David Bishop
NHT user David Bishop is a talented commercial photographer who’s been
freelancing in the Bay Area of San Francisco for almost 30 years. Working out
of his studio just south of Market Street, he resides about a half-mile south
of Giants stadium, where on a good night he claims he can hear the team quietly
sucking. As part of the extended ‘family’, he has been shooting with
NHT for the last several years. Below, he chats with us about life, liberty and
the pursuit of great sound (and pictures).
Q: How did you first get involved with photographing NHT products?
A: The first project was shooting their Xd speaker systems, and eventually
I got involved in later product lines as they evolved. The most recent shot was
of the M-00, those crazy cool pc hifi/pro speakers. We set up as an environmental
still life with a very slick 20" Apple iMac, cool desktop speaker stands
and a glass table. In the background are the windows of my studio.
Q: Tell us a bit about your style of work…
A: Many of my photos are of wine and food, and I also have an illustrative
style that has nothing to do with either of the other two. The one thing all
have in common is an intense focus on small details and intervals of space between
products and their environment.
For speakers and high tech photography the details are in the surfaces of the
equipment; designers spend so much time fine-tuning the look of their gear that
lighting is really critical to revealing all those exquisite relationships.
Shooting wine and food is similar to a degree because designers do pretty much
the same for the labels and capsules of their clients wines. Capturing those
fine details like gold lettering and inlays, gloss and matte varnishes, embosses
and debosses is critical. In addition, placing those bottles in an environment
that's pleasing is also important; it's an extension of the kind of 'gesture'
a wine makes, both on the shelf and in advertising.
Q: So which NHT’s do you use at home?
A: I’ve got a pair of Classic Absolute Zero's on either side of a Sony
42" LCD monitor for enhancing our home viewing. I run the pair through a
Parasound ZAmp along with a couple of Cambridge subs. The Absolute Zero's really
enhance dialog and are spectacular for projecting an acoustic depth into the
living room. DasBoot was another movie entirely after I added the Zeros.
We also use the Two’s in the music room (really the front living room)
where my daughter and I play our instruments (violin/viola and guitar/piano).
The 2's are sitting in built-in bookshelves powered by another Parasound ZAmp,
tuner and pre-amp. Using an RCA>mini cable we use iPods for most of our music
listening, and my daughter uses it to rehearse pieces she's working on.
Q: So why NHT?
A: Well to be honest, when I was introduced to the product line they were
far more interesting as visual objects, and my thinking at the time was that
there wouldn't be much of a difference NHT's product and other high end speakers.
As I've come to know the products better my ears have grown to appreciate the
speakers.
Living in well-heeled Marin County has given my ample opportunity to visit people
with no constraints on their spending habits and a chance to hear very good home
theatre systems. I've been impressed...but not that impressed.
Although I'm a photographer that's embraced the high-tech digital lifestyle,
I still live in a relatively intimate, analog world of acoustic instruments.
NHT's have been a great non-intrusive compliment to that.
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