Rafa Botello Push With Me

Rafa Botello – Push With Me
I’ve been really inspired by professional athlete Rafa Botello and his story.
His drive, his desire, his determination and his dignity.
If I was half the man he is, I’d be twice the man I am.

dark side of the lens

‘Even if I’m only just scraping a living, at least its a living worth scraping’
says surf photographer and film maker Mickey Smith in ‘The Dark Side of the Lens’.
Combining stunning, abstract and emotive cinematography with an almost poetic narration, Mickey has condensed in five short minutes the essence of just following your dreams and doing what you love doing and what inspires you most. It’s a luxury not all of us are willing to sacrifice for but if you do want to step outside your comfort zone, challenge the confines of social convention and embrace adventures of the mind, body and spirit then this is one of the best short film I’ve ever seen to advocate that message.
Take a look and tell me it doesn’t send a shiver down your spine.

This film makes me think of the day I was lucky enough to point my lens at world class surfer Clay Marzo
Clay was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome in 2007 and getting direct eye contact with him can be a bit of a mission for a photographer.
As with most celebrity shots you rarely get given much time but portraits are all about making a connection and I knew I’d made a great one when later, sitting alone at lunch, Clay came in and scanned the room before walking over and sitting with me.
We didn’t speak once but I knew I’d got that rare moment of human contact that makes a good portrait stand out and connect back to you.
If you too are seriously into H2O be sure to check out the awesome footage on Clay after the still.

evolution

a short film I made with contemporary dancer Marie Gabrielle Rotie after taking some stills on sunset.

As soon as I shot the stills I knew I wanted to shoot moving film and I think it’s hard, if not impossible, to do both in the same space of time. When I’m shooting stills I see the motion and want to capture it and when I’m shooting motion I see the still frames that flicker past my eye and are committed to the moving image format.
It’s a fascinating conflict of interests to be caught up in.

Just like me, Marie is inspired by light, energy and movement and our photo shoot led to an artistic collaboration of motion that was all shot in one totally improvised afternoon.
I know the importance of pre productuon and planning in making a short film and I’m all up for it but when you get the chance don’t let your instincts down – just go for your shots and set your creativity free.

the challenge

I actually started out as a photojournalist with a Canon AE1 and a selection of fixed wide angle lenses that I still have to this day. My heroes were ( and still are) Don McCullin, Bruce Davidson and Josef Koudelka among others and I loved the high contrast, black and white worlds of Bill Brandt, David Bailey and Richard Avedon.
My own personal journey took me on the road to exploring other avenues of photography like sports, fashion, and advertising but I’ve always loved portraiture and the telling of a story.
In September 2010 I photographed quad amputee Ray Edwards on assignment for The Guardian.
We got on great and I was fortunate enough to be asked to document his incredible attempt to summit the highest freestanding mountain in the world Mount Kilimanjaro with Charity Challenge.
These images say it better than I ever could….
I’m indebted to Ray for his courage, lack of vanity and dedication to this project and also to the porters and guides of Kilimanjaro who made this such a humbling and memorable trip for me.