Intrigued by the creative process of artists and photographers, London-based film maker Jason Breckenridge is making a series of short films on the thinking and the skills behind great talent. His first subject is international architectural photographer Nic Lehoux who Breckenridge filmed at work documenting the construction of Renzo Piano’s Shard. See a selection of Nic Lehoux’s photography from his online personal projects portfolio in Related Content. We quiz Breckenridge about how his film came about.
So Jason, what was behind your decision to begin a series looking at the creative process?
One of the first documentaries I worked on was a 13-episode series that followed the making of a big Cirque du Soleil show. At the time, The Cirque was going through a major shift in direction, it was being opened up. There was fierce resistance to some of the changes and about half of the creative directors refused to collaborate with us. It was very frustrating but I also understood their position. It was a very demanding environment and it is not comfortable having people film you when you are in such raw creative circumstances.
Since, I’ve tried to incorporate as much process as possible into the docs that I’ve made, especially with music. But I never had the opportunity to solely focus on one individual at a time and call it process.
And why the architectural photographer Nic Lehoux?
I’ve know Nic since I was 4 years old. We grew up across the street from each other in Sherbrooke, Quebec.
For many years we’ve discussed doing something together. I believe he is one of the most talented architectural photographers in the world and has a longstanding relationship with Renzo Piano, the architect of the London Shard. When Nic comes to London he always stays with us. Following him up to the top of the Shard was the natural thing to do.
Any key lessons you learnt from him?
To keep it in camera. Nic uses technics he learnt in the dark room and applies them to digital cameras. He does not rely on post production but instead uses lots of filtration. He doesn’t compromise.
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