Today I will present Dave Willis, the author of Focus Point. Dave is a portrait photographer based in the South East of England.
1. Why photography?
Growing up I always enjoyed creating but was never much good at drawing or painting. Growing up my Dad always seemed to have a camera on him and, as is usually the case, I gradually picked it up over time. It allowed me to create without the frustration I would get when trying to draw.
2. What is your favourite gear? (camera, lens)
My favourite camera that I’ve downed was a Mamiya RZ67 Pro with the 110mm f2.8 lens. Medium format film is just something else and I’ve produced some of my favourite portraits with that camera.
3. What are your favourite subjects to photograph?
People. When I first started photography I really didn’t think I’d enjoy taking photos of people as I’ve always been quite a shy person but it’s really brought me out of my shell over the years and I’ve met some amazing and interesting people.
4. Can you name a few of your favourite photographers?
Favourite photographers include Jack Davison, Trent Parke, Dennis Stock, Peter Lindbergh, Anton Corbin, Sophie Ebrard, Christopher Anderson, Sebastien Zanella, Amelie Ambroise, Joakim Moller, Sarah Van Rij and David Van Der Leeuw.
5. What can Substack community expect from you/your publication in the future?
At the moment my Substack will just be random musings and thoughts from me on various aspects of photography, process and inspiration, hopefully over time it will evolve into something more cohesive.
Beautiful portraits!
You're making Sundays just a little bit nicer :-)
Nice portraits Dave, and I _really_ love the first one. Smashing.