Black History Month - Ian
In honour of Black History Month, I have interviewed people who have taken 2020, a year of so much dramatic change, into their stride. From a worldwide pandemic to a summer of BLM protests, this year hasn’t been a year to sit out and just watch.
Ian Mann is a Director of Photography and has been a freelance lighting cameraman and editor for over fifteen years. He has worked on a range of programmes for the BBC, ITV, CH4, Five, SKY, SKY Sports and other digital channels. He has also worked on corporate films, documentaries, entertainment dramas and live sports events filmed on location across the UK and worldwide:
Did you always know this was the career you wanted?
I can’t say I knew I wanted a career in photography but it’s always been in my life from a young age. My father gave me my first camera when I was eight I think it was to keep me occupied while he worked. My father was a chef and owned a pub so I’d be hanging around the pub taking photos of the locals and things I saw that interested me. I’ve always had a camera in my hand and even though I studied engineering, I’ve somehow managed to end up working in the creative industries.
What's something people would be surprised to learn about you?
Hmmm, something surprising about me… I like old film musicals, It’s where a lot of the arts meet for me, photography, singing, music and dancing.
What is the most fulfilling part of your work?
One of the most fulfilling aspects of my work is seeing a project come together from just a spark of an idea. Starting for the initial planning meeting then layer by layer as everyone in the film team pitch in their ideas. The project suddenly comes alive and you often end up with something even better than you began with. I get a lot of fulfilment from that, creating things with other people from just a thought.
Is there any advice you’d like to give to people pursuing photography as a career?
The advice I would give to anyone pursuing a career in photography is taking photos! Try out new techniques you might have read about. If you see a shot online or in a paper try and copy it. When you’re taking shots all the time you already are a photographer. As Pablo Picasso once said, “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
How has the pandemic changed the way you work?
My work has changed a lot and it has had to. There are less shoots and the shoots that do go ahead are more detached. We now conduct shoots with clients and even directors over zoom so lots more tech for remote working not to mention the mask-wearing and sanitation process for the kit we use. I mainly work on location so that also has changed. In a typical year pre the pandemic I would have only spent 5 months in the UK since March I haven’t been anywhere else.
As Pablo Picasso once said, “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
What are your thoughts on diversity within the creative industry? Do you think much has changed this year?
There have been some small changes but not nearly enough. Opportunity is key in kick-starting a career in any industry, none more so than the creative industries. The competitive nature of this industry results in employers being able to pick and choose the candidates which commonly results in arbitrary barriers being set right from entry-level positions – ie. expecting a degree qualification for a temp job as a runner. This in turn serves to discriminate against those that may be from lower socio-economic backgrounds where a degree education is not an option due to financial circumstance rather than aptitude or drive. The playing field isn’t level right from the get-go. There is perhaps a slow shift towards the removal of some of these barriers now as equal opportunity awareness increases, however, it will be some time before this shift is visible in the wider industry….
What are you currently working on?
Currently, I’m working on a show for channel 4 about channel 4’s history, I’ve also just finished a short film script which I’m casting for at the moment.
If you had to pick a song to describe your year so far, what would you choose?
Fight the Power, Public Enemy. This year has brought into focus the lack of power regular people actually have.