Australian
photographer and documentary filmmaker Stephen Dupont boasts a career that has
spanned over 20 years and earned him international awards. Stephen has balanced
many roles from a photojournalist, documentary film-maker and educator to
co-founder of the Sydney Reportage Festival. Stephen spoke to arts interview
about his artistic practice and recent projects.
Interview by
Vanessa Anthea Macris
What
do you consider your role to be as a photographer?
I see several
roles, but primarily I see myself as a visual storyteller. I see my work
existing in two worlds (which tend to cross over): the
documentary / photojournalism world and the art world. Essentially, I look to
document real life, people and events. So, the background to my work is
definitely documentary photography, with a very personal agenda.
I focus on
long-term projects that I see as artist’s books, exhibitions or both. In a way,
my role is to preserve and present these important stories and subjects. There
is also an educative role in my work. I focus on presenting important cultural,
political and historical projects, in both a journalistic and artistic way. As
examples, I present the stories of Afghanistan (which I have committed most of
my life to covering) as well as Papua New Guinea, and the changes to those
societies that are taking place due to influences from the West and
globalisation.
What
multiple roles do you have in your practice?
The end result
of my photographs, films and artist’s books serve many roles. On one hand, my
photographs are there to be journalistic, educative forms of evidence. Whilst
on the other hand, my photographs serve as objects of art. I am very conscious
of the process of truth telling in my work, be it for journalism or for art. I
believe that my photography is important enough to go and risk my life for,
because I feel it is essential that the subject matter and the stories they
present will have a place in history. This links into the educational world whereby
I teach workshops and seminars on photography and give lectures at universities
where I promote the work and the stories that come from the work. I am not
interested in self-promoting myself as a photographer but promoting the stories
of the subjects I photograph.
How
do you manage or balance the commercial, the artistic and the educational
aspects of each?
I think the
priority is always the artistic, non-commercial side. I am looking for the
story before I am looking for the dollar. I am more concerned about the
subjects that I explore and the work that I am doing creatively. I believe that
the commercial side tends to happen naturally: I produce my best work when I do
my personal work and I’m exploring the subjects that inspire me. Initially, I
prefer to tackle the work and present the best photographs I can and once I
have completed a project the commercial seems to fall into place. It would be
too confusing for me to consider the commercial side in the first instance.
What
projects have you recently worked on?
My main focus in
2013 was working on a series about detribalisation and the changes affecting
the society of Papua New Guinea. This is part of the Gardner Fellowship at
Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology (Stephen was awarded this
fellowship in 2010). I am also preparing for an upcoming photography workshop
in Bali, in November with Jack Picone. It is an ongoing relationship, in which
we produce workshops around the world a couple of times a year.
An interview by Vanessa Anthea Macris
Stephen Dupont website www.stephendupont.com
Originally published July 8, 2013 on arts interview
arts interview website www.artsinterview.com
© 2013 arts interview
NAU NUA | ART MAGAZINE edition
Edition by Juan Carlos Romero
Interview courtesy of Eliza Muldoon, director of arts interview
Updated interview edition by Eliza Muldoon
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