Humour and History at the Launch of Justin Fox’s Africa Lens

November 18th, 2009 by Emily

There was standing space only at the launch of Africa Lens: 20 Years of Getaway Photography at The Book Lounge on Tuesday evening. The collection of photographs is edited by Justin Fox, deputy editor and photo editor of Getaway magazine – who, it is reputed, went through roughly 28 800 pages (20 years, 12 issues a year, 120 pages per issue) of past editions in order to find the best of the best.

The photograph of an ultralight over Victoria Falls which dons the cover of the collection was taken by Don Pinnock, from a chopper, and earmarked as Getaway’s number one. Yet much of its beauty goes unrecognised by those of us who aren’t photojournalists – the shutter speed of Pinnock’s camera has stopped the propellar of the ultralight, making it look like the craft will plunge straight down into the falls.

Pinnock is better known as the current editor of Getaway and the author of The Woman Who Lived in a Tree. He and Fox were in conversation about the collection and the history of the magazine.

Getaway began in April 1989 as Getaway Photography, with an editor who wanted “light, bright and commercial” images. Yet with every editor came a different style. “Justin,” Pinnock remarked, “is a Fuji Velvia man.” When digital became popular, he considered it outrageously poor, saying that by contrast “you could smell the coffee in a Fuji Velvia image”. The Fuji Velvia image is the typical Getaway image – casting a golden light over the subject, fit for the most sumptuous coffee table books.

Pinnock and Fox entertained their audience with tales of humourous, and often embarrassing, experiences that only photojournalists could have had. While Fox’s tended to involved beautiful young women, wearing very little, Pinnock’s involved one very hairy man – Kingsley Holgate.

Yet no exploration of Getaway’s past would be complete without the mention of Patrick Wagner, considered to be the magazine’s best photographer so far. Pinnock left us with following wisdom acquired under Wagner’s tutelage: When Pinnock once asked “How do you get to take such beautiful photographs?” Wagner responded: “About 15kms of Fuji Velvia”.

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