Faces North to South – A story of travel, instant photography and people

Dale Reubin, a commercial advertising photographer, is about to embark on a journey of instant photography, travel, and people.

Armed with an Instax camera and his wife, Laura, by his side, they will be traveling overland in their Land Rover from the UK to South Africa passing through 22 countries in 5 months, in order to create a photography book celebrating the human face, humanity, life, culture, art, travel, from around the world.

Intrigued? We are. Read on to find out how they plan on doing it.

INTRODUCE YOURSELF:
My name is Dale Reubin and I’m a commercial advertising photographer. I grew up in South Africa and in 2007 I married a British girl called Laura and decided to settle in England.

My actual surname is as close to unpronounceable as possible, it’s “Bezuidenhout,” so I use my first and middle name. As a teenager I started photographing my friends on our surf trips and it just grew from there. After that I couldn’t imagine a better profession and decided to pursue photography. I’m 100% self-taught (thank you Google). I used the money I had to buy a decent camera instead of paying for photo school.

ABOUT FACES NORTH TO SOUTH:
Faces North to South is a project about people, travel and photography. My wife Laura and I will be traveling overland, in our Land Rover, from the UK to South Africa through 21 countries covering roughly 15,000 miles in 5 months. Throughout the journey I will be taking pictures of people’s faces in each country to ultimately create a spectrum of the human face, seeing how it changes across the surface of the earth from North to South. The aim would be to produce a photography book celebrating the human face, humanity, life, culture, art, travel etc.

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA?
I guess the idea came together through an amalgamation of all of my interests. I’d always wanted to travel the length of Africa and in the autumn of 2011 we decided to start saving for the trip. I’d been toying with a few ideas for the trips ‘theme’ if you will, and one evening I sat bolt upright in bed as it hit me. Instant film photography, travel, people, cultures all coming together to celebrate our differences and similarities at the same time. I wanted to capture the beauty of the changing human face across the surface of the earth we all share.

IS THERE A MESSAGE YOU’D LIKE TO CONVEY THROUGH THIS PROJECT?
I suppose I’d like people who view the images to feel connected to the subjects on a human level. To see how beautiful and diverse we are. We all want to be loved, have a good meal, a place to sleep and care for our children. So on that level we are connected but the message out of Africa is generally grim. I’d like to show the joy and generosity people have regardless of their personal circumstance or wealth.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE INSTAX?
The reason for me choosing an instant film platform is simple: It allows me to give something back to the subject instantly showing gratitude and respect. I’ll obviously take two shots per subject otherwise I’ll have nothing to show for my travels. Also, it has a unique look that I’m after. Digital is great but it’s less interactive and in a place where people don’t have much, a photograph of themselves or their family will be cherished for as long as that picture lasts.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS ABOUT INSTANT PHOTOGRAPHY THAT APPEALS TO PEOPLE?
In the western world it’s about going retro, a trend, a look. Which I’m all for by the way! I personally love Lomo-photography because it’s not always about clarity and megapixels, so when you simplify it down to a single button camera, on or off, photo or no photo, it’s totally about the moment. In less abundant places like Africa it’s convenient. No computers, RAW processors, printing labs, Photoshop etc. You can go from not having anything, to holding a printed picture with one button.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE WE’VE MISSED?
If anyone would like to stay updated about the project they can do so by subscribing to the RSS feed on our website: www.facesnorthtosouth.co.uk, by “Liking” us on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/facesnorthtosouth Or for all the Twitter fans out there: @FacesNorthSouth