"Fall in love with your model"... interview with DMITRY PAHOMOV.

1Q)Can you please tell us something about this portrait? How you took it and why you choose to shoot this person?

Well, it isn't one of my serious works. We were enjoying my short stay at my friends place and decided to do make some portraits. Lightning setup wasn't anything special, large umbrella above the camera, just like in most of my portraits. As to the choice of subject I always try to find people who will trust me. The rest is up to me.

2Q)What photography gear you used here and why? What is usually in your photo bag?

I've used my old trusty pentax 67 with standard lens and one mono with umbrella, I just like to do my portraits in very straight-forward and simple manner. Usually in my photo bag you can find pentax 67 with 105mm takumar standard lens or pentax me-super with standard lens, couple of rolls of ilford b/w or kodak color films.

3Q)What do you love most about shooting portraits?

I really enjoy connection between me and people I work with. Most of them are very creative, open-minded and sensual and it helps a lot! Hardest part is to describe feelings and mood I try to put in my portraits but when model understands what I want from her it gets pretty easy. Also I enjoy intimacy in my work, sometimes it feels like a very open conversation between two close persons.

4Q) Do you consider yourself mostly as a “portrait” photographer?

I'm 100% portrait photographer, as I don't have any interest in wild-life, journalism, landscape and any other photography. But sometimes I do sets of landscape or street photography, when I feel that image can reproduce mood of the particular moment and then the view I see before me becomes some sort of "portrait of a mood" or "portrait of a moment in time". Sounds pretty weird thought. :)

5Q) Do you work with available light or do you use additional lightning often?

Most of my late portraits are done in studios so I have to stick with studio lightning. I don't have any preferences in choice of light source.

6Q) What/Who are your photography muses and influences?

I have two models I really enjoy to work with. Sometimes they start to dominate during the shoot and then I just follow them. As to my inspiration sources I would name Lillian Bassman, Paolo Roversi, Patric Demarchelier and Irving Penn.

7Q) Any tip for taking better portraits?

• Watch good old movies from first-class directors, like Godard, Tarkovsky, Truffaut. 
• Fall in love with your models.

flickr photostream 

Thank you, Dmitry!