Getting a great travel photo means more than just capturing the moments, says NZ photography legend Grant Sheehan.
The allure of capturing the perfect travel moment is made obvious at popular tourist attractions.
It’s clear at the museums that house famous artworks.
It’s clear on the scenic mountain tops featuring polite queues.
And it’s clear in the echoing photographs users eventually share on social media.
While social media and influencers are often touted for producing these desires, loyal practitioners and audiences have enjoyed capturing their adventures since cameras became accessible to travellers.
New Zealand photographer Grant Sheehan is amongst those practitioners — he began taking photos professionally over four decades ago.
Though he has explored plenty of different subjects in that time (most recently venturing into an imagining of what an artificial intelligence program might dream of), travel photography has been an influential pillar of his career.
Before his more intrepid explorations, early jobs saw Grant tasked with capturing familiar subject matter for an unfamiliar audience.
“In the first decade or so, with some good luck, I did some work for The New York Times, shooting New Zealand stories for them.”
Then, Grant found himself taken by a particular subject matter. He started to capture New Zealand cafés with distinct character, just as the phenomenon of coffee shops was really taking off during the 1980s in Aotearoa.
“I had so much fun doing that, that I decided to do an international one … So, I went around the world I suppose, in a big circle and found 42 cafes that I thought were interesting.”
The international version of Grant’s curious café photo collections was picked up by a major publisher, leading to greater success through Europe and the US.
This peaking interest transformed the next phase of Grant’s life.
“Suddenly, we had this really hot seller and it did really well, and they asked us to do some more. So, we just did another three over a 10-year period. So, I ended up travelling a huge amount and going to about 90 countries just doing those books.”
Throughout those years travelling and capturing countless locations, Grant has continued to hone his expertise in taking memorable photos – and has confronted some of the complications surrounding the practice.
Through his lessons, travellers may find some poignant advice in chasing a great shot, while still taking in holiday surroundings and engaging in the practice responsibly.
In Grant’s experience, a smartphone can grant a new kind of mobility for travellers as it doesn’t appear to be as intrusive as a camera (though the ethics surrounding its use are much the same).
However, he suggests utilising both tools can help to sharpen the senses for capturing great photos over time.
“With a smartphone, you tend to just snap away ... You’re not actually seeing in the same way that you do with a DSLR. You’re not actually looking as hard and somehow, I find it’s not as gratifying if you do get a good photo. Also, you’re making your senses of seeing things a little blunter I think, in the long term.”
In his time capturing very specific subject matter through travel, Grant sometimes found that trips on assignment, while exciting, felt a little rushed.
“It was a very odd way of seeing the world, because you were walking into a place and staying in a hotel, and you had to get really good images. ... And then you come away – normally we try to do one or two things around the area or about the city – but you come away having visited seven or eight countries in a month. You’ve only actually been to one tiny fragment of it.”
Grant says dedicating some time to venture off the planned itinerary (and put the camera down) can give space for surprising moments.
On the other hand, Grant explains that feeling a closeness to your camera could create a keen sense of focus.
“I think when you’re travelling, and travelling for work, you’re actually concentrating intentionally on certain areas and you actually get to drill in a lot further than if you’re just going there to relax ... from that you can derive some really interesting aspects and memories.”
Finding a particular subject matter that draws a traveller’s interest could help to create an enthusiasm, and deepen the experience of travel.
Grant says he often approaches a setting with a specific story in mind. He highlights that a great travel photo includes something to stir interest in the viewer.
“In all of my photographs, I try to have them obtain some sort of hook.”
However, in trying to find that hook, he likes to position himself in the moment and stay aware of what is happening.
“It’s just a matter of being alert and open to [a moment].”
Grant also says a good travel photo, though dependent on subject matter, can be enhanced by placing it in a larger collection of images.
“I like to have a range of things. I like to have some detail, some more intimate content, but I like to get some general content, so when people are looking at a group of photographs, they can see them in the context that they occurred.”
Grant says it’s important to recognise that the photos we take are always produced through a particular frame, which can impact the ways we see and remember the places we travel (as well as affect people who live in those places).
“Of course, [photos] ground you back to what was there and what you actually saw and so forth. But, having said that, there is the fact that when you are photographing, or travel writing, you are dealing with a specific area of reality. And certainly with a still camera, you are freezing the moment, which is always distorted ... in a way that’s quite unreal. So, you can present it and give a very false impression of what was actually happening.”
He says he’s found it important to consider the wider context when preparing to take a photo in an unfamiliar place.
When it comes to photographing people, Grant also employs a cautionary approach.
“[If] I would’ve felt that I had distorted that person, I just let those ones go.”
When there's nothing as far as the eye can see, you may appreciate the company.