Travel Photographer Interviews: Tewfic El-Sawy

All photos courtesy of Tewfic El-Sawy

The creative force behind “The Travel Photographer“, Tewfic El-Sawy specializes in documenting endangered cultures and traditional life ways of Asia, Latin America and Africa.

His photography has been published in Outdoor Photography, Digital Photographer, GlobalPost, and have been featured by some of the largest adventure travel companies in the United States and Great Britain. He also organizes and leads exciting photo expeditions to places such as Bali, Bhutan, India, and Mexico.

MatadorU faculty and travel photographer Lola Akinmade caught up with Tewfic in the midst of planning his next photo expedition to learn more about the photographer behind the popular The Travel Photographer blog.

How long have you been a professional photographer?

It was a slow and progressive morphing from international banking to travel photography over the past 20 years, however I can say that it really got going in 2000.

Before that, it was almost like having two personalities; one being a “starched” banker during workdays, and a more relaxed personality befitting that of a travel photographer during the weekends.

What – or who – got your initial interest going in terms of photography?

There’s no doubt that my traveling on banking business to various countries ignited my interest in travel photography as a genre. These business trips made me realize that I liked having access to different cultures.

When living in London, my wife booked me in an 8-weekends course in black & white photography at the home/studio of Uri Lewinski and his wife Mayotte Magnus; both professional photographers with opposite stylistic disciplines where I learned basic darkroom work, developing and processing film and prints.

I also attended a street photography class with Constantine Manos in Havana, and a photojournalism workshop with John Stanmeyer and Gary Knight in Bali.

What were your first photographic experiments or experiences?

My first serious camera was a Canon A1 bought when working and living in Houston. It was essentially to photograph the family and my children growing up, however I also started experimenting with still life photography.

My favorite set-up was to back-light wine bottles, with a plate of grapes placed just so. I still have some of those prints, which are probably the most hideous still life studies ever done.

Eventually, I took my camera on my trips, and whenever I had a few moments I would walk the streets of Taipei, Athens or Stockholm and photograph whatever caught my eye. I used to be a black & white shooter at the time, and would return home to process the negatives, and print them in my basement darkroom.

I also experimented with unorthodox photo emulsions, and still have a couple of beautiful calla lilies photographs printed on liquid emulsion which hang on our walls.

However it was the adrenaline of travel photography that turned me on the most…especially exotic cultures. Photographing Stockholm’s Gamla stan or Paris was nice, but I was more in my element shooting in the back alleys of Taipei and Istanbul. It was on the back of these business trips that I started to specialize in documenting endangered cultures.

How would you describe the work you do now…obviously there’s a strong reportage / photojournalistic element, but are you involved in the commercial world also? Any stock photography?

I am drawn to religious rituals and cultural festivals (especially those which have ancient history to them), and by definition these require a photojournalistic approach to them.

I try to research these rituals and festivals so as to become reasonably familiar with their cultural background, history and origins. This allows me to have a better understanding of what’s going on, which I hope come through my images.

Because of this affinity, my work is more reportage-oriented as I try to weave imagery and cultural information together.

I did get involved in stock photography for a few years, but recently found that it wasn’t for me. I’ve moved away from the traditional travel imagery required by stock agencies and travel catalogs/brochures.

The stock photography industry has considerably changed over the past few years, so I lost interest. There are many other excellent photographers who make a living from commercial and stock imagery, and I admire them for doing so.

It’s highly competitive and very tough.

What 3 tips would you share for amateur photographers who are interested in pursuing your documentary style of photography?

In my view, the most important qualification is to have (and continuously develop) a strong and wide-ranging interest in foreign cultures, history and geo-political events. This is the underpinning foundation for the emerging photojournalist.

As for tips, I’d say the first would be to drop the ego, and to remain humble and helpful to others, whether they are in the same field or not.

The second would be to learn and use ancillary visual add-ons to still photography such as multimedia, audio recording, etc.

The third would be to learn some words and sentences in as many foreign languages as possible.

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