Interview with Andrzej Tarnawczyk
Edinburgh the heart of Scotland... It's an inspiration for young people, and for people who want to achieve something.This city got beautiful art galleries, great national museum and so many talented people like Andrzej Tarnawczyk. And I was lucky enough to Interview him .
Andrzej Tarnawczyk is a professional photographer that was born in Poland but now is living in the UK. Andrzej has lived for a few years in Edinburgh before his work was noticed by companies like Vouge, now he is a very busy man and he is traveling a lot from city to city. Andrew had his pictures in different galleries across the Europe, Gallery OKO in Poland another one Many faces of Fashion in Photo Vogue – Milan, Italy and a few more in different countries, here is a couple pictures from the galleries.
Most of Andrzej's pictures are very controversial here is a few examples
And because Andrzej is passionate about what he is doing, that's why he achieved so much till now, and he is still working very hard to be more recognizable in art and photography world .
When I had a chance doing an interview with Andrzej I was so excited,, but it wasn't so easy to do it because Andrzej is so busy and he is traveling from city to city and sometimes between countries as well. The task I had to do was almost impossible, but when I send an e-mail to Andrzej he replied that he will be in the Edinburgh for a week, so that was my only chance for the interview.
On the day of the interview, I was a little bit nervous, I didn't want to ask questions, that he will find disturbing. That's why I made a list of a few questions before that day, to make sure they make sense and I'm not asking for too many Information.
I wanted to make a good interview, but I also wanted to make this very comfortable and friendly as I can, so I found a really nice place called the Newsroom, the place was perfect for that interview. I also had to book a table just to make sure there are a space and a good spot.
I meet Andrzej outside the Newsroom, we shook hands and went inside. When we were sitting I have asked if he wants a drink, then I ordered two ciders, and we start chatting about random things before I started asking my questions. I will skip here typical guys talk and start from the questions on my list.
I have asked him what is his specific role and if he can describe his day to day job. I also asked what are the self-employment opportunities if any? and do he expand the business or looking for new business?
He replied:
"I work as a photographer. My main responsibilities include picture taking, delivering them to customers, social media management. I believe that taking care of social media content can be very beneficial for a self-employed person working in the creative art sector. By reaching a greater audience online I can create potential opportunities for my business. All new contacts made online can be transformed into potential clients in the future. Building and sourcing this information online is crucial."
I have asked what is his Specific abilities in the past and in the present and what transferable skills are required?
He also mentioned that he was drawing in the past when he was a little boy
"I always had a great interest in the visual arts. As a small kid, I used to draw a lot. I think it is very important to develop essential skills very early only to master them later. I strongly believe that we are born with certain abilities – some people have been better at drawing when others have an edge in sport etc. In photography it is very important to have a talent, own vision, natural abilities to "see" things in different, unique way. Said this, I also believe in hard work, dedication and learning curve. To sum up I think that the fact that I was always talented in drawing and painting help me a lot in photography. I feel like my biggest strength, that is transferable between different "art departments", is my imagination."
And because technology is changing very quickly I also asked, what effect has the technology and technical developments in his life or business both positive and negative?
Andrzej mentioned Photoshop and very popular this day's Facebook
"The biggest technological impact on people like me (photographers) was made by a sudden transition from analog photography (film) into a digital one (digital sensor) All of the sudden capturing images become much easier and much faster too. It also allowed for a very first time to view the image before you print it. The readiness and accessibility of the photos have also made a huge impact on society.With digital photography, you are one click away from uploading your photographs onto your computer for your viewing pleasure as soon as the pictures are taken. Social portals like Facebook evolved thanks to digital photography as it allows to upload photographs very quickly for everyone to see them. Also, editing software programs become more sophisticated. The most popular one today is a Photoshop- software that offers complex editing tools. Thanks for that – photographers are no able to change all the aspects of digital photographs - Colors , shapes, light – everything is controllable and adjustable"
In every place ,we have Health and safety issues, right? So I have asked are the associated health and safety issues is his work?
I was very surprised when he mentioned death in this answer, but I guess this is true.
"When it comes to health and safety the biggest issue will always be connected to the tripping/ slipping hazards when working in the studio. During most of the studio based photo-shoots, photographers using lighting equipment have to deal with many cables and wires. When we imagine this studio being full of people (models, photographers, assistants) It is not hard to imagine what kind of risk it involves. I always tape these cables together or tape them down to the floor. I also put signs and marks that show "working area" and therefore make people aware of the risk. Things get even more complicated when working on location. Let's say, for instance – there is a photo-shoot that require a model to swim in deep water or to climb a tree. In cases like that we, photographers, deal with the risk of potential injury or even death. It is also very important to ALWAYS sign risk assessment with people I work with."
Me: " That is very scary sometimes, especially when you mentioned death, can I ask you if you know any photographers that died in their work?"
Andrzej: "Fortunately, no"
My next question was quite simple, I have asked him what legal issues do he have to comply with?
Andrew only mentioned that copyright is really common in this industry, and he can find his photos online he said, fighting with that of crime is like "tilting at windmills", but usually when he puts his credits under his photos everything is fine.
It's not only technology that is evolving, but also industries, so I have asked what effect if any do marketplace developments have on him?
Andrew mentioned social media again and I really agreed with him
"Market for photography is a very dynamic one – it changes constantly. It`s very hard to define it , to shape it. For instance, as said before, a massive role is being played by Social media and the internet itself. As You would imagine it "open" a lot of new doors, but also "closes" some of them too. More and more work is being shifted towards online platforms. Even magazines- yesterday, only available in print, today they exist in electronic, online version. The biggest threat for photography is another massive change in technology that I personally believe is soon to happen. Like in the old day's photographs were taken only on film and then a market for this kind of photography suddenly shrunk (after introducing digital sensors to cameras). Today, some very advanced camcorders offer a video with such a great resolution that stills can be taken from and it later, in post-production, and used as single photographs."
Me: " What about the software? Is that affecting you as well?"
Andrzej: " Yes, let's take for example Photoshop, every year they are releasing a new version and updating the current version with sometimes can just not work properly, but sometimes new software can really help me to put more magic in the photos".
Unfortunately, we had to finish the Interview, because Andrzej had to go to another meeting. At the end, I thank him very much for the Interview.
I was very happy at the end, the interview went really well and now I can say something about Andrzej. He is a very nice person, when I was listening how he is talking about his work, I really could see that this is his whole life, he dedicates his whole life for this, Andrzej has been always on the move and he loves it.
You can find more of Andrzej's work here:
https://www.behance.net/andrewtarnawczyk
And follow him on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/AndrewTarnawczykPhotography/?__mref=message_bubble
