I have about a million books to recommend but if there are two short essays that I could read over and over and over again, they are“Self-Reliance” and “Compensation” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Every time you read them you will take something different or just become more aware aboutwhat it is that needs to be done.
V.D.B.: Where can we see your work? Where can we follow you?
J.B.: Engagement on instagram (@jonoblackham) is always great and I can in turn see what awesome pictures you have yourself but I’m also very much into LinkedIn (Jonathan Blackham) and love a little Connection message flurry about what you’re up to or if you have any questions about surviving being a freelancer!