We are back with another Hahnemühle Photography Month. This year we want to show how diverse photography and fine art printing is and can be. Each week we will focus on selected highlights and topics. During our first week, we will talk about Wildlife and Landscape Photography and how it can follow a mission. Together with our friends from Prints for Wildlife, we will share various videos, images and interviews from participating photographers.
Wildlife photographer Drew Doggett in the interview for our series during the first week of the Hahnemühle Photography Month.
Could you introduce yourself in 3-4 sentences?
“My name is Drew Doggett and I am a fine art photographer based in the US. I am interested in capturing the most extraordinary cultures, animals, and places in the world. My hope is for my images to promote a shared humanity, understanding, and appreciation of our world and all of its miraculous inhabitants.”
Why did you become a photographer, and do you follow a specific goal or have a mission with your photography?
“One of the many reasons I became a photographer was because I wanted to preserve our most unique places, cultures, and animals with my camera. I want my images to engage and inspire my audience and allow them to experience my subject with me as there’s so much beauty out there in our world worth sharing and celebrating. In doing so, my images aim to promote a culture of conservation.”
Why do you print your images? Does printing play an important role in your work? What makes printing special to you?
“Prints are the final representation of days, months, or years of hard work from the moment of the spark of an idea to the second I click the shutter. I want the amount of time I put into the finding of my subjects and the composing of an image to be evident in the smallest of textures and subtle variations of tone in the final print. This is also where my traditional darkroom values feed into a layered, lengthy process; every single image goes through hours (that inevitably turn into days) of dodging and burning to bring out details and nuances. At the end of the day, the print’s strength and ability to hold your attention is all that matters: it is a window into parts of the world I am so lucky to visit and subjects I am honored to capture.”
Why do you believe prints can not only be valuable, tangible pieces of art, but also support a greater cause?
“My intention is for my work to invite you into an ongoing conversation with the subject as long as the print lives on your wall. From choosing a paper with the proper weight, thickness, and warmth to the subtle tones that allow for new discoveries upon each viewing, each print must have every single detail perfectly inscribed in its texture. If the work I create can be transportive, I feel I have offered something to the collector that is beyond aesthetics. This is why it makes sense for photography to be a vehicle for promoting conservation as it can be quite emotional.”
When it comes to the paper choice – why did you go for Hahnemühle?Which is your favourite Hahnemühle paper to print on and why? Is there a paper texture or surface you prefer over others? How did you pick your favourite paper – testing, accident, recommendation?
“I tested 27 types of paper before I chose Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta; it was overwhelmingly my favorite. It is the only paper that allows my signature tonality to remain prominent while also adding a weight and thickness that feels genuinely intentional and archival. As a fiber based paper, it has qualities that remind me of the Silver Halide paper I used to enjoy using in the darkroom, while the gloss gives a richness to the blacks that feel substantial and allows for incredible detail in the shadow areas. I need the paper I print on to hold everything I’ve put into my work; Hanemuhle does that and more.”
Why do you support Prints for Wildlife with your work and why do you think the cause is important?
“There is little on our planet as magnificent as the animal kingdom which is why I support Prints for Wildlife. And, once you experience how incredible the African parks are, either in person or through photography or film, you can’t help but want to contribute to preserving their existence and all the wild animals therein. When you look at the declining numbers and the loss of habitat in these regions, coupled with complex issues on the ground and the devastating loss of funding during the pandemic, you can see that protecting the inimitable wildlife of Africa is clearly a paramount issue that must be reconciled now.
Prints for Wildlife allows a wide range of people to join in our mission of conservation while also collecting work by some of our world’s most important nature and wildlife photographers for as little as $100. Personally, I’ve always looked at photography as a way to connect to others. These images, by some of the most talented wildlife photographers of our time, have the ability to establish a powerful connection that can become the basis for hope and change.
I’ve spent a lot of time in East Africa, talking with the communities surrounding reserves and national parks, and I know just how difficult finding solutions for wildlife conservation can be. African Parks is doing a terrific job across a huge swath of territory (11 countries and 19 parks) all while engaging the local communities in the solutions and providing stable, forward thinking management of these lands.
The animals in the images offered by Prints for Wildlife are symbols of strength and wonder roaming the remaining wild expanses of our planet. I know I will do whatever it takes to protect them, and when you purchase a print from Prints for Wildlife, you are playing a big part in this mission.”
Learn more about Drew’s work on his website, Instagram and Facebook.
Prints for Wildlife is a fundraiser aiming to ensure protected areas continue to deliver benefits to people and wildlife during the COVID pandemic. More than 170 wildlife photographers, including renown international and emerging and local wildlife photogrpahers, have come together to mobilise needed support for one cause: to continue the protection of vital landscapes in Africa. The fundraiser runs from 11 July to 11 August 2021. All funds collected via the print sale go directly to conservation non-profit African Parks. The price per print is 100 USA excluding shipping. 100% of the proceeds (after printing and handling) will be donated to African Parks. All prints are printed on our sustainable Natural Line Paper Hahnemühle Hemp from our Digital FineArt Collection.
Make sure to check out the images Drew donated to the Prints for Wildlife fundraiser.
For more information about this year’s Hahnemühle Photography Month follow our Instagram @hahnemuehle_imaging and Facebook @hahnemuehle.
