Sunday, January 29, 2012

"Taking bad photos is important." ... interview with DAN HAYON.

1Q) Can you please tell us the story behind this portrait? How you took it and why you choose to shoot this person?
This photo was taken in 1967 or 1968. 
At that time I was a student at the Art Academy in Bucharest and, just because I had a camera, a friend of a friend of a friend, got me a summer job as a stage photographer during the shooting of a feature movie. One of the things I had to do, was to take the pictures of those who wanted to be hired as extras for the film. It was almost like a police procedure: they were brought to me, I put them in front of a black wall asked them to look at me and I pressed the button like a firing squad. One of them was the man in this photo. Didn't know his name, didn't know his story. I suppose that the expression on his face would have been the same if he had a real policeman in front of him. Later I was told that he was a Jew who wanted to emigrate to Israel and was waiting for years to get a visa. I wonder If he expected me to give him one.
Anyway, I didn't think then of my self as a real photographer. I still don't.

Monday, October 24, 2011

"Camera otaku" ... interview with JON SIEGEL.

Jon is a creative director based out of Tokyo, Japan, running the creative agency Pikkles with his business partner Vitaly Dmitriev. He is an avid photographer who loves Japan and Japanese culture and hopes his photography will inspire others to visit this incredible country.


1Q) Can you please tell us the story behind this portrait? How you took it and why you choose to shoot this person?
This is my dear friend Nurul, we met after I moved to Singapore with my wife Waki who is taking her MBA course here. That night was our first evening out together, we were enjoying a drink and a game of cards outside a popular bar. Waki and Nurul were getting serious with the game while I sat back and enjoyed my drink. Nurul lit up and I couldn't resist, I had to take a shot. From my point of view, the bokeh my 50 produces played nicely with Nurul's polka-dot dress, and the colored lights from the bar framed her nicely. Nurul was a good sport about me taking a few photos, often when people notice me taking shots they start to post but Nurul kept her cool and that's how I got this shot. It's one of my favorites.