Ep. 11 — Photo Country with Rajeev — interview with David Ingraham, musician & photographer.
About David Ingraham
David Ingraham, is a drummer in an Irish rock band in Los Angeles, California. He has been keeping the rhythm going for the past two decades as a touring musician. Interestingly, for David, photography came first before music. It was at age 9, when he picked up his first camera and started documenting life. But quickly music took over and it was only in his forties when the iPhone came out that his interest in photography really took off.
Photography, for David, was a creative outlet to destress from life on the road as a touring musician.
So it was a way of me instead of everything, just being music, music, music, when I’d get off the road, I didn’t even want to think about drumming and photography gave me a creative outlet you know, another way of expressing myself.
He became truly obsessed with photography, when he was introduced to the iPhone. Here was a device that was all encompassing. No need to lug around bulky gear. With just the iPhone, he could shoot, process and publish his work without the need for expensive or fancy equipment.
For the first time ever, I had a camera that was travel-friendly that, I could have it on me at all times. I could shoot process and posts all from the palm of my hand.
Interestingly enough, it wasn’t until his discovery of the iPhone that David could zero in on a style that he could call his own. Until that point, he was shooting anything and everything — landscapes, long exposures, portraits, intentional camera movements, etc.
This is something that I can truly relate to. From the time I started shooting, I have been all over the place. It is only recently that I have started focussing on still life and in specific, flowers.
At one point I finally said, I’m just gonna shoot in black and white for the sake of stylistic consistency. And I’m going to, shoot mainly street photography and I’m going to use nothing, but my iPhone.
He is a big believer in the decisive moment. But it takes time and practice to get that right. He is always on a quest to get light, timing and composition just right. If even one of these is off then the balance will be off.
I’m usually on a quest for trying to find that perfect balance between light timing and composition. It’s if you can have a perfectly time shot, but if the lighting is lousy, it’s not a great shot. you can have, some great lighting, but if you didn’t compose it right. So I, I feel like those three elements have to be in balance.
His photographs really pop out at you, with the subjects usually isolated due to the harsh shadows and high contrast images. There is a ton of silhouettes in his images. It almost has a graphic quality to them and to me they look like a graphic novel of the streets of LA!
I like to give an image of sort of tactile quality. So I try and pull out the texture. And, really make the tonality pop, try and get the brightest highlights without them being blown out, the darkest shadows without them being completely black and then everything in between.
Finally, I asked him what he would advise young upcoming artists. He believes that your motive in getting into photography should be right. You should get into it for the love of it — not for the likes or the money.
Alex Webb said, if you want to pursue photography, you have to do it because you love it. If your motives aren’t right, you’re not going to be able to withstand the frustration, the countless failures involved in the growth process. And if you’re doing it just to get likes on Instagram or something, you’re not going to last. You have to be, single-mindedly obsessed with it and do it because you love it.
So, that’s David Ingraham for you. It was an honor talking to him as I look up to him as a benchmark when it comes to mobile photography.
You can find his work on www.davidingraham.com or instagram as dayzdandconfuzd.
