Interview with Javier Berenguer.

27/02/2018

Javier Berenguer is a client and friend who has trusted DST for the maintenance of his equipment for the past 10 years. Today we wanted to interview him, as he is a leading figure in the Alicante province. We talked about his work, his career path, and whether he would like to offer some advice to those starting out. Here is the full interview:

How long have you been a professional photographer? Did you always know you wanted to be? Who is your role model in the world of photography?

I've been working professionally for almost 23 years. Although I started as a video operator and then evolved, today I combine both activities.

Seven years ago I decided to take the plunge and create my own brand.

I wasn't always clear about what my destiny was, but photography is something that has always been latent within me.

My references in the world of photography are many and very different, but if I have to mention two; Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Although I have been inspired by many different works, such as those of Philippe Halsman

When was the first time you had to use a company for the maintenance of your photographic equipment? What has your experience been like with this over the years?

I first met Dinasa 10 years ago. At first, I worked with two of my own equipment and a borrowed backup. I would go to have my cameras and lenses repaired or simply checked at the end of the season, knowing that I would have them back in a few days.

In the middle of wedding season, for example, he would come, even though the equipment was still under manufacturer's warranty, despite the loss of that warranty, because he knew he could count on it within the same week.

Thanks to perseverance and having a team very well taken care of by DST, it was the perfect combination to have great benefits when working and in an impeccable final product.

Is photography a gift? Are you born with a special talent for images? Or is it something you develop, something you acquire?.

I believe that talent doesn't exist without hard work. Obviously, you have to have a predisposition; when I'm walking down the street and I stop at a crosswalk, my mind starts composing possible scenes. It's like breathing to me.

But of course, this is a technique that you have to refine with effort and dedication.

Your style is defined as Contemporary Artistic Photography and Storytelling (The Art of Telling Stories or Narrative Photography), which aims to capture an objective image of reality. How do you translate this into your work? Why did you choose this style? What does your work and defining style say about you?

I simply try to capture the scenes unfolding in the photos. There are no scripts or staged scenes, nothing is arranged; everything is quick, spontaneous, and natural.

It's an apparent paradox; it's about capturing a fragment of reality, providing certain guidelines and limits so that this snapshot offers you a glimpse of a much larger reality. As if it were a dynamic vision that transcends the field of view of my camera.

The work you are most proud of.

The work I'm most proud of is the work I do every day. Every day is a different adventure.

What would you recommend to a photographer who wants to start out in the professional world?

Find your style. Fight and work hard to find what defines you as a professional and as a person. Don't give up, because if you persevere, it will eventually appear if you were born to do it.

The work I'm most proud of is the work I do every day. Every day is a different adventure.

What do you consider when you're commissioned for a new project? Do you develop each project thoroughly and thoughtfully? Or do you leave room for improvisation?

My work is a mix between prior preparation; a development and planning of what I am going to express and arriving at the environment, the medium and extracting the greatest potential that it can bring to the scene.

Let's say it's a combination of experiences already lived during these years that give me a pattern and the ability to adapt to the new project to get the perfect snapshot.

It is an ambivalent game of narrator and the narrated, a fusion of what the scene, the light, the people and the environment offer.

On the other hand, there is what the artist sees, perceives, and feels.