A personal perspective through photography – Interview with Fran Balseiro

Thank you, Francisco, for the opportunity to learn more about you and the extraordinary work you have been doing for years and years. Could you start by introducing yourself to our readers?
First, I want to thank Fuji X Passion magazine for their interest in sharing my work.

My name is Fran Balseiro, I was born and live in the city of Viveiro (Lugo), Spain. I am a self-taught photographer who uses photography as a means of expression.

From a very young age, I have always been interested in photography, painting, cinema and music, and if I mix all of this in my head, that is when I give free rein to my imagination without any restrictions or established rules, offering a personal look at what I see.

I have been dedicating myself to street and documentary photography for some time, looking for images that can tell stories and transmit emotion.

You are well-known for your street photography, but we are hesitant to label you as just a street photographer. Your work transcends the boundaries of this genre and extends to other forms of photography. In fact, your photographs often do not feature people at all, at least not explicitly. You have been taking pictures for many decades, long before social media and this current strict categorization of photography genres. Do you believe that, for this reason, you have never limited yourself to a single style of photography and shoot everything that inspires you?
I have been doing photography for many years, and I love challenges and projects. I love having a long-term project, it’s a way to feel active, a way of photographic stimulation.

In the beginning, I photographed landscapes and nature a lot, but little by little, I got bored. For a few years now, I have been very involved in street and documentary photography.

In the street, I try to turn the everyday into something that can attract attention, turn street photography into art, and consider it a new contemporary photography.

When you go out on the street, every moment and instant is unique; it is the emotion of going out and not knowing what you will find.

Also, in documentary photography, I am with my projects of a journey along the roads, “On the road”, and also with my project of abandoned places, which I love.

Whatever situation you find yourself in, in environments as opposite as walking through the streets of a city, or travelling from village to village in rural areas of Galicia, what makes you stop, what triggers you to grab the camera and take a photo?
I walk a lot on the streets, roads and paths. When I go to photograph on the street, I don’t stop, I can spend hours observing everything, trying to anticipate situations that may appear. I want to be prepared, trying to anticipate situations that may appear. I choose the backgrounds and the people; it is as if you were in a movie, the stage is the street, and the actors are the people.

If you want to take good street photos, you have to walk and observe a lot and dedicate many hours, and even then, when you get home, at most, you only have three or four photos that can be good.

When I travel the roads and highways in my project “On the road”, it is a calmer situation, it is a slower photography, many times I get lost and I don’t even know where I am, I thank the GPS.

Before switching to the Fuji X system, what were the last cameras and lenses you used? And currently, what pieces of equipment make up your kit?
When I started, I always used Canon equipment, especially when I was dedicated to nature and landscape photography. Later, I began to use Fuji equipment. There was a time when I had both brands and recently bought a Canon R6 mirrorless camera, but in the end, I sold everything and stayed with Fuji.

I currently have a Fuji X-T3 and a Fuji X-H2 with various lenses.

You often photograph very close to people, sometimes just inches from their faces. With the transition from a Canon full-frame DSLR to Fuji mirrorless, have you noticed differences in the way you photograph people in public spaces?
All cameras are good, there are no bad cameras, it’s just a matter of being comfortable with them. Since right now my dedication is street and documentary photography, I feel comfortable with Fuji because they are small and light pieces of equipment. If I had to take any other type of photography, I wouldn’t mind having other equipment, which could be Canon again or Fuji’s GFX cameras.

I like to be in contact with people, to feel them in front of me, a lens like the Fuji XF23mm F2 is one of my favourites, it is small and light and goes unnoticed. When photographing on roads and villages, I love the Fuji XF10-24mm F4 as well as the XF18-55mm F2.8-4.

Still on your approach to photographing people at a very close distance, we find it very interesting that you do not photograph from the outside in, but rather from the inside out, that is, blending in with them, and they seem to be perfectly comfortable with that, rarely looking at the camera, almost as if you had become invisible in the crowd. How do you do it?
It seems easy, but it is very complicated. It took years of experience. I like to mix with people and try to go unnoticed. I put on a smile and talk to people, having pleasant contact.

I don’t want to take a portrait, I want to photograph people within their environments. I want to be invisible among people, and for that, you need to control many things, be attentive to everything and be patient; the photographs will appear.

We noticed that you shoot predominantly in black and white. We were wondering if this is a personal preference and a way for you to express yourself through photography or if it is something that has been so ingrained in you since your early days of using black and white film rolls.
It’s a personal question, I still really like black and white. Although I also love colour, it often depends on what you are doing.

To conclude, could you tell us about OlloAtlántico? We have always found the concept of joining a Photography Collective so interesting. How did you all meet, and how do you get together and discuss the projects you each have in progress, in a video conference or in person, face to face?
The Olloatlantico collective was born out of the interest of a few photographers who love photography and sharing ideas and sensations. Currently, we are made up of nine photographers who usually see each other regularly, carry out common projects, hold exhibitions and do many photographic tasks together.