\nNational Geographic contributor Kiliii Yuyan gave a presentation about his photography titled \u2018True Grit in Photography (and Life)\u2019 at the American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK).<\/p>\n
The presentation was organized in conjunction with the US Consulate General in Dubai and the Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation.<\/p>\n
Mr. Yuyan specializes in photographing the Polar Regions, the wilderness and indigenous life and his photos have won awards and featured in National Geographic magazine.<\/p>\n
He began by explaining the hard work that often goes into the photos \u2013 all the effort before the photographer releases the shutter \u2013 using the example of the famous shot of a man blocking tanks in Tiananmen Square during protests in Beijing in 1989.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look and think how the amazing images that we see in our world today \u2013 so many of them took a lot of effort to get,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re really difficult to get. We\u2019ve no idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best photographs are not made the moment you press the shutter. It\u2019s the moment, it\u2019s all the time spent before the shutter clicks. That is what matters. All of the research, all of the time that you spent getting to know the people you\u2019ve been there with, all the time you\u2019ve spent learning the language, all the time you spend understanding the place, learning how to survive in this place, all of the time it took you get you to that physical location to take that picture \u2013 that is what makes that photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Yuyan said there were three things that a photographer needs to get great pictures: the right approach, practice and perseverance.<\/p>\n
Regarding approach, he said \u201cThe people who do great things in the world just have one thing in common: they all really just want to know a little bit more. We want to get bigger than we are. We want to grow a little bit and learn as much as we possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also stressed the importance of practice. \u201cWith all skills, practice is an important thing. With something like photography or the arts, practice is very, very important. Even in the very straight physical skill of it \u2013 actually clicking the shutter, making sure the camera isn\u2019t shaking, understanding how you do all the settings and all that kinds of stuff. But that\u2019s the very beginning. That\u2019s the start of it all. If you want to get good as a photographer \u2026 you have to get good at all the other stuff that happens before you take the photograph.\u201d Mr. Yuyan added that it was worth learning extra skills such as using a drone or diving or rock climbing to expand the range of shots he could take.<\/p>\n
Perseverance was also key, he said, adding that if you are going to do a project everything else can\u2019t matter more than that project. He told an anecdote about photo editors forcing him to reshoot photos that took two weeks to get, in pursuit of better images.<\/p>\n
Ending the presentation, he said \u201cUltimately, the best way to make a good project, to make a good story, to make good art, is to find a project that you care about, that you care about so much that nothing will stop you from doing it. No excuse will stop you from doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
AURAK is a nonprofit, government-owned institution of higher education which provides the local, regional and international communities with a North American-style education integrated with Arab customs and traditions. AURAK is licensed by the Ministry of Education in the United Arab Emirates and has been accredited in the United States of America by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) since December 2018. AURAK offers a total of 22 accredited undergraduate and graduate programs across a wide range of disciplines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
National Geographic contributor Kiliii Yuyan gave a presentation about his photography titled \u2018True Grit in Photography (and Life)\u2019 at the American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK). The presentation was organized in conjunction with the US Consulate General in Dubai and the Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation. Mr. Yuyan specializes in photographing the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4369,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"press_release_topic":[62],"latest_news_topic":[],"class_list":["post-4368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media-center","category-press-releases","press_release_topic-education"],"acf":{"header_desc":"","header_image":false,"pdf_file":false,"hi-res_image":false,"related_to_hh":"no","hidden_photo_gallery":false},"yoast_head":"\n