Bonus Material: David Munilla

1 Apr 2011     1 Kommtentar    PLÄCE: Gällery

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David Munilla hat zu Recht ein dickes Portfolio in der Printausgabe von CLIMAX erhalten. Online wollen wir euch dazu das Interview mit dem sympathischen Fotografen sowie weitere Shots präsentieren. Das Interview ist in einem „spanischen“ Englisch und wir haben es einfach so gelassen …

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am photographer, a worker in the attempt to be restless and a creator, but my true passion is rock climbing. I was one of the parents of the rock climbing in Andalusia (1984), bolting the first routes. Actually I bolted more than 380 routes and tried to climb hard…

But when I am going to make photos of climbing, I focus on the photos. Then I see the light conditions, the shadows, a good angle … I’m a journalist too (licensed by the University) and science teacher of audiovisual communication.

 

When did you start exploring and what triggered your interest?

When I started going in the mountains, there were many things to see and there were many things to explore. In the beginning we were climbing with normal leather boots, also the action photography was very little exploited. There were good pictures of landscapes, but there were no photographers who were familiar with climbing action. I was the first action photographer (in mountain activities) in Spain and lived the golden age of 80-90 (Kosicki, Wiesmeier, Epperson, Zak…). During those years I published pretty much in every mountain magazine around the world. It was when I began to travel more and make stories around the world to discover the beauty of the planet.

 

I guess climbing photography is not the only focus in your career as a photographer, what else you do?

For some years I focused more on reports of travel, ethnic, architecture… Did landscapes, but always as a complement. A few years ago I got tired of traveling and tried to spent more time with my family and decided to go back to the mountain photography. I made that decision too, because I saw that there were little new people and new ideas. On the other hand I continued doing photojournalism, fashion and reports of neat stuff. And I prefer to have more time to climb.

Who inspires you artistically?

Since I was child, I have always been inspired by images (books, comics, magazines), but I also wanted to make such pictures by myself. For example: I have always been inspired by the pictures of Henry Cartier-Bresson. Sebastiao Salgado on the other hand, helped me a lot to understand modern photojournalism.

 

How important is traveling for a (climbing-)photographer?

I think it is more important to make the job at home! Many beginners used the travel to an exotic area for their work. It is easy to travel to Thailand and make good pictures. Everything that we do not know seems wonderful – but to be honest, I haven’t seen climbing photos from Thailand, that show something new from what I did with the first reports in 1992. I have seen no new angles, new ideas.

 

Keyword HDR (high definition range)

For me HDR is laboratory work. What I have done in the dark room, I do now on the computer. To really understand HDR, you have to understand, what a negative is and how it can be improved. That has been my line to take advantage of HDR.

Age: 46

Place of Birth: Madrid. Spain

Where do you live now: Jerez a famous wine town in Cádiz (southern Andalucia)

Climbing since: I’ve been climbing for 31 years

Photography since: I started with the photography when I was 13 years old: 33 photo years!

Favourite Climbing Spots: Some crags near home, not so popular, perfect to climb quiet. For example I hate Rodellar during summer and I love it in autumn.

Favourite Photo Spots: All those places that are not photographed. I hate to see photos that have been made in a place where I go. That means it is well crushed.

Equipment: To photo action Nikon D700 with powergrip. SB800 and 900. Nikkor lenses :70-200 f:2.8 VRII, 24-85 f:2.8, 14-24 f:2.8 G ED, 300 f:2.8 AF D, Sigma 12 Manual f:2.8. 180º. Pocket wizard II slaves and some good Lee filters.

Any Sponsors?: Boreal boots, Roca (ropes and harness)

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