Frederick Forsyth

They say a picture is worth 1000 words?
It can well be worth 1000 words, but not always. Some pictures can stand alone; sometimes words need no illustration. The best and greatest effect is a combination of both – hence explanatory captions.

When is photography a fine art?
When it says something that can be expressed in no other medium with anything like that impact.

Is an image a more powerful news statement than a written description?
statement than a written description? It can be but not always. Some war photography has simply become iconic. One recalls the Soviet flag being raised over the defeated Nazi Chancellery; the flag raising of Old Glory over Iwo Jima; Capa’s image of a giant GI in Sicily being directed down the road by a wizened old lady. There was no need to describe any of these. They told their own story.

When is reportage photography art?
As above, when it tells not only a news story, but an eternal truth as well. This is rare but then so is all art – painting, writing, composing, dancing. It is art when it stops chatter, defies emulation and betrays a humbling talent.

Do you like being photographed?
Alas, no. I have no natural empathy with the lens, leading to stiff and stilted appearances.

Who would in your top ten of world photographers?
I have only known two: Patrick Lichfield and Terry O’Neill. And I am not talented enough to be a judge of a medium I hardly understand.

Are you a photographer yourself?
No. My holiday snaps involve red eyes, missing limbs and silly poses. I have no empathy with shutter speeds and focal lengths.

When would you consider buying a photo image in a gallery?
Not often. I prefer Impressionists and Post –Impressionists, mainly oil on canvas

Which photographs mean the most to you (childhood, places, holiday, parents etc)
I have two or three portraits of my late parents, taken by professionals. And a cardboard box of family ‘snaps’ which ought to be collated into albums but never have been. Very few of them feature me. I sometimes wish I had taken a few more as a sort of record, but mostly I preferred to stay out of sight.

Do you own a digital camera?
No. I bought an idiot proof camera once but defeated its can’t-go-wrong technology so I never converted to digital.