Photography Interview for Radio Bath.

Here is the transcript of the show with Barbara (Robbie) Dixon

BD -My guest this afternoon is Marcus Ahmad. Commercial photographer.

Good afternoon, Marcus. It's lovely to see you. 

MA-Good afternoon Robbie and thank you so much for inviting me on the show. 

BD- Well, it's my pleasure to have you and to have you here at Radio bath. 

We actually met a couple of months ago Marcus when I had been giving given your details and actually I went through a professional photo shoot with you, which was great fun and you made myself and my husband feel very much at ease. So I guess the first question I want to ask you Marcus is when did your love of photography happen? When did it all start for you? 

MA-Oh, well, quite late in life Robbie, I didn't start taking photographs until my 30s. Before that I was a session musician playing bass guitar, hence my choice of records. I like good bass lines in them. I was playing bass in a band that had a number one record, and we got a bit of dosh for that. And I bought myself a really nice camera. 

I remember picking up my eye, looking through the viewfinder and just seeing the world in a completely different way in this enclosed box.

 And I thought wow, this is amazing. And I got hooked. And from there, I just went to college, went to university, became an assistant, and started a career in photography, which brings me to where I am now. 

BD- Yeah. And you were involved in the fashion industry for quite a while of market switching. That's correct. So again, was that you know, I suppose from an outsider looking in, we always think that that's you know, razzmatazz and it's all glitz and glamour and whatever. What was it really like behind the scenes in that world? The restriction glamour or you know, gonna give anything up on that. 

MA- Well, great fine, I can't lie. It was really good fun. I was very lucky. I did a lot of traveling, working in LA, New York, Paris, and Bangkok. Working with some fantastic teams of people makes a party as close stylists and hair and makeup. Yeah, I What can I say it was a great life is really good fun. Great time to be alive. Yeah. 

BD-And then how did the transition come? Then Marcus from actually you know, being a photographer full-time yourself. And then going into teaching because you've lectured and you've taught at university as well. So how did that transition happen? 

MA- I was living in London. I spent the past 25 years up there, and I'd my studio so I had a great life in London, but I was getting to that stage in my career where I was looking for something else. 

And I was offered this opportunity by the University of South Wales to head up a new department in fashion and advertising photography. And I just jumped into the challenge. I moved down to Bristol set up shop down here and did teaching for about 10 years now have a wonderful time doing it at university, which great students, some of who have gone to really quite good success, which I'm really pleased and proud about. 

So yeah, that's how I turned from being a commercial photographer into a senior lecturer. 

And now I've gone turn the tables because I was really missing doing photography. And now I'll come back to being a branding photographer, which I do now. 

BD-So that was, you know, again, you mentioned that just before we heard that track and Marcus, that one of the things your career if you'd like have come full circle. And so you're back now helping businesses brand, their particular you know what they're selling and you know what's what's your motivation with all of that I mean how can you help businesses kind of rebrand themselves? 

MA-Well first of all RobbieI say would you like to be my agent !

Taking the ideas I learned from fashion and advertising photography and doing this fairly new genre called brand photography. 

And that is all about I believe, making business people look good and helping make that product or service look sellable to the consumer. So when I work with my clients, I try and make it so that within one photograph, you can look at that photograph in an advertisement or in a website and within a second you can understand the value of that business, what it's about, you know, who their ideal client would be, what you know, what their price point what they're selling, all these kinds of things. 

All these questions can be answered. I believe in one photograph if you take it with care and time 

BD-I think speaking from experience having worked with you, Marcus, you certainly did make myself and my husband feel very at ease and also very natural because that's the other thing that you know, you didn't bring with you a makeup artist. 

But you know, it just felt very, very natural, very honest. And I think that's probably what an awful lot of businesses would want to promote these days anyway, you know, in a world which was filled with, you know, there is a lot of dishonesty out there. 

A lot of doubts. I'm sure we're all subjected to these, you know, crank phone calls, etc, etc. And so I'm just sort of thinking that that's having looked through your website and looked at some of the work that you've done, you do really capture the individuals and their personality and their character. So that's a real thrill, ironically. 

And just so that people know, how can they get in touch with you Marcus, for sure. 

MA-Well, the normal means I've got my website, which is Marcus Ahmad.com. You can find me on LinkedIn, which is a really great platform that I use a lot, again, with the same name I've got quite an unusual combination of names Marcus, and I met I think I am the only one in the world. So if you type in fairly close to that, hopefully I should come up. I'm based in Bristol, just down the road of course. 

BD-That makes it easy. And as a young person wanting a career in photography, markers, so what advice would you give them? 

MA_ That’s a great question. 

I would say, and this might seem rather patronizing and rather obvious, but the way you do it is by taking photographs, taking lots and lots of photographs. It's like anything being a musician or whatever, it's a skill you have to practice and practice and get better at. 

What you want to do is photograph your life, because your life is personal to you. And that's what makes a great photographer or photograph, being known for having work that is unique and with a signature style. 

So go out there and take lots of photographs of your own life and then you can progress from there. I did, I went to a City and Guilds evening course. I then went on to university and studied and then I did another four or five years assisting a photographer. 

So that's the route that I took, but primarily as simple as it sounds, just take lots of photographs that ideally are personal to you. 

So Marcus is that anything that you would do differently? 

MA -No!

Gosh, so many things but you know, generally no, I'm in my life or with photography or photography with your business.

I do miss having my place up in London and being part of the fashion world that was all very glamorous,

 I said, but having a lovely life down here in Bristol, working with some fantastic businesses and meeting some great people. No regrets for me. Yeah, well, that's good to know. 

BD-And equally, you would definitely encourage a young person to get into the career and follow their dream. And just before we heard that track, we were talking about how you would encourage a young person to do that and just get out there and take photographs, actually, right? 

MA-Yes and I would certainly encourage people to do it. Sure. Fantastic. Like being a photographer. A camera is like a passport. That opens up a whole world to you. So yeah, it's there's nothing else like it as far as I'm concerned. Yeah. And we were also having a lovely chat of because Marcus and I it's a big year for both of us.