Carl Begai

By Carl Begai

Audrey Dujardin’s rise as an in-demand photographer is proof that taking baby steps towards a career pays off. It helps, of course, when each step taken lands like a steel-soled Doc Marten rather than a tap shoe.

Dujardin’s work speaks for itself, but trying to slow her down long enough to pick her brain was a welcome challenge. Following is a revealing look through her lens and behind her eyes…

CB: At what point did you come to the conclusion that photography was developing into more than just a hobby? Was there a specific show or event?

Dujardin: “I think photography was never really a hobby. It’s hard to say. I started out as a radio host and reporter. I never thought I’d end up becoming a photographer, but I’ve been an artist my whole life, painting and drawing with pencils, inks and pastels, even sculpting clay. I just ‘had’ to start shooting when the magazines were sending me to shows and asking me to take photos. So I did what I had to do: bought some gear, shot, practiced, bought more gear. I started out totally sucking at photography, so I practiced very hard, reading every book, every website and forum, and every tutorial on the subject, then I practiced until I developed to a satisfying level. At some point a few bands contacted me through my website because they liked what they saw and asked to buy some of my pics for album booklets, DVDs and whatnot, and it just developed from there.”

“Maybe the turning point in making it pro was Finnish Metal Expo 2008, when Moonsorrow recommended me to Terrorizer Magazine, because in the chain of events after that I worked a lot with Terrorizer on tour reports and festival reports, photo shoots and so on. During the same summer Turisas hired me for their DVD, then I got flown in and out from Finland repeatedly for photo shoots, and from there all over Europe.”

CB: What was the deciding factor in pushing you to do this in a professional capacity? As in, figuring you were good enough to sell your pictures to the artists you covered or credible publications?

Dujardin: “I never really thought about ‘Am I good enough?’ I think in the end it’s more a question of just being able to stand behind the work you’ve done without being arrogant or overdoing it. Just know what you’re worth and sell yourself as such.”

“My first promo session was with the Finnish band Rock, headed by producer Anssi Kippo. He recommended me around, word of mouth, and the internet did the rest. Concerning live pics, I think it was a Misery Index show that was my first to be bought by Metal Hammer Germany. Since then I’ve just kept being recommended by more and more labels, bands and magazines up to today, where very fortunately for me, work finds me and not the other way around. That’s something I’m really proud of. Like I said above, I was in the right places at the right time so I never had to look for work. For example, Finntroll had me fly in to Finland for their promo shots, Eluveitie to Switzerland, and most recently Blind Guardian flew into Munich to work with me in my home studio on their new promo pics for a couple days. I was just in Holland last week shooting photos for the promo of Epica guitarist Mark Jansen’s new band. So I guess it’s like you; the profession sort of chose me. And I thank it for that!”

CB: Knowledge and money; two things you absolutely need as a professional photographer. So, was this a case of learning by doing for you in terms of acquiring what you needed to know, or did somebody help teach you the ropes? The money thing; how hard is it keeping things in perspective with regards to spending big $$ on the next bad-ass piece of gear or keeping things moving with the equipment you have? You can be loaded with the best gear in the world and still suck balls in your profession.

Dujardin: “I never had pointers from anyone, really. I am entirely self taught. I know everything I know because of research and study. I have dozens of books on photo-journalism and photography, and I participate in many specialized forum. I never learned anything from the other photographers in the pit, if that’s what you’re asking. I do talk a lot about technique, contracts, and lighting setups with my friend Kalle from Finland, who is already quite established over there, but that’s mainly it. Most people in the pit are working as hobby photographers and don’t really have the ambition to be real photographers, only to shoot the bands they like. The real photographers don’t usually give a shit about the music, so they leave the pit once they’re done. No, I think in my case it’s just perseverance – something I’m insanely good at because when I have something in mind I just never give up – and practice that got me here. Soul-sucking devotion. But sometimes, focusing on what you want just gets you there. it’s a question of ambition and drive.”

“Money and gear…. the eternal dilemma. I like to say ‘Don’t buy a Ferrari if you don’t know how to drive.’ Even I don’t have a Ferrari… yet. It doesn’t matter how much your gear is worth if you have no clue what the buttons do. Nothing annoys me more than seeing bimbos in the photo pit with a 5D and a hot ass, just there to impress whoever and delivering the most boring shots. Sure, the good gear will avoid problems like noise and will surely get you better IQ (Image Quality), but who cares if you don’t know what the band is going to do next. The way I see it, if you don’t feel the music or if you can’t work with the lights or anticipate what the band will do – in short, if you don’t see the photo in your mind before going to the pit – you really should try shooting flowers or something that doesn’t really require much anticipation.”

“Money… I went to school and got a job before gearing up, which helps. I don’t really have to worry about money since I worked my whole life and had money on the side for whatever purpose. Now my gear is paid back by the photo work. I have a planned budget. Right now I’ve just built my studio so I’m in the middle of gathering funds for all the lights and everything I need, but photo work comes in regularly so the investment is smooth and less painful than if I only needed photography to live.”

CB: Digital technology is great, but I still love analog equipment. I really believe that if you want to pick the good photographers from the bad you should take away all their fancy shit and give ‘em an old Canon from ’78 to get the job – whatever it may be – done. Thoughts on that?

