Johnny Fenn: Journey from British Army officer to adventure photographer

Words: Tom Warburton

We caught up with Johnny Fenn, who went from serving as a British Army officer to travelling across the world as a professional photographer. Fluent in Nepalese, Johnny has travelled to countless countries photographing a range of projects.

You previously served with the British Army. Do skills from your military career transition over to photography? 

It's a great question. It seems to me that most military officers on retirement go into either private security or into the city. But there are also many of us who have chosen a more creative career. There are many artists and photographers who are ex-military. The best skill from my military career that has helped me in my photographic career is timekeeping. I am often competing against photographers who have very poor timekeeping abilities.

The other skill that has been really important to me is having a wide understanding of a situation that can change rapidly. For example, I photograph from time to time for private security companies abroad for their websites for their client briefs that sort of thing. A couple of years ago I was in Lagos, and the situation on the ground in a place called Papa Docks, suddenly changed and I could sense that we were now in a dangerous situation. I have often reflected that for photographers without that military experience, they may have been tempted to head towards the danger to get the shot. As it was, we found ourselves in a very tricky position and only through military extraction processes where are we able to escape. That's probably a story for another day!

With your guided tours, you spend a lot of time with different cultures across the world. How does photography help you connect with other cultures?

This is a very current topic. You are right I do spend a lot of time in places where the cultures are not necessarily as accepting as ours, or it may be rude to conduct yourself in a certain manner. It's absolutely essential for photographers to gain an understanding of the locations that they will find themselves in before they arrive.

I hate it when photographers are pushy, and there are certainly some commercial photographers who care about nothing else other than the winning shot. That is not my way. If I need to go somewhere where I'm not comfortable that people will be happy with my presence then I will try and find somebody who understands the situation and can explain it for me, and let people know why am there and what the photographs will be used for.

My photography is in Nepal, and that's easier for me because I speak Nepalese fluently. The locals are very happy in fact they see it as very respectful to be able to speak their language and they will absolutely go out of their way to make sure that your visit is as welcoming as they can make it.

This is often really really humbling because very often I am in remote village locations where there is very little money and the locals have very little to live on. So to receive the hospitality is always incredibly humbling. In other places particularly in Africa, like Nigeria or Morocco, it is very difficult to take photographs because of cultural sensitivities.

Photographers can carry a lot of equipment, with many of your tours taking place in the mountain passes of Nepal. How do you operate at high levels with all your equipment?

Because of the nature of the type of photography that I am involved with, I am often working in either very cold situations or at high level in places like Nepal. Being a commercial photographer means that you have different considerations too, for example, a tourist. Let me give you an example; I went out to Nepal on behalf of the Gurkha welfare trust in 2015 immediately after the first big earthquake.

When I was there the situation was difficult, and there was very little road access outside Kathmandu. I needed to get to a town called Barpack, which was the epicentre of the earthquake. We took a Land Rover to get us the majority of the way and then had to hike for six hours, mostly uphill, to reach the town. The town had been completely flattened. And I knew that in order to do justice to the images that I needed to send back I needed the right lens and the right kit.

In order to have the right lens and the right kit, I had to carry all of my gear with me. This included my laptop, battery chargers, 2 camera bodies, speed lights, 4 lenses, tripod, and of course all of my own personal admin kit, such as clothing, tent, sleeping bag etc. That's a lot of kit and it's very heavy, but to be in a situation like that without the right lens would have been a disaster. If I'm teaching photography, then it's much easier for me to go with less kit. Nowadays, if I'm on holiday, I take my iPhone.

It is often said that a picture can tell a thousand words, do you agree with this belief?

Of course, you are trying to elicit an emotion from the people that look at your images. Sometimes the situation can require you to do something really arty. And that's fun. You know that you can take the picture and in post-production, you can change the way that people respond to your image.

Even when I'm working commercially for companies like Lidl, there are things that you can do to make that image more engaging. But for photographs where you are recording a story, such as an earthquake in Nepal, I think it is fundamentally important to get the right image, get the image right in the camera, and never to manipulate that shot. If you are talking about a picture telling 1000 words, then it is often in the face of a portrait that you are taking. The eyes for me are everything. And I think it takes a lot of skill to recognise when to press the shutter in order to record the moment.

It can often be difficult as a travel photographer celebrating a culture rather than exploiting it. How do you get around this challenge?

This subject is very current. I am really opposed to photographers getting in the face of locals because they have incredible markings or even wrinkles. It is really really important that photographers are sympathetic and considerate in every aspect of their work.

I've worked occasionally with other photographers who lack this empathy, and I have to tell them that it's wrong. I don't work with them for very long! As a travel photographer, you know when you've got it right and you know when you've got it wrong. If you know you've got it wrong you need to make amends.

If you show kindness and consideration for your subjects, not only will you get a better shot, but you also enjoy the experience more, and find that the local population are actually very friendly very helpful and a delight to be amongst.

What’re the best characteristics a travel photographer can have?

Again this is an interesting question because I've met lots of photographers who go about this differently. You have to be adventurous. It's difficult for you to tell a story as a photographer if you remain inside your comfort zone. If you step outside your comfort zone you have to ensure your safety and the safety of those around you, and you have to ensure that you do not harm cultural sensitivities. Previous terms you've got to be fit enough to get to where you want to photograph.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in getting the picture you want?

A couple of years ago I was the photographer for a British exploring expedition adventure in the Arctic. We were looking to cross one of the fastest retreating glaciers in the world. In order to do this, we were travelling as a team of eight all roped together, because of the threat of crevasse.

As we were camping up there, we also needed to take all of our own kits. Plus we needed to take the medical kit, Communications kit, and I had to carry all of my photographic gear. Usually, we would split out technical kit amongst the group so that everyone had an equal share of kits to carry. The problem was I had to carry all of my photographic gear. And this was heavy. There was no way that we could split it amongst the team because it may be a situation where I needed a particular lens and that was being carried by somebody four people behind me and that would be pointless if I couldn't access it. When I asked one of the smaller team members to try picking up my rucksack, he couldn't even lift it off the floor!

If you had any advice for a budding travel photographer, what would it be?

The obvious advice to any budding travel photographer is that he/she needs to understand their equipment. There is no point arriving at a situation that requires you to take a picture quickly and effectively if you end up with the wrong settings on your camera.

Need to understand composition and light. If you can get those things right, then you stand a good chance of coming back with images that you are proud of, or in my case, can sell. So get yourself on a course (I happen to know some very good ones) with other good photographers, spend some time with them in adventurous situations, and learn your trade.

Johnny runs a number of guided photography tours in Nepal as part of his company Photo Journey. Their next tours run this Autumn.