An Interview with Travel Photographer & Writer Steve Davey

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Dec 14th, 2008 | By andrew | Category: Interviews

An Interview with Travel Photographer & Writer Steve Davey

Steve Davey is a successful travel photographer and writer and author of best-selling book ‘Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die’. His career is a dream lifestyle for aspiring travel photographers.

Steve Davey travel photo

Steve Davey is a successful travel photographer and writer. You may not be familiar with his name but you’ve probably heard of his best-selling book ‘Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die‘. Steve makes his living by taking photos and writing about travel, which of course is a dream for many aspiring writers and photographers.

In this interview, he passes on some of the experience he has gained in a long career, gives his take on the future of the industry and talks about his books and recent projects.

Interview

You’re a successful travel photographer and writer. How did you get started in the business? When did you first realise that you could make a living from being a writer and photographer?

I got started a long time ago! I was actually studying photography at a college in Central London, but travelled whenever I could. I was even off on a commission in Spain, when I should have been putting up my end of year show. For me it was never about making a living, it was more about doing what I wanted to do, but in a sustainable way! I wanted to keep seeing the world and travelling and taking pictures, but not to just be some wandering hippie!

I get bored easily, and so like the challenge of taking pictures, and have also found that it is a great way to meet people and to make things happen. I don’t shoot weddings, at all, but a mate of mine from New Zealand was getting married and I agreed to take a few shots for him. At one point I was standing on a gravestone, calling out for everyone to look at me. I realised then why I love photography: most normal people have to grow up one day!

What are the most significant changes that you’ve seen in the travel photography and writing industry over the years you’ve been involved? Where do you think the industry will be in five or ten years?

Digital photography has taken off in such a big way, and as with computers, the development is exponential. Even an entry-level DSLR is a massively sophisticated piece of kit. Unfortunately many people’s knowledge lags behind their equipment. They have the gear, and they get frustrated as to why they are disappointed with their pictures. This is one of the reasons which has prompted me to write Travel Photography.

Professionally, the real change is the way that online agencies have proliferated. It used to be that photographers could be efficient and set up mini-libraries to market their work directly. Now there are massive online libraries which allow anyone to sell stock photography. Anyone with a halfway decent camera can take a few pictures that look good. Now they can stuff those pictures up on a website and sell them.

On the face of this, it is a good thing, but it does make things difficult for professional photographers. There isn’t a problem with direct competition - if someone has a better picture than me then it should be sold, not mine - but there are a number of libraries where people literally give pictures away.

In five or ten years time I think that the stock industry will be in an even worse state. All of the easy to get non-model released shots will be available on amateur based libraries, but I think that there will still be commissions for professional photographers with a proven track record.

I also think that the people will start to take a lot more advantage of internet publishing. At the moment many magazine websites are fairly lacklustre. I have seen a couple of online magazines that really make use of the medium, but not many.

In general the digital part of a magazine is usually secondary to the paper version. I think that we are likely to see a much greater number of publications that really make use of digital publishing. This will continually open up new markets for writers and photographers.

I think that things will get a lot harder for photographers and writers though, as rates will be driven down. To really make a good living they will have to get involved in setting up publications and websites rather than just working for them.

If Darwinism tells us anything it is that you have to adapt to survive!

Name three photographers you like and why.

Robert Capa - Because as well as being a terrific photographer, he lived the life, and also managed to make sense of the business side of things as well.

Philip Jones Griffiths - Fantastic documentary photographer, with an amazing empathy for people.

Steve McCurry - legendary photojournalist, with amazingly evocative portraits.

Ask me again tomorrow though, and I am sure that this list will change!

You’ve written a number of books in your career including the phenomenally successful ‘Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die’. How did it start? What was your first book and how did you get involved in the project?

Unforgettable Places was the first book which I completely wrote. I have previously contributed to a number of books of short stories. I was in a partnership, and we basically pitched the idea of a promotional book of short stories to a travel company, and then published the book ourselves! We did another three more books for different companies, but the main drive of these books was stories not pictures.

Where did the idea for ‘Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die’ come from? What has the success of the book meant for you?

Unforgettable Places was actually the BBC’s concept. I was in touch with them over other work and they suggested that I would be perfect for this project. I went out of my way to back up this strange and rather delusional idea of theirs!

They were looking for someone who could write, take pictures and had the links with the travel industry to pull the job off.

It goes back to what I said about having a niche. My main niche is that I write and take pictures. There are probably better photographers, certainly better writers, but few people can do the whole package so well.

The success of the book has been a bit of a shock for all concerned. It has sold over 300,000 copies of the UK edition, and there are almost 30 overseas editions. Having such a successful book behind me has helped in a number of ways. Firstly, there is a big recognition factor that has helped me to convince people about other projects. This undoubtedly helped me with pitching the Travel Photography book.

There was also the financial help of the royalties. A good lesson for people who are starting out: always make sure that you have a stake in your own success!

Your latest book ‘Footprint Travel Photography‘ has just been published. Tell us a little about the project. Did you come up with the concept yourself or were you approached by the publisher?

I came up with this project completely and pitched the idea to Footprint. It is something that I always wanted to achieve: part retrospective of my work, part record of knowledge and life on the road. I write for a couple of publications on travel photography, and this is the depth that I have always wanted to go into the subject.

I am also putting together a bespoke range of travel photography tours in conjunction with Intrepid Travel, so all of this fits in well!

How much work is involved in producing a book like this? How long did you have to work on the project?

I started Footprint Travel Photography in January, and finished it in September. During that time I did work on other projects, but also made a number of trips specifically to shoot material for the book. I guess I could also say that this book took me 20 years to produce, as there is at least one picture that is that old in the book, and that is how long I have been learning the trade!

There are an awful number of words in this book, and it does represent a great deal of work. There is a vast amount of information in there. Some of it I had to do quite a bit of research about. For instance I have always known that RAW is better quality than JPEG, now I can prove it!!

I believe that you’re in the process of putting a new travel photography website together to go with the book. What’s the website about and what will we find on there once it’s ready?

I have set up a small companion website to go with the book. This has added value things such as an ask-the-author section and a photo clinic. Also, all of the web links are up on the website, as this makes keeping them accurate much easier. I have also put up some expanded galleries and expanded on a couple of points, such as image retouching and copyright issues. This website is on www.footprinttravelphotography.info.

The Better Travel Photography website is going to be an expansion of this project. There seem to be lots of equipment websites and lots of general photography websites, but very little on travel photography. I have always been amazed at how little link up there is between the travel industry and photography industry, although in the real world they are intrinsically linked - I guess this is why Nikon were so keen to be one of the sponsors of my new book.

I want the Better Travel Photography website to try and fill this gap. On a photography level I want it to help people master a lot of the technical aspects of travel photography. Travel Photography is unique in that people have to work in a number of different fields and styles. One day you could be hanging out of a plane and the next shooting underwater. You might have to master wildlife, portraits and landscapes.

On a photography level I want it to show people how photography can add to travelling.

I also want to create a place where people can ask for information about travel, photography, show their pictures and discuss everything related to travel photography.

What advice would you give a writer or photographer who would like to break into book publishing - both educational books like ‘Footprint Travel Photography’ and ‘coffee table’ type books like ‘Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die’?

The real thing is to have a good idea. This sounds obvious, but it is the idea that will really sell anything - whether it be a book, magazine feature or whatever. It sounds obvious, but it is amazing how many people think that they can just copy something. You also have to be aware of unintentional duplication.

Do a lot of research on your competition. Search on Amazon before you pitch a book idea to see if anyone has had the same idea. Also make sure that there is a market if you are going to do a commercial project. There is no point in investing time and money into a book which won’t sell because it is too niche a subject.

Finally, it seems to me that you’ve successfully created a career from the dream of living the lifestyle of a travel photographer and writer. What advice would you give anyone who shares this dream? What does it take to succeed?

The days of the lilting photographer mooching around the world and taking pictures are pretty much over. You might be able to get a small bit of money to eke out your travels that way, but if you want to establish a career then you need to establish a niche and then work hard to excel in it.

With stock photography getting more and more down-market, then the only way to excel is to go for the most original images, the best ideas and the highest possible quality.

I also think that you should ask yourself, why would anyone give you work. If you can’t think of a reason, then why would any potential clients. The phrase Unique Selling Point has become a bit of a buzz word, but in truth, you really do need one!