Questions, part II

Second set of questions came from Noah Callen:

1. What do you believe is the benefit of conveying a message through images rather than words?

Words, images and art in general are all powerful ways to express yourself. Images are just most natural way for me. I think the camera and photoshop are the tools that get me closest to the ideas that are in my head.

2. What do you believe is the best way to convey emotion in photography?

I would say it’s selecting the right kind of theme and subject for the image. Also, post-processing and colour is important here.

3. How important is colour in your work?

Colour is very important in my work. I think color (or lack of) can influence so much to the mood of the image. You can also guide the viewer’s eye effectively using certain colors.

4. What’s one thing you now know that you wish you knew when starting with photography?

It’s going to take all your money and time… Seriously not sure if there is anything special I wish I had known. It takes time to learn any skill and failures are important in learning.

5. What benefit is the use of dystopian imagery in getting across your message?

I have always liked dark art, heavy metal music, movies with darker tones. Dystopia series started from the hooded Mr. Black character and evolved to a bigger story about myself and also world around us. I’m not sure if I thought if there any benefits using this theme, it kind of wrote itself and just felt this is the way to go.

6. What is your biggest self criticism of your own work?

I have some perfectionism in me so I always find faults from my work.

7. What sociopolitical issues have inspired your work?

Biggest must be mental health and how it’s handled in our society. It is a personal topic because of my own depression. Loneliness seems to occur in a lot my work although I don’t knowingly select it. There are also themes like unhealthy capitalism, fascism, social media/shallowness that you can find from my images.

8. Whose work has influenced you the most?

I’m a fan of Juha Arvid Helminen, H. R. Giger, Salvador Dali, Gregory Crewdson, Brooke Shaden, Joel Grimes and there are many more. I tend to get inspiration from all kinds of art, not just photography / digital art.

9. What are the most important things to consider before during and after a shoot?

Usually, I have pretty good plans (drawings, example images, a written list of ideas) before I start shooting. If I go outside my home studio I use a list to check I have everything with me. During the shoot, I take care that I have all the images that were planned and bts shots for my blog (which are easy to forget). If some additional ideas come during the shoot I test those too. After the shoot, I usually take at least one day before I start editing. That way final ideas get time to form before doing the image.

10. You say that photography is therapuetic how has expressing yourself through images helped you mentally?

At best putting your thoughts in images is like taking a therapeutic session. Organizing and letting your thoughts out is often very helpful. Since I’m now retired it is also very important that I have something meaningful to do, to be passionate about.