Interview with my Flickr friend Eduardo Amorim

1. How did you first get interested in photography? And are you self taught?

My first interest was about drawing, I started to photograph in order to have some models... From my father comes my interest for drawing and also for the culture of Gauchos... Yes, I am self taught, I never had any class about photography

2. Do you have a favourite walk around lens? If so, what is it?

I have a little experience about lenses... now I’m using a 28-80 mm and sometimes I think I could do a better job if it had a bigger range

3. What equipment and software do you use?

I use a Nikon EE8800 and a Nikon D50, Photoshop and Picasa

4. Which one item of equipment is the most important for you?

I’m satisfied with my D50, it’s very effective in action shots, it’s speedy, maybe the most important item to me

5. How do you decide on locations and subjects?

Maybe because I’m not a professional, I don’t chose and don’t plane locations, I just take my camera where I go, I like this kind of photo taken by chance

6. What are your favorite subjects to photograph?

Well, I’m a photographer with just one subject: Gauchos, their life, work, entertainment, skills, tools, stuff, inhabitat, scenery etc. My hobby has been to document that and show it in Flickr

7. What continues to inspire you as a photographic artist?

Surely is my passion about this subject, this cultural inheritage from my ancestors, my people, their traditional way of life, things I’ve learned to love from my childhood

8. What is the one thing that you have not captured on camera you feel you need to express?

I love to discover how our traditional culture is shared besides and in spite of the formal frontiers of countries... Gauchos are the men of Pampas, don’t matter if in South Brazil, Argentina or Uruguay... I would love to document this fact capturing photos in Argentina and Uruguay

9. What other artists have influenced your work?

Maybe they will not agree about it, but I can say all I know about photography I’ve learned from three Flickr friends, just following their job: Any Manetta, Felicitas Molina and Isaías Mattos, great artists, my first contacts and my references since then

10. What other talents do you possess besides photography? And is there another area of talent you would like to explore?

Maybe I should explore a skill I had to draw sometimes... I don’t know if I have it yet... Well, I work in a financial institution and I am a lawyer also

11. Have you met other flick rites in person, and how was the experience?

Not yet, but I’m about to do it, with great expectations

12. Any words of advice for those who would like to dig deeper into photography?

Who am I to give some advice ? But I think it’s important to love and to know the subject

13. Of all the photos you've taken, what is your favorite and why?

This one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bombeador/413749035/

I think I got a good moment of action and got a good result processing it

14. If you could change anything on flickr, what would it be?

Surely one thing I don’t like in Flickr is the systematic of Explore... I really don’t care if my photos are or aren’t there, I don’t even see it, but I think it’s sometimes very unfair to some people.

These are the photos that Eduardo want to show us in this interview:

1) Um retrato amarelado



2) Mundo do avesso




3) No potreiro




Thanks to Eduardo for his kindness and for showing us a full world of real emotions, hard work and a great, immense Nature!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bombeador/

Angela Lobefaro aka angie_real