MODERN technology can be a wonderful thing, but a disastrous social consequence has been the rise of a generation of Johnny no-talents, ever ready to bore you with out-of-focus, ill-framed iPhone snaps. David Suchet, an impulsive photographer who never leaves the house without a proper camera, certainly does not fit in that category. His new book, Behind the Lens: My Life, bursts with images of London locations famous and obscure, trees, boats, actors and ordinary people with which any working photographer would be delighted.
He bats away any notion of skill. ‘I’m not a good photographer, and I don’t aim to be. I could never set up a professional shot—I don’t have that technical knowledge,’ he says. I suspect he’s a lot more serious about the art than he’s letting on.
In the book, he admits to having a photographic mentor, but his modesty may also stem from the fact that he hails from a family of working photographers. The text of Behind the Lens is built up from a series of conversations with his editor, Claire Chesser, in which Mr Suchet offers piercing insights into his approach to acting, his faith and his family, as well as his love of music, canal boating and Nature.
Arguably, the most affecting parts are where he talks about his maternal grandfather, Jimmy Jarche, an accomplished, oldschool professional snapper, famed for getting the first public shot of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, in a nightclub.
‘He was an amazing man, the sort who could quietly walk into a room of 200 people and they’d all look round to see who he was. His charisma was extraordinary,’ reflects Mr Suchet, who made a touching ITV documentary about him in 2012.
Denne historien er fra October 16, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra October 16, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds