Interview with John Ulan

John Ulan is nationally renowned for his award-winning photography. Co-founding the photo agency Epic Photography Inc., Ulan brings 20 years of experience to the table and shoots continuously for newswire and editorial clients.

		PHOTOGRAPHER John Ulan Edmonton-based Ulan has freelanced across the country for publications such as Canadian Press, Globe and Mail and National Post. For this assignment, he teamed up with partner and co-founder of Epic Photography, Ian Jackson, to shoot Edmonton's biggest festival. For more on the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, read "Boogie Nights" in the May 2008 issue of Canadian Geographic Travel. Visit Epic Photography's website.
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Q When covering a large-scale event, such as the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, what is the first thing you do to prepare?

A The most important thing is to do whatever research is available. Luckily, Ian and I had photographed the event before, maybe five or six times over the past 10 to 15 years. So we could go based on our history and our memory of how the event works. Then it was just a case of finding what acts were playing and what the individual performances were going to be, so that we knew how to incorporate them into our shooting.

Q Did you have a game plan before you went in? For example, you and Ian Jackson both shot the festival did you take a "divide and conquer" approach? Did you go to each performance or go for one day only or multiple days?

A We hung out the whole time. It was one of those opportunities where we could simultaneously go out and complete a job, but also remember why we got into it. We thought "let's do what we did in the olden days." When Ian and I first met, we were competing freelancers who wanted to beat the other one into the ground. When I showed up at an assignment for Canadian Press and he would show up at the same assignment for the Globe and Mail, we tried to outshoot each other. That was our goal, it didn't matter that we were friends; we were there to make sure that, you know, I got the better picture than he did. And it was the same sort of situation here, we wanted to go out, have fun and go head-to-head against each other and just exercise ourselves that way. So that was probably the biggest approach. I wouldn't say that we normally do that, but this was just one of those opportunities we could go out and compete against each other.

Q Would you usually split up or stay together?

AIt's almost entirely split up. We would walk through the gates and have an idea of what we need from that night. For instance, on Friday we decided we definitely needed shots of the hill some kind of ubiquitous, scene-setting context shots: the crowd on the hill and the city skyline in the background. We both agreed that at a certain time we would go to a pre-determined location and work on getting those photographs. Otherwise, it was simply a case of going out and looking for photos.

Q Do you shoot first and ask for permission after you get the candid shot, or do you ask people before you take their picture?

A I'd say nine times out of 10 is shooting first and asking questions later. Very often the moment changes if you try to ask a person if they want their photo taken. Working in the crowd, it's simply a case of going around and making friends, introducing yourself to strangers saying, "Hey I'm so-and-so from Canadian Geographic and I thought what you were doing was wonderful. Could I take your picture?"

Q How important is it, to ask questions first? What are the rules for shooting first and asking later?

A I don't know that there are any specific rules. You always want to get as much detail as possible, whether you've got a camera in front of your eye or a notepad in your hand. We're all reporters and the number one rule of reporting is to get as much accurate information as you can possibly get. The five Ws, that's equally important for a photographer. A lot of that can be encapsulated in the photograph, but you still need to know who these people are and specifically what they're doing to give context and meaning to the photograph.

Q Events like the festival offer a variety of photographic opportunities. What are the shots you aim to get and what kind of safety shots do you take for something to fall back on?

A I learned early on that you should have a body of work on any assignment. I guess there's always a formula, to some degree, that we follow when we go out on assignment: shoot tight, shoot loose, shoot horizontal, shoot vertical and make sure that you encompass all of the different angles. Once we've got that then we might progress to more artful shots, working on the context, showing the relevance of the environment in a particular assignment. Then we start looking deeper, for more graphical elements you can use to make a more interesting photograph. Once you've reached that point in an assignment, which is usually within a few minutes, you let your instinct take over. You're letting your eye just roam and try to find subjects that are interesting.

Q Do you have free rein or do you have a discussion with the editors and writers to influence what you'll be doing?

A I always like to talk to the writers or see the copy. So much of what we do is context related. Most often the editors I work with don't give you that much information. They give you a basic outline. They're relying on your eyes and ears on the ground because they can be 3,000 kilometres away, how can they give you specific instruction if they don't know the lay of the land?

Q With outdoor events, there's additional pressure: getting good photos in a limited amount of time, dealing with unpredictable weather, large crowds, etc. What do you do to stay focused?

A It depends entirely on the event. At the folk fest, I didn't have one aspect to anchor my shooting around. It was in some way even harder. I really had to choose my focus and be careful not to be overwhelmed by it. I don't have any sort of magical answer, it was really a case of just knowing from experience what kind of photographs I need and then just coming in and letting something grab my attention.

Q Do you have any other particular techniques you use to capture the magnitude of the event down to the smallest details?

A That's a tricky question. Because I've been doing this for 20 years, I've gotten to the point where everything just falls into place instinctively. I let my body and my eye lead me. Maybe it's a case of chasing activity first. I think that we photographers are like lions and gazelles. A lion for the most part will lie in the tall grass and lick his paw until he sees a flash of movement in the distance. It's that motion, that movement that catches the lion's attention. The lion will jump and run, often before he even realizes what he's chasing, and maybe to some degree that's how a news-photographer works instinctively. They're looking for that flash of something that catches their attention. Once that happens, it gets the adrenaline going. Your instincts kick in and you fill in the details. I don't think anyone at this level really thinks about composition. I don't think in my mind about the rule of thirds, leading lines or layering an image, all of those very important compositional elements. My eye now just sees it; my eye and my finger work. A lot of the time I think the brain is left out of the equation.

Q What kind of obstacles did you encounter then? Did you have a hard time getting close to the stages? Did a lot of people walk into your shots?

A The biggest problem with this kind of event is simply not allowing yourself to become overwhelmed by all the activities. You can be working on one subject and as you're photographing that subject in the back of your mind you could think: "I'm missing something. Something else is going on at another location on the site and I'm not there." I think that's your biggest fear when you're doing this kind of assignment. You have to remind yourself that even if you don't get that shot it's okay. Something better will come along, or something just as good will come along. I can give myself the luxury of relaxing, taking a breath and spending quality time with the subject I'm with right now. If I spend quality time with this particular subject, a great shot will be created and the fact that I've missed something somewhere else will become irrelevant.

Interview by Sheri Gagnon.