"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.

JOANNA GALUSZKA... interview with talented Polish photographer.

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

Photograph shows Martyna. She is very sensitive and beautiful person of incredible beauty. In the background there are stacks of the local power. I took this photo two years ago, in the early summer day.

Portrait of Dominguinhos... interview with professional photographer DARYAN DORNELLES.

Daryan Dornelles (also known as Fotonauta) is an outstanding professional photographer from Rio de Janeiro. He shared with us amazing portrait of famous musician Dominguinhos.

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

This guy is one of the best Brazilian musicians. His name is Dominguinhos. I took this photo for my book about Brazilian musicians.

"Experiences create who you are..." interview with ALLISON NEWBOLD.

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

This portrait was taken at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fl in Mel's Diner. This shot was inspired by the 50s feel with a modern fashion twist. 

Story behind the portrait of Questlove from The Roots... interview with HILARY SOL ALLEN.

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

I was hired by The Roots to document their week of practices and album listening parties for the release of Rising Down. Throughout each day, I would pull members to the side to take their portrait. This was taken on the roof of Legacy Recording Studios in Time Square in New York City.

"Find better models"... interview with AARON FEAVER.

Aaron is highly talented portrait photographer from Los Angeles.

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

I think this was the second time I'd shot this model, whom I'd found on Model Mayhem. She was the first "real" model I ever shot; real in the sense that she knew how to move around and pose to make a good photo, and she was very expressive. It was definitely a turning point for me, shooting her. I realized the difference between taking a photo of someone pretty and taking a photo of someone who really knows how to model.

Portrait of Coldplay's singer Chris Martin... interview with professional photographer ANITA ZVONAR.

Today we have a really special guest- internationally published professional photographer ANITA ZVONAR, based in Toronto, Canada. She worked for magazines (People magazine, Readers Digest…), advertisements, record labels etc. She photographed musicians such as Paul McCartney, Gwen Stefani, Metallica, Kid Rock, Dandy Warhols, Dresden Dolls… and many more.

Here's her recipe how to become a successful professional portrait photographer: "Keep learning and practicing.  The industry has a lot of competition, so try to be patient.  It takes years to develop a career, and even then, there can be slow months or years depending on the economy.  Develop a portrait style that represents you best… which takes time, but it happens."

Plese visit http://www.anitazvonar.com/music.html to see portrait of CHRIS MARTIN.

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

This portrait of Christ Martin was taken for Chart Music Magazine in Toronto .  I was sent on assignment to shoot him while Coldplay was playing a gig in Toronto for a couple nights.

Story of portrait from Flickr homepage with 1,230,000 views... interview with KRIS KRUG.

Today we have a really special guest- famous photographer Kris Krug from Vancouver. He shared a story of portrait, which is one of the pictures featured on the flickr homepage. Till today it has over 1,230,000 viewers. I asked him, how this awesome portrait changed his life… 

"It has changed me more as a father than it has as a photographer. There are lots of difficult things you go through as the parent of special needs child. Yet to see his photo showcased prominently on something I care deeply about, such as Flickr, and to see him being praised by my friends and colleagues gives me a sense of pride for my son. Also his images has been used for campaigns and posters for Autism. This photo has produced some redemptive and endearing qualities since I posted it online."

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 a photo of my son Judah which was taken in a cemetery near my old house in Deep Cove in Vancouver, BC. One of the funnest things of being a young parent and a photographer is that I have beautiful subjects around me often. Judah has special needs and can’t really sit still so this photograph is a bit of a miracle. This particular photo captures a side of his personality that is hard to show in photographs. It captures his joy in his funny face and his haircut but some of his pain as well like his rosy red cheeks which are scars that are leftover from his feeding tube that had been attached to his cheeks and his bigger glasses. 

"Spend time with your subject"... interview with MAREK WYKOWSKI.

Marek is a talented photographer from Poland, currently living in Munich. 

1Q) Can you please tell us the story behind this portrait? How you took it and why you choose to shoot this person?
This picture was taken last summer in Casablanca. After a couple hours of shooting I was already on my way back home, but started talking with some people I met and I found this guy intriguing. It was already late, the light was low but I thought I will give it a try. Well, the result isn't technically perfect, but the overall atmosphere of the picture is nice.

"Don't be contrived."... interview with STEPHEN MCLEOD BLYTHE.

Stephen is talented 22 years old photographer from Glasgow, Scotland.

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

You've picked a strange picture to feature.. It's not one of my best, and was taken in circumstances that are pretty out of the norm for the way I usually do things. 

The shots from this series were done as a favour for a friend of a friend. It's always a bad idea to do such a thing, but I was in a spell where I was looking for people to volunteer to have my lens pointed on them, so it didn't make sense to turn it down. The premise was simply to get photos of different makeup/fashion styles for their folio or something similar.

"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.

Interview with fashion photographer... LAURA SALGADO. 7Q.

Laura Salgado (Colombia) if a professional photographer who is focusing her career on fashion photography.

She is also connected with production agency called Les Recolletes specializing in fashion and everything about it including photography, catalogues, books etc. 

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 almost 7 years ago. I had a vintage clothing project and this was a way of showing it. This picture was taken with an analog canon. I chose Juliana because i thought that she looked timeless.

MaP 7Q Interview with... IAN STANTON

Highly talented photographer, who really can see people in an unusual way. We have a great example of his film portrait work today:

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

This portrait is of my girlfriend. I saw the photo opportunity and looked around quickly for the closest camera. I grabbed a polaroid camera on the dresser behind me, sloppily framed the photograph, then snapped the picture. 

MaP 7Q Interview with... NIC PERSINGER

I'm really happy to share very first 7Q MaP Interview with you! 7Q MaP will be a regular column in this blog. You'll find here short interviews with great photographers about their particular amazing portrait and more.

If you want to be featured here in 7Q MaP please post a link to amazing portrait you made to comments. I'll contact you in case your portrait will be good enough for being featured here in 7Q MaP.

Today we have a great portrait by NIC PERSINGER (USA):

1Q/ Can you please tell us the story behind this portrait? How you took it and why you choose to shoot this person?

This was taken while walking down 17th street, in DC, while I was in school. My style of shooting isn't very staged, so it was as simple as saying: stay there for a second and look at me. The person in this photograph is my girlfriend. She's always been my main subject of my portrait work, since she's always near and damn pretty in front of a lens. I remember when we were walking down 17th Street there was a detour on the sidewalk due to construction. The sunlight hitting the pavement through the scaffolding was beautiful. I noticed when walking through it all on Julianna's face. I stopped her and said, "let me take your picture." She paused, and I snapped one, but she thought for sure she blinked. I shot another one to make sure. Of course, when I processed the negatives, she had her eyes closed in the first shot. I like them both quite a bit.