A photographer tells a story. You’re always on the lookout for them, always with your camera. How does it happen?
Good photography tells a story. To me a good photograph is like Aladdin’s lamp: you rub it a little, look at it attentively, and the story comes out for you. To make that kind of photograph you need a little magic – to be in the moment, to feel a certain emotion. If I don’t feel it, it won’t happen. I wouldn’t call it inspiration, but I also find it very hard to do my work formally – I can’t just treat it like a task. I take a lot of pictures of everyday life, which we don’t usually expect to be full of stories, and yet it is – which I find fascinating. There are certain photographs by Cartier-Bresson that I still look at in awe, just like when I was 15 years old – that’s exactly the magic I’m talking about.
We live in the times when every year there is a new technology, a new digital development, a new artistic medium being invented. Do you think classic photography will outlive it all?
I think there will always be artists doing classical photography, just like after the emergence of conceptualism there are still artists doing classical painting. New technologies provide new ways of expression, and that is great. Classical photography, however, is a medium constrained by two dimensions and a certain size, in its laconicism it will always be attractive. Technological evolution has a down side too when it comes to visuals: when you scroll your social media feeds you will see your neighbour’s cat, then a Chagall, then your neighbour’s dog. It mixes everything together regardless of its importance. It does not, however, devalue the greatness of a true master like Chagall – there will always be curious young people willing to look deeper into these artists, into classical photography.