Dujardin: “Well, throw me a stone, but I’m not a fan of analog. I had a Nikon analog reflex, but come on, I work for mags who ask me to deliver pics with 48 hours of shooting them, retouched and all. I could never do that if I worked in a dark chamber. It’s probably fun and all but it just doesn’t suit my working style and deadlines. I gave it up pretty much easily, and because I’m sort of a new-generation photographer I never really needed to deal with it much anyway. Man, I actually said I’m not into silver photography… that’s such a no-go in terms of image. Well what can I say, I’m being honest. I travel with my photo backpack about 100 days a year. I can’t email them from London, Helsinki, Vienna or Zurich if I have to walk around with rolls of film. Sorry!”

CB: What makes an excellent, standout photographer in your eyes? Is there any one photographer out there – regardless of focus, if you’ll pardon the pun – that you look at his or her work and think “That’s where I want to be” in terms of artistic integrity?

Dujardin: “What makes a stand out photographer is the ability to get the images they have in their heads freeze in the camera, to seize the right moments at a show and to get the models to give what they want on sessions. Nothing else. Composition, white balance, hues, contrasts and geek bullshit can be fixed later, and anyone can do it. But being there, being in contact with the band, catching their eye, catching their moves, catching the spirit of a band on a shoot, that’s a thing you can only do if you’re involved completely in the job.”

“I don’t really have a role model in terms of photography, but I really like the work of some photographers like Pete Ionian or Caroline Traitler from Austria. Pete has some killer audience and gig pics from Novarock 2009, they’ve really inspired me. Caroline is really good at catching the moment on stage. She has a lot of imagination in her composition and use of shutter speed and flash and those are things that 99% of the people in the pit are lacking, which is a crying shame. In studio, I do like Steve Brown a lot, as well as Heile from Germany. Other than those, I tend to be bored to death with the millions of other people out there who just snap around to get free tickets. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; it’s not until you know what kind of moves the band has that you can get anything out of them. Then, you need to look around. What kind of lights are there on the stage? What colour are they? Are the moving, are they blinking? Is there smoke? A good photographer is able to deal with all these different conditions. Imagination. That’s also a skill you see too rarely nowadays. No one wants to see a ‘hair shot’, where you can’t even identify what band is playing. Should I keep on going?”

CB: What bands / artists are consistently the best subjects – live or studio – where you could literally put one cheesy white light on them, dress them in garbage bags, and they’d still look like a million bucks thanks to the vibe / attitude / atmosphere they bring with them?

Dujardin: “That’s easy. Deathstars come to mind first. They’re probably the sexiest band that ever lived, and honestly I wouldn’t mind getting stuck for two days in an elevator with them. They’re just so pretty you can do anything you want, they’re always going to come out all sparkle and sex-appeal. Another one who is hard to miss is Simone Simons of Epica. She’s a natural beauty and I think you’d really have to try very hard to get a bad shot of her. Tomi Joutsen from Amorphis is also probably the most charismatic front man in the industry. Really. And if he’s on a stage, even better. The pictures exhale pure, mysterious virility, any day. Emilie Autumn is also another one who’s hard to miss; she’s just as charismatic as Tomi, minus the moustache.”

CB: This is a male dominated industry blah blah blah. You’ve been on the receiving end of that bullshit (insert perverted innuendo here), but have you gotten to the point where your work speaks for yourself rather than people focusing only on the T’n'A behind the camera?

Dujardin: “God Carl, you’re a real poet aren’t you? (laughs) Yes, I can positively say that nowadays, my glorious tits and ass are most definitely the last reason anyone would hire me. First, by now, everyone in the business knows I will laugh at you if you even try hitting on me, and second, people also know who it is that I work for and usually those people are their record label or the big magazines, so that gives me leverage if I need to tell them to shut the fuck up. But it’s not a secret that any girl, and even moreso a tall blonde with a French accent, needs to work ten times as hard than any guy to get respected as a professional in the music scene. But I understand the game. I knew what it would be like before I started and I’ve managed to get where I wanted to be because of recognized work, and that alone. I’m not really worried or troubled at this point. It’s very rare that people talk to me for the wrong reasons. It happens, and then I try to be the pro in the room and ignore it as much as possible. I don’t think the new chief editor of Metal Hammer would have asked me to shoot the cover of the first issue he was in charge of if he didn’t think I would be able to make the magazine sell. Furthermore, I’d never even met the people in such a big band as Blind Guardian in my life before they flew to Munich to work in my studio. They chose me based on my portfolio and nothing else.”

CB: You’ve gone from being small time to having a respected growing business and reputation. Is there anything photography-wise you’d like to do, maybe outside the music industry? Ever given any thought to releasing a book of your work at some point?

Dujardin: “Yes, I’m currently working on several very, very cool projects in photo. I don’t want to tell you too much about it because I’m that superstitious, but believe me, it’ll kick a lot of ass. They’re ideas of mine that I’m working on with some bands and magazines, and they’re things I’ve always wanted to do, and now I’m crossing fingers for the whole thing to finally be published. I’m so excited that I’ve been given a chance to make basically all my dreams come true, and I’m really proud because not everyone has that opportunity. I’m thankful for every job and every person who’s given me a chance in the business.”

“I just love and live for what I do. I’m not really able to work outside of the music business, first because that’s what I’m specialized in and second because I’d simply never have time. To me it’s more than a job, it’s my oxygen. I love what I do so much that I think it reflects on the people I shoot. I almost always get what I want because I’m one step ahead in my mind, every time. That only happens if you feel it. You hold you cameras ready, you hold your breath, you look into that guy’s eyes and you just zap it right out of him and get what you came for. Nothing is cooler than getting sent all over the world and paid to do the job you love. I couldn’t live without it.”

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