Interview with photographer #17: Dominika Roseclay / wywiad ze mną przeprowadzony przez Artema Beliaikina dla strony 84lens.com

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Style: I start my adventure with photography as an event photographer. I did reportages on parties, social events and family occasional sessions. The implementation of these activities made it difficult for me to contact a large group of people. I decided to work on myself and forced myself to this work a bit. Almost always, however, it affected the photo effect and my mood. For some time, since I was diagnosed with asperger syndrome I have been working in a smaller number of people doing portrait, lifestyle, product and interior design sessions.

Gear: Probably as every photographer, I started my adventure with photography with a simple camera and lens. In my case it was a Canon 600D and 50mm 1.8 lens. Later I changed it to Canon 70 D and later to 6D. 50 and 35 mm still remain my favorite lens. I like prime lenses. (…)

When did you start shooting and how did this love for photography happen? What is your view about photography?

I have already written a little about how the adventure with photography began. It developed by participating in courses, training, observing other photographers. I had a moment of discouragement. Nothing came out as if I wanted to. It seems to me that every photographer has something like that and it’s good as long as it motivates us. If this feeling tells you to give up your passion then do not listen to it! 

My view of photography is that not everyone will do every type of photography well. There is always a certain area with which we are particularly connected and we know how to take a good picture not through acquired skills, but through an inner feeling what will best work in a given composition.

If contact with people is not your strength, you may never get connected to their emotions. The session will be stiff, or you will not extract in the pictures what a photographer who is both a good psychologist and interlocutor would extract. Maybe the output will be for you reportage photography in which you will play the role of an observer. And maybe if you are a realist and a perfectionist, you will perfectly take photos of someone else’s work, i.e. make-up and interior design sessions.

Apart from photography, tell me about your hobbies and interests?

For me, the creative process does not end with photography. I love taking pictures, but I also love to use them for my projects, e.g. album covers, books, product prints, etc.

My great passion is creating graphic designs used as patterns on fabrics and products. In addition to my photos, I usually use manual and traditional techniques, such as ink drawing or linocut.(…)

Almost 90% of photographers find it hard to earn money out of photography. Any tips that might help photographers to earn money?

It’s not easy to make good money on photography and it depends a lot on how you start this job and on what market, in how big a city you are and how open you are to expansion and traveling. I think that a person open to travel and holding a certain price level from the beginning has a chance of great success. Working from dumped prices is a big mistake from the beginning. Many photographers do it to build a portfolio, I did it too and I think it is a huge mistake.

What mistakes did you make when you started taking pictures?

I still make mistakes in photography. I can see clearly in retrospection that I have a problem with sharpness and focusing which is a bit due to my defect of vision . That is why I wrote on pexels that I collect for eye surgery: D. This is a bit funny, but many of these mistakes really were due to the problem of focusing, the problem with accommodation of the eye and not due to the lack of skills in photography. If you can repeat a photo in interior or product photography, you will not repeat a given situation in a portrait or report session.

But I try and I try and I try. I accept criticism but I also try not to hide everything in the drawer. In addition to criticism, I accept every praise because they mean that it is worth developing.

This year is a breakthrough for me. Now this month I have officially started my small business. I received funding for small businesses that allowed me to buy better equipment for my work. I didn’t manage it a few years ago in my hometown, but in Lodz my dreams of jumping to a higher level finally came true. (…)

Light, decisivemoment, content, ambiance, agoodgear, according to you which is the most essential element in photography?

None of these things can provide you with a successful photo if you don’t feel the moment yourself. You can take a very good picture with your smartphone today. So as they say, it’s not the wand, but the magician makes the show. And of such practical things I will say that light can improve and spoil a photo. After some time, you get to know what time to do not take pictures, or in the studio which can be an absurd idea but also a great arrangement for your picture. But this is the obvious information that every photographer has access to.

I really like the Cartier Bresson concept. In 1952, Bresson published a book on the subject: The Decisive Moment. We can think about the frame. There are many photographers who will advise you to rethink everything 10 times before you press the shutter. But then you can lose sight of something valuable that will not happen again.

Is there a photo you dream of taking?

This is not one photo but a whole series of photos. I dream of developing in travel photography but it requires time, possibilities and financial resources. I dream about traveling to Iceland the most. I love this atmosphere. Cornwall in England is also very close to my heart. I just love this place. For now, I am documenting my microcosm and immediate surroundings in the subject of landscape.

Final words of wisdom you would like to share?

I do not know if I have any wisdom in my head: D I can say something that I will not agree in 5 years so I will say one thing that I know for sure. Try to love your disabilities, accept them and develop despite them.

Criticism is usually successfully dealt with by the rest of the world, so just love yourself as much as you can. Thanks to this, you will love the rest of the world, accept others because everyone, like you, fights with his disability and works on himself.