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Q1 Please introduce yourself.
Hello, I'm 21-year old photographer based in Krakow, Poland. I work as a graphic designer for a living and to cover the costs my photos take. Of course I like my daily job too, but as for me... there is no comparison to the photography. |
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Q2 Could you tell us your career as an photographer? How did you start?
At the very beginning of my interest in taking shots (which was still not so far from now) there were all the famous portraits, city shots, photo stories from all over the world. I like to stare at the photograph for a long while, feel it, spot on all the details, visualize the story. And then I got the very old camera from my uncle. I think the fact it came with a fast prime lens was the beginning of my fascination with a shallow depth of field.
Q3 What do you look out for when you're shooting?
There are two main subjects of my interest: details and faces. When I go out, walk around for a few hours I'm trying to spot on the unusual things. It takes me some time as they are usually quite small but it's always worth it! It's even a good practice for me to come back to the same place after a week: as I look differently, I can spot something I haven't seen before. |
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Q7 What photo or art means to you?
Well... I'm rather conservative when it comes to that point. I love the classic apprehension of beauty and so my main objective is to get better in a way I create images. Basically, I tend to think in a way that if you have a beautiful model, you are free to sublime him or her a little bit, take the best elements and make them stronger. Of course that is when talk about portrait photography. As for street shots I always look for details, close ups, without a wide-angle lens.
Q8 Are there any people who inspired you? Who do you respect?
When it comes to contemporary fashion/portrait photographers I must say I'm constantly in love with the photos of Peter Lindbergh. No matter when the shot was taken you can see a very special way of presenting beautiful women and men: gently and with style. I'm also a big fan of Greg Kadel and Marcin Tyszka. As for journalistic photography I've been inspired by Henri-Cartier Bresson for a long, long time. |
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Q9 When is the happiest moment as a photographer?
As for me, it's either when you have your own exhibition or receive a great appreciation of your work. You cannot be fully satisfied with the shots you take... it's always about getting better, seeing more, create better scenes. As for me, there's a delay between taking shots and the postproduction. Just a few hours after a photo shoot I'm not able to reasonably judge whether that particular shot is good to go or not. It's quite common I find a few fine frames a day or two after a shoot.
Q10 When is the most important time of your day?
Night time. When the city goes dark and quiet I turn on lounge music and start working. Unfortunately, as I'm employed as a full-time worker in a graphic agency I don't have many possibilities to work that way.
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| Maciej Bodek was born in 1986 in Krakow, Poland and it's Bodek's current residence. He has been interested in photography for a long time, taking shots since the beginning of 2005. Most of the shots are personal work. Currently working as a webdesigner in a creative agency. |
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Q4 What is the concept of your work?
It's basically about the light. I tend to use as few elements in each scene as possible, keeping things simple, kind of minimalistic approach to photography. I prefer to work with an available light only, low light conditions allow me to achieve smooth, grainy images.
Q5 Do you have any favorite camera or equipment to work with?
Black and white negatives ruled the first year and a half. They can produce excellent results in combination with a fast primes. They're quite cheap also... and have 36 exposures which is even too much for me for a single photo shoot. My current equipment consists of two cameras: a decent DSLR and a medium format (Mamiya). These cameras are equal for me as I can achieve the very same smoothness and detail with both of them. It's all about the light and exposure, neither the best camera or negative will do it for you. |
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Q6 Seems like you prefer to use monochrome than color, why?
As I've mentioned before: I prefer to keep things simple. I tend to sublime elements on my photographs. I adore the gentle beauty! And as you've already may have noticed, I love sepia. All of these elements well combined can bring that old-fashioned look of the photograph, not so pretentious but stylish. |
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Q11 What is beauty means to you?
I believe that in our cruel world there's never too much classic beauty. I adore the smoothness of the skin, light in an eye and I try to make the best of it in my photographs. Whether it seems naïve or not, I'm going to follow my path.
Q12 What gives you the inspiration when you making art?
First of all, "art" is a big word. I take shots – that is how I define what I do. As for street shots, I like to walk around the city center for an hour or two, while looking for an interesting object, small place, sometimes a person. When it comes to portraits and so called fashion, I tend to plan things a little. Let's say I usually have a vision how the photos should look, but it's always the moment and the circumstances that make the most unpredictable and the best shots from each photo shoot. And most of all – my girlfriend, Anna! She's pure beauty and I really love to work with her – my favorite model. |
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Q13 What's coming up in 2008? Any plans for exhibition?
Well, I'm going to stress on fashion shots for a while. I don't have enough time to spend on streets shots, but who knows? One year it's a lot of time.
Q14 What is your vision in the future?
I'd love to cooperate with some fashion magazines someday... but these are long-range plans. As for now I'm going to shoot more! Doing this once a week doesn't help to get better.
Q15 Any last words?
I'd like to thank my girlfriend, Anna, for being a constant support and appreciation to my work. Also thanks to all my friends who are always a great help in taking shots. |
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