This job can be a beautiful one but requires more work than you can ever believe to get there. Today, you have to wear many different hats. You cannot only be a photographer. You have to know marketing, legal, accounts, etc
1. Could you walk us through your journey as an artist?
I’ve been a professional photographer working primarily in the news/entertainment industry for 30 years. In 2015, I mentally cracked and quit the industry. I could no longer endure the declining pay where photographers were now working for $1 a picture. In the early 2000s, it was called the golden age of celebrity photography, with some photographers making as much as $50,000 a month. Due to poor business decisions from the agencies and the increase in social media platforms, it led to the complete demise of this business.
I took a sales job for a cycling company selling clothing because it gave me a healthcare plan. I now had the security of healthcare or "bankruptcy insurance," as we call it in the USA. This enabled me to work on my art as a street photographer at the same time. I’ve always loved the art of photography and studied at the Berkshire College of Art and Design in the UK for 4 years when I was young. Like anything, when a passion becomes your job, you can sometimes lose the passion and get caught in the cycle of just trying to make a living to support your family.
In 2018, I found myself in a position where I had started to make a name for myself worldwide as a street photographer. I was having exhibitions, selling my prints, and teaching the art of photography to others. This hard work and dedication to my craft allowed me to be able to quit my job as a cycling clothing salesman. I think it’s very valuable to do other jobs as it gives you a broader outlook on life and you learn new skills that have helped me in my photography career. In my lifetime, I have been a street cleaner, garbage truck worker, Milkman, Paperboy, Silver service waiter, barman, night club DJ, and many more. Serving everything from bacon rolls to people attending a rugby game at Twickenham stadium to Prince Andrew at private functions. In 2019, I released my first book “Street” which went on to become a worldwide bestseller. Since then, I have gone on to do shows around the world and continue to teach workshops in cities like New York, London, Paris, and Tokyo. This year I released my second book “New York Street Diaries” which chronicles New York over the COVID-19 Pandemic with publisher Teneues. This was a publisher I always wanted to work with as they have published many of the great photographers like Elliot Erwitt, Robert Mapplethorpe, Thomas Hoepker, and others I grew up studying. It’s been a very long road but nothing in life worth having comes easily.
2. What trends in art and photography do you think will make it big in the near future?
In all honesty, I have never really concentrated on trends. As an artist/photographer, you need to be the one setting the trends. Normally if everyone is doing one thing then you push and go in the opposite direction. You need to stand out from the rest! Never follow the crowd.
3. As an author, how does storytelling play a role in your visual art, particularly in photography? Do you find that your writing influences your photographic narratives or vice versa?
It’s all our personal story. Every picture we take is a timestamp of our journey through life and how we see the world. When I was a working news photographer, I was fortunate enough to work on some of the biggest stories. We were never trying to follow a story. We were the ones to break a story wide open to the world. I’m proud to say that we exposed stories such as people illegally selling babies, pedophile priests, and corruption on all levels. I think these valuable lessons I learned from the news industry have helped me in my craft as a street photographer and the stories I choose to cover. Often trying to ignore whatever everyone is covering but what they are not. During the Pandemic, rather than choose to photograph the empty streets of NYC, I chose to do intimate stories about the people living on the streets and how it had affected them. These people were living in the shadows and being ignored, and I thought it important to tell their stories as well.
4. Your job as a photographer includes both the grime and glamour. What do you personally enjoy doing more and why?
I think anything real. The glamour/entertainment world was a job I did for 15 years. Like anything, there is grime behind that velvet curtain. I enjoyed showing how the pictures were taken, which took me to do a photo essay on the celebrity photographers. The celebrity photographers/paparazzi, as some people liked to call them, would not have been doing that job if there was not such a high demand for it. The market dictates as in any other business.
5. What message would you like to share with aspiring photographers?
This job can be a beautiful one but requires more work than you can ever believe to get there. Today, you have to wear many different hats. You cannot only be a photographer. You have to know marketing, legal, accounts, etc. I wish someone had told me all these things years ago, and life would have been so much easier. Remember, nobody is ever going to be as invested in your success as you. Above all, enjoy it. Most photographers will likely only ever come up with 5 - 10 great images in their lifetime. Some, if lucky, might have one iconic image. So if you realize this, it will take away the pressure of thinking you have to go out and get great images every day. Just try to get consistently better. I wish you all luck in your photographic journeys!
6. What is a book that has greatly influenced you and how?
Arnold Newman’s “Artists.” When I was in college, a friend of mine found it in a rubbish can while walking home and gave it to me. Newman has since gone on to play a big influence in my work.
BIO:
British-born, New York-based photographer Phil Penman has documented the ever-changing streets of New York City for over 25 years. His extensive career spans news and magazine photography, with notable contributions to publications such as The Guardian, The Independent, and The New York Review of Books. Penman's portfolio includes capturing major public figures and historical events, notably his coverage of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, featured on NBC's Today show, BBC, History Channel, and Al Jazeera.
His pandemic lockdown coverage in New York City is housed in the U.S. Library of Congress, aligning him with iconic documentarians from the Great Depression era. Penman's work has been showcased in Leica galleries across major cities like New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, and London. His distinctive street photography has graced international exhibitions in Venice, Berlin, and Sydney.
As a Leica Akademie workshop instructor, Penman travels the world sharing his photography expertise. Recognized as one of the "52 Most Influential Street Photographers," he stands alongside legends like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sebastião Salgado, Diane Arbus, and Garry Winogrand. His 2019 book, "Street," became a best-seller and was featured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Penman's latest book, "New York Street Diaries," debuted as the number one selling Street Photography book worldwide on Amazon.
Interviewed By - Shreya
Edited By - Pragya Lamba
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