There’s no shortage of sports photographers here in South Africa, hungry for that fraction of a second that has IT, that has THE moment, the one we all love, the ultimate sporting moment. But how many of them have the raw talent to capture more than just action, to take photos that really grab attention, and make you feel you’re there, breathing the dust and flicking the mud from your cheek. Not many.
This is the third of 13 interviews profiling my favourite photographers whose work does exactly that.
This week we meet Hermien Webb, Thabazimbi-based amateur photographer with an uncanny ability to capture gut-wrenchingly deep emotions in a single click. Predominantly a street photographer, Hermien also shoots desert races.
Hermien Webb describes herself as an experienced amateur photographer who mostly shoots street photography and portraiture. Hermien shoots the gritty stuff – the striking kind of images that burn themselves on your mind for days. I met Hermien in 2014 when I raced the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon (KAEM), South Africa’s only 7-day self-sufficient desert run. What struck me most about this incredible character was her ability to make even the toughest moment into a brighter one. Hermien is one of those hard to find, salt of the earth, dependable kind of people whose energy can lift your spirit in a second, and whose photography skills have the ability to engender trust in her subjects and, through her lens, give us a window to their soul. Hermien’s photography is less about sport and way more about what’s going on deep inside the person behind the face – and through all this, she has the rare ability to make her subjects feel completely at ease.
LD: How did you get into photography?
HW: Actually my entry into photography was kind of accidental. A friend asked me to join her on a photography course and I said “Well, why on earth not”. The fact that I only had a tiny Kodak mik ‘n druk never entered my mind as being an issue. Only once I got to the course did I realise that maybe, just maybe, I was a little under- equipped for the occasion. Nevertheless, I just stormed in where angels fear to tread and have never looked back. I started photography when I was almost in my mid-forties. Every day I realise I’m blessed to have such an amazing and fulfilling hobby.
LD: Tell us about the philosophy behind your images. What has been your most memorable shoot, and why?
HW: My photography lecturer was an amazing man. I used to watch him interact with his subjects, who were usually street people or people from townships. I knew from the start that that was what I wanted to do. I’m not sure exactly why people trust me but I have learnt on the streets not only to talk to my subjects but to really listen to what they have to say. Homeless people usually have no communal voice, and it’s an amazing experience when you take the time to talk to them and hear their stories. My philosophy is that everybody has a story, we just take the time to find out what it is.
My most memorable shoot must be the first time I photographed the KAEM. Once again it came my way quite by accident. A friend of ours was running it for the first time and asked Brian (hubby) and I to join the crew. Somehow Nadia found out that I can take photos and asked me if I wanted to help them. Impulsive as I am I agreed, before I’d even realised the magnitude of such a shoot. I googled and researched ad nauseam until I just gave up trying to find out about this “athlete thing”. I decided to trust what I know best and convinced myself that the rest would follow. Little did I know how much emotion I would be confronted with during the race. Shooting the race opened my eyes to a whole new genre that I’ve come to love with my whole heart.
My most memorable shoot must be the first time I photographed the KAEM. Once again it came my way quite by accident. A friend of ours was running it for the first time and asked Brian (hubby) and I to join the crew. Somehow Nadia found out that I can take photos and asked me if I wanted to help them. Impulsive as I am I agreed, before I’d even realised the magnitude of such a shoot. I googled and researched ad nauseam until I just gave up trying to find out about this “athlete thing”. I decided to trust what I know best and convinced myself that the rest would follow. Little did I know how much emotion I would be confronted with during the race. Shooting the race opened my eyes to a whole new genre that I’ve come to love with my whole heart.
LD: Which photographer(s) most inspire you?
HW: The photographer that most inspires me has to be Richard Avedon. He brought out a book called “In the American West”. The book describes his work as supra-individual, in which he seeks to portray the whole American West as a blighted culture that spews out casualties by the bucket: misfits, drifters, degenerates, crackups, and prisoners-entrapped, either literally or by debasing work. He has a quote that really speaks to me: “Sometimes I think all my pictures are just pictures of me. My concern is… the human predicament; only what I consider the human predicament may simply be my own.” Richard Avedon
LD: Have you had any dramatic cliffhangers or near-misses whilst shooting?
HW: I have been very lucky when it comes to near misses. Only very recently I was helping the University of the Free State with a community project, when I encountered a very intoxicated and drugged man who tried to grab me where I should not be grabbed. I felt in control of the situation, but I had two high school learners with me and felt that I needed to show them that this behaviour was absolutely unacceptable. I first told him nicely to stop doing that. When that had no effect, I knew it was time to bring out my inner gangsta – I told him in a rather direct way (in too explicit a manner to detail in this interview) to F right off. I grabbed the kids and we marched away. My gangsta move did the trick – the guy was so surprised that all he was reduced to doing to watch us walk away.
LD: If you had a dream shoot, what and where would that be?
HW: Ok… but only if you promise not to think me too weird. My absolute dream shoot would be to photograph somebody in an abandoned asylum. I have always believed that even when a building is abandoned, there are aspects of people left behind that still that seemingly empty space. To be able to portray that would be a great privilege – and a massive challenge.