Φωτογράφος Tatsiana Avakyan

—Πρώτον και κύριον – ποιόν μπορείτε να ονομάσετε ως τον καλύτερο φωτογράφο στην πόλη σας; :)

—This is a hard question, isn's it? It depends on so many aspects like style, editing, way you work with couple, vision, etc. I personally have some favourites whose works I admire, but I am keeping as a secret, I am letting everyone else to choose for themselves.

—Έχετε φωτογένεια;

—From my childhood I have this idea in my head that I look horrible on pictures... you know fake smile from your first schoolbook picture? I generally consider myself as a non photogenic person. But I believe that anyone can look good on pictures if camera is in right hands.

—Πώς ξεκίνησες να ασχολείσαι με τη φωτογραφία;

—It all started in 2012, when I took my first dslr camera to my brothers wedding. I was following the photographer as her assistant, trying to find interesting angles, watching her work with the couple, asking million questions (I can only imagine how annoyed she must have been). I managed to take 3 really nice portraits from that day, which I still like now. This was how it all begun.

—Ποια είναι τα πιο σημαντικά στοιχεία μιας καλής φωτογραφίας κατά τη γνώμη σας;

—Right composition, perfect light, moment and colour are basics of great photo; following these points and combining them in one image, will always end up in an attractive picture.

—Σας αρέσει να ταξιδεύετε;

—I definitely do, traveling is always fun for me. It doesn't matter if I go to another country or closest city. Traveling is experience, time for thoughts and always learning new things.

—Τι σας αρέσει περισσότερο στο επάγγελμά σας;

—I guess being a part of someone's happy day is already joyful in itself. It's amazing to be able to capture couple's emotions on wedding day, see them in love, see them on top of their happiness. Another favourite part of being a wedding photographer is constantly meeting new people, communicating, learning their stories.

—Τι σας αρέσει λιγότερο στο επάγγελμά σας;

—There is definitely nothing that I hate about it. And I can't really think of something I dislike, but I guess as any usual job, being a photographer has its own difficulties, hmm let's say like carrying around heavy bags full of equipment.

—Ποιο θα είναι το μέλλον της φωτογραφίας;

—Classics will always stay classics! There obviously will be new trends appearing, changing constantly to something new on and on, but I know most definitely that classic pictures will always be on top.

—Τι το ιδιαίτερο υπάρχει στο φωτογραφικό είδος στο οποίο εξειδικεύεσαι;

—Wedding is a one of kind thing, you can't rewind, ask someone to repeat their actions, you have to be here and now! this particular moment, you have to be alert and ready for your best shot.

—Πώς αντιμετωπίζετε την κριτική;

—Constructive criticism is they key to improvement!

—Υπάρχουν τάσεις στη φωτογραφία;

—Yes, most definitely there are, they are changing every season to keep wedding industry alive, new and interesting.

—Με ποια κριτήρια θα πρέπει ένας πελάτης να επιλέγει φωτογράφο;

—They should love the majority of photographer's works, they should feel like these are the images that they would like to have, they need to agree with photographer's style not to be disappointed when they will receive pictures.

—Ποια πράγματα δεν επιτρέπονται σε καμία περίπτωση κατά τη φωτογράφηση;

—Ruining the moment to get a picture!

—Ποιες λεπτομέρειες που συνήθως περνούν απαρατήρητες μπορεί να παρατηρήσει ένας φωτογράφος;

—It's the morning before wedding, normally guests are not involved into this part of the day. Photographer can capture all the exciting moments before the ceremony.

—Τι επηρεάζει την αξία της φωτογραφίας; Ποια στοιχεία;

—It's uniqueness, the moment, feelings and composition of course.

—Ποιο πρόσωπο αποτελεί το σύμβολο του 21ου αιώνα κατά τη γνώμη σας;

—In each era there is one, but it's too early to judge yet.

—Ποιον θέλετε να φωτογραφήσετε;

—Grace Jones is number 1 on my list

—Τι σας εμπνέει στη ζωή σας και γιατί;

—I've never had a muse or an idol to look up to, I always try to take inspiration from people around me; there is always something we can borrow as an example from each other

—Ποιος είναι ο ορισμός της επιτυχίας; Πώς μετριέται η επιτυχία;

—Success is being respected, feeling good about what you are doing, enjoying your job, feeling happy.

—Όταν πρόκειται να ταξιδέψετε, τι παίρνετε μαζί σας και γιατί;

—I normally take just most necessary things to avoid having and extremely heavy bag, but of course my camera is number one to take with me!

—Σε σχέση με τον εξοπλισμό που σας ανήκει, υπάρχει κάτι που εύχεστε να μην το είχατε αγοράσει. Γιατί;

—Fish eye lens! Bought in in 2014 for some reason, thought I could do some fun things with it, but it turned out to be totally not my style, so I sold it few months after.

—Πώς εκπαιδεύετε τον εαυτό σας για να μάθει να παίρνει καλύτερες φωτογραφίες;

—Reading articles, trying they things with camera, shooting often.

—Τι εύχεστε να γνωρίζατε όταν ξεκινήσατε να τραβάτε φωτογραφίες;

—Business and marketing, boring but useful!

—Τι σας παρακινεί να συνεχίσετε να τραβάτε φωτογραφίες;

—Willingness to improve!

—Εάν μπορούσατε να πάτε πίσω στο χρόνο, τι θα κάνετε διαφορετικά;

—If to speak about my life events I would choose to study a different subject in university and would go in photography even earlier then I did.

—Τι πιστεύετε για τη ζωή σε άλλους πλανήτες;

—Hell's yeah!

—Πότε είστε τελείως ικανοποιημένος με τη δουλειά σας;

—When reality exceeded my expectations.

—Πιστεύετε στους παραδοσιακούς ρόλους για τους άνδρες και τις γυναίκες;

—I believe in gender equality!

—Ποιο είναι το πιο ανόητο πράγμα που έχετε δεχτεί ποτέ να κάνετε;

—I have done too many!

—Υπάρχει ζωή μετά το γάμο;

—Yes definitely! Wedding is just another event in your relationship. So if you focus on each other and keep caring for your partner it will get better and better day by day.

—Το καλύτερο πράγμα στη ζωή είναι:

—People who surround me.

—Τι θα θέλατε να αλλάξετε στον κόσμο;

—If I could, I would erase racism from face of the Earth.

—Μπορείτε να δώσετε μερικές συμβουλές για τους φωτογράφους που ξεκινάνε να φωτογραφίζουν;

—Start out as an assistant! Practice a lot on couple photoshoots, not necessarily wedding, learn how to work with 2 people in picture.

—Εάν έρθουν εξωγήινοι στη γη και είστε ο πρώτο άνθρωπος που συναντήσουν, τι θα τους πείτε;

—''May I take a picture of you?''

—Αύριο θα πάω και θα κάνω...

—Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Edit! Edit! Edit!