"The camera is a tool for me; it lets me capture what I find interesting," says David Eustace, who is sitting in the corner of a cafe in New York's SoHo district. Born in Glasgow in 1961, Eustace picked up his first camera at the age of 28 and hasn't looked back. Instead of coming from a traditional photography background, Eustace was a prison officer for seven years in the east end of Glasgow before he joined a local camera club. It was there he discovered a knack for taking pictures and decided to teach himself how to print and process photos. From there he has graduated to shooting stars such as Hugh Grant for the cover of GQ magazine.
Eustace has recently completed an assignment in Yosemite National Park in California shooting with the Panasonic Lumix G3, and his boundless enthusiasm for photography is evident. "In Yosemite, because it's so big and unlike a major city with more landscape than street corners, it offered moments where I could just slow things down and look a bit closer for the moment of magic, like a cloud passing by," he says. "It was less immediate and that was the beauty of it."
In order to get the best shots in Yosemite, Eustace admits that he played around with the camera, testing all its features – especially the speedy autofocus, which he wouldn't normally use but ended up employing for most of the trip. Another favourite was the touchscreen command. He says: "I remember at one point I was shooting a really long exposure. I was down low and I was able to just lay the camera down and shoot, so that feature is very handy. Eustace adds that in his day-to-day work he often has the Lumix G3 in his bag alongside his other cameras.
Whenever Eustace, who divides his time between Glasgow and New York, is away on a shoot, he makes time to visit the nearest art gallery to soak up as many cultural influences as possible. These trips, he says, are vital for both new and established photographers. His most recent visit was to the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection (the private art of Henry Frick made public) in New York. "Photographers can get a form of writer's block, so it's important to do stuff like that," he says. "Even if it's just for an afternoon, you should always recharge."
It's clear that despite having a career which has spanned more than a decade, and featured highs such as photographing Sir Paul McCartney and Sophia Loren, Eustace continues to be in love with his craft, totally aware of how fortunate he is and always wanting to learn more. "To me, photography is a beautiful visual language," he says. "Similar to the written word, you can scribble a dozen words but that doesn't make it a story; neither does just pointing and shooting a camera.
"You've got to read, look at photography and art, but then ultimately you've got to be selfish and say: this is what I enjoy, what excites me, what annoys me, this is what I want to offer to others or keep to myself. I'm very fortunate because I get to photograph the world exactly the way I see it, and I feel very humbled for often the world likes the way I see it."
