by Dov Kornits

“I want to be a stills photographer, but it doesn’t exist anymore,” Mark Mann tells us from his New York studio. “Video is definitely the way forward. It’s been such a steep learning curve for me. I feel that I’ve got a grip on it a little bit, but I’m always amused by photographers that call themselves directors.

“I don’t see that alignment,” he says candidly. “I take a still image. That’s my story, my still image is a story.”

The still image today sees Mark Mann promoting his love for Australian camera and post-production hardware trailblazer Blackmagic Design, with his Scottish brogue in between puffs on a vape, giving our brief conversation a Sean Connery flavour.

“I genuinely think that if you don’t have a film background, you really don’t have an understanding of colour,” he says matter-of-factly.

Recently, Mann has been using the Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K. “I have a few lenses that I know, and I love. And because I choose to shoot with them most of the time, I know exactly where I should be standing for the best field of view. Shooting with the Blackmagic full frame camera really helps me to compose my video more like I do for my still images. Although I’ve been learning about lenses that work with S.35, I’ve never really felt comfortable the way they change a lens’ field of view. The first thing I noticed with this new camera, is a 24 to 90mm lens is exactly that. It’s 24 to 90mm! For this test I was also able to use one my all-time favourite lenses, a vintage 90mm Leica M lens with a simple M-L mount adapter!

“I’m using my photo lenses to make video, and I know where to stand, I know the length of that lens, I know the difference between 2.8 and f/4. I know it. So that was a real game changer.”

Well known for his highly detailed large prints, Mann reckons that Blackmagic Design have created something that has everything that you need … “without all the fancy bells and whistles, and you’re not paying for the fancy bells and whistles,” he says referring to affordability. “When I compare video files from a Blackmagic camera to something like a bells and whistle Sony or whatever, the files are not better. I don’t think the actual quality you’re getting is any better. And therefore, why would I pay extra for stuff I don’t need?

“We use Blackmagic in the studio for everything in the studio. Reliable, perfect files, great dynamic range, a price point that we can afford to upgrade or to buy a new one.”

So, how is Mark Mann adjusting to shooting video and being a director rather than simply a photographer? “The thing is, holding my camera is such a big part of what I do when I’m directing. When there’s a DP, and I’m not holding the camera, I’m like, ‘what do I do with my hands?’ I’m a really good communicator, but what’s tough is communicating something which you don’t know until you’re holding the camera and pointing it. That’s tough to communicate.

“I’m getting there,” he reflects. “I understand how it works now, but it’s taken a decade. I am getting better at the storytelling, getting better at understanding what keeps people’s attention. But it’s challenging. And then the bottom line for me is that I don’t care how good the story is. I need it to be visually perfect. I need the colour to be right. I’m just being really honest. If you ask me how my photography is, I’ll tell you that I’ve been doing it for 30 odd years, and I’m getting there. Every day you learn something. And I look at the greats in cinematography or the greats in photography, and I go, ‘I ain’t there’. Will I ever take a photo like Richard Avedon? I don’t know. Will I ever make a movie as great as Kubrick? I think the day that you think you can do it, is the day you pack it in.”

Main Image by Mark Mann
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