Man and nature

A chat with Niall Benvie

Niall Benvie’s photography surveys the relationship between man and nature, and his innovative approach places him within a new generation of nature photographers. “My images are not just things I see in front of my eyes,” he says. “A lot of the pictures start in my head first.”

© Niall Benvie

His work includes a series of spoof signs placed in the landscape exploring environmental themes, as well as a series called Meet Your Neighbours in which local plants and animals are photographed against a crisp, studio style background, highlighting the idea that ‘biodiversity begins at home’.

“I am a recovering nature photographer,” Niall says with a chuckle, when asked to explain his style. “Nature photography in the traditional sense is a bit of an addiction,” he continues. “A lot of my more recent stuff isn’t classic or traditional wildlife photography at all, it has moved away from that.”

© Niall Benvie

Niall has always been surrounded by animals and countryside. He lives in Eastern Scotland where he grew up, and where he ran a farm for seven years, before deciding to dedicate himself to photography in 1993. Prior to launching into the business full time he founded the Scottish Nature Photography Fair as a way to bring together like-minded photographers.

Now, collaborative projects are an important part of what he does. The Meet Your Neighbours project, which began in 2007, involves about 50 photographers from as far and wide as Haiti, the US and Uganda. He is also part of 2020VISION, a large multimedia project focussed on using photography and film to raise awareness of the value of our natural surroundings. Added to that, Niall has written for a variety of publications, with an output of ‘over half a million published words’.

© Niall Benvie

Niall’s favourite tools of the trade have changed a lot since he first began photographing, and are important in helping him differentiate his pictures from others’. One is his Mac. “I’m not shy of doing post production work,” he says. “I don’t mean adding extra animals in to the scene, but using post to give a feel or mood to a picture that’s not there in the straight image.” He also loves using portable studio flash for people pictures and all the field studio images.

More than anything, Niall is guided by a strong calling to photography. “I actually really need to do it – it’s not just something I like doing,” he says. “If you don’t have that, you don’t really have a hope of doing it as a career.”

© Niall Benvie

Accordingly, Niall’s tip for young photographers is to give yourself a chance to find out what you’re really passionate about. “Have the confidence to develop your own style. It’s very easy to find out what the market is doing, but the result is lots of very similar generic stock,” he says.

“This notion of putting 10,000 hours in before you get anything creative – there’s something in that,” he continues. “Make stuff, get feedback, don’t get precious about it and sooner or later your own style and distinctive work will come out.”

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