INTRODUCING ED SUTER

19 Jun 2012
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Have you heard about ELLE Style Reporter 2012, in association with BlackBerry^®? You should have caught on by now, it’s on Twitter, elle.co.za and on ELLE magazine SA’s Facebook page. And if you’ve still missed it, then you would have spotted this amazing opportunity in the July issue of ELLE! But just to make sure that you have no excuse for not knowing, read on.

ELLE Style Reporter, in association with BlackBerry^®, is our first search for a style reporter to join our fashionable team. Are you SA’s answer to The Sartorialist? Do you have what it takes to report from the front row? Click here to enter.

Our head judge is Ed Suter, the photographer behind the South African streetstyle book Sharp Sharp, and we asked him a few questions about life behind the lens. (Style Reporter entrants, take note.)

When did you first pick up a camera?

When I was eight my family left the UK and moved to South Africa. I was given a camera before we left and I photographed everything I was leaving behind.

How did you get into photography?

It’s the one thing that has been constant in my life. I’ve lived in different places, had other careers but no matter what I was doing, I was always taking photographs. About 10 years ago I went to The London College of Printing to study photography and it has been my focus since then.

What makes a great photographer?

Genuine curiosity, boundless energy and an understanding of light.

What do you hope readers will take from your book Sharp Sharp?

An appreciation for a different kind of beauty in South Africa, a beauty that can be seen all around us on the streets of our cities. I would like the book to be a celebration of people and their talents.

How long did it take to put the book together?

I started taking photographs around this theme about three years ago as a hobby while was doing other work. After approaching Quivertree, the publishers, with the idea, it took a year from our first discussions to holding a printed copy of the book.

What do you look for in the people you shoot?

Something that catches my eye. There were times when I didn’t feel in the mood for approaching strangers but then I’d see someone whose look appealed to me and I’d approach them anyway because I can’t resist taking their pictures. I tend to look for someone who shows personality in the way he dresses even if it’s just a detail; I wasn’t always after a ‘look’.

What do you love about South African streets?

I like what appears to be a kind of chaos: a riot of colours, styles, and fabrics. I love the hand-painted signs, the graphic language. I think it has a lot of humour. Our streets aren’t carbon copies of one another, all with the same branding and chain stores. There is real personality on our streets.

What do you love most about what you do?

I do all sorts of photography but for the most part, I like that I make a living from what inspires me. It’s not always easy but it’s very rewarding when I see others react to my ideas and photos and products.

If you had to choose three of the photographs from Sharp Sharp that you absolutely love, which would they be and why?

The guy against the red wall, there was something about what he was wearing, his nonchalance and the environment that seemed to sum up the idea of the book; the rhino painted on a house in Woodstock – I find it really beautiful and brilliantly executed; the picture of Angel, a woman from Mozambique, who wore an amazing assortment of layers, stripes and fabrics that I thought was distinctive until I discovered it was almost a uniform at the Mozambican market in Jo’burg.

What is it about the ELLE Style Reporter, in association with BlackBerry^®,  competition that excites you?

I’m excited to see what others are discovering on the streets, what they see that appeals to them. It’s always great to see people’s clear ideas about whatever interests them. I think the competition has such an amazing prize and it is a real opportunity for someone, so I am excited to help someone who is deserving to get a boost.

Any advice for ELLE Style Reporter, in association with BlackBerry^®,  entrants?

Stick to what genuinely interests and excites you. Find your own way of expressing that interest and don’t get distracted by what other people are doing.

The best advice you’ve ever received?

It’s not a piece of advice I received as such but Diane Arbus, the photographer, used to tell her students: ‘No-one will love your photographs as much as you do.’ I think that’s important to remember. Don’t always keep the opinions of others front and centre and don’t be disappointed if not everyone feels the same way about your pictures as you do.

Who would you love to shoot?

If you mean famous people, I would like to photograph Julie Christie and Charlotte Rampling, two beautiful women who have aged in a graceful way and have an enigma about them. I would also love to photograph Lauryn Hill.

Want to see more of Ed’s work and what he looks for when shooting? We thought so. Watch Ed’s video on ELLE TV here. This short film was shot by Tamara and Wendy aka Handbag Content.