Stephen Green-Armytage

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

As a photographer, I prefer my subjects to be the heroes of my pictures, not me. (This was probably not the case when I was in my teens and early twenties.) I aim to use good composition, appropriate lighting, etc., but hope that nobody notices. When I watch a film, I prefer not to be distracted by the cinema -photography, the lighting, etc. while I enjoy the story.

My cameras are nothing unusual, but I use several different lenses, from wide-angle to telephoto and in between, including some for close-ups, a few filters, and often a tripod. No photoshop or manipulation. However, my lighting equipment is professional, though I use it for technical quality, not for effect.

Subject choices are guided by whatever is interesting, beautiful, striking, maybe charming, maybe funny. I like to use photography to share whatever I think is worth sharing, to let people notice and appreciate whatever I think is worth noticing and appreciating. Often I like to record things that are temporary, a breaking wave, a flower in bloom, a running animal, a child at a certain age. And I like to do all this well.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

As a child in England, I always had hand-me-down cameras from my mother and my uncle, and I had the use of the family dark-room. I could frame parts of my world in two dimensional black & white rectangles.

By the time I was at university, I decided that photography was the career I wanted. Although I had two substantial spreads in national magazines while still a student, I knew that there was still plenty to learn, and spent a full year as a humble studio assistant in London. As a young professional, I did mostly advertising photography, but
soon became more interested in editorial work. At the time, New York had the best magazines, and when I moved there, I immediately started shooting for Sports Illustrated. Then also for Fortune, some travel & shelter magazines, a few European publications, and LIFE.

Some subjects needed more more extensive treatment, so I turned to book publishers. I have done seven handsome “coffee table books” and two children’s books, and have seen several of my titles translated into French and German. And at all times, I took photographs for myself, set my own projects, mostly on weekends and vacations. While for these I was essentially an amateur photographer, my professional experience and
equipment helped me to maintain a high technical standard and helped me to make good choices quickly, and do justice to my subjects.