This is actually in relation to a post I made on the Digital Photo Group website a few months back regarding pushing photography a little bit further. To be honest I’ve neglected my photography recently which is an absolute sin. The purpose of the original post was to comment on another dimension of photography.

Photography is an art. Different people appreciate different types of imagery and style. I’m personally fond of landscapes, abstract and exciting photography. Saying that – in my bedroom I do have portraits of Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis and Steve McQueen alongside the famous ‘Eating Above Manhatten’ (you know – the one with the workers on the girder suspended hundreds of meters up from like the 40s.)

Anyway, to return to my point. When judging photographs – many aspects are taken in such as composition, positioning, contrast, exposure, colour and levels, blur and focus, brightness, atmosphere etc. But a concept that interests me is the length the photographer has gone to take that picture. Whether it be the current scenario – perhaps in the middle of a riot, bushfire or warzone. The location and environment – on a difficult outcrop, up a mountain, deep in a dense jungle, out on a rough sea. Or sometimes the sheer patience that goes into getting the perfect shot – going up to the top of a cliff every morning at 5am for 3 days in a row just to get the perfect picture of a misty mountaintop Italian village.

What actually inspired my original post, which can be found here, was the work of Nathan Beck (yep – same name as me!), a Swiss photographer whose site can be found at www.nathanbeck.com. Some of his work, fantastic photography, also demonstrates that he’s gone into some dangerous places to obtain some of his photography.

I’m sure there are many photographers who go to stupid extremes to obtain pictures that no-one else dare to attempt. Pictures that tell stories, that take you places you could never normally go. A book I would recommend is the accompaniment to David Attenboroughs ‘Planet Earth’ BBC series, which can be bought through Amazon here.

If anybody else knows of some ‘dangerous photographers’, please let me know!