Fotograf Ciprian Vladut

—Sunteți fotogenic?

—I consider I ain't, but it so happens that on occasion some other photographer catches the good/bright sight of me.

—Cum ați ajuns în industria fotografiei?

—I started taking pictures in 2000 and shooting weddings in 2008. At first, I didn't want to do weddings, I thought it would diminish my work. But I started anyway and found the most challenging environment, I discovered that no matter what type of photography you do, you can always reinvent yourself and find new ways to tell a story. Especially when you meet extraordinary people all the time :)

—Care sunt cele mai importante componente ale unei fotografii bune, după părerea dvs?

—First & foremost, the people involved and their mood (if you're shooting people), then the light (I began ”seeing” the light after years of shooting) and the decisive moment. I don't agree that the quality of a photograph is not important, but it indeed comes in second after the feelings it produces.

—Vă place să călătoriți?

—So much that if it would be possible I would be traveling all the time.

—Ce vă place cel mai mult la profesia dvs?

—The diversity – today I'm shooting a wedding, tomorrow a baptism, after tomorrow a concert, then a family portrait, a corporate event or some landscape. It's what keeps me connected all the time.

—Ce vă place cel mai puțin la profesia dvs?

—Having too much to edit.

—Care va fi viitorul fotografiei?

—I think it is constantly evolving and that we'll always see changes for the good. We'll always have trends that come and go, the important thing is to know who you are and do what you really like, not necessarily follow the hype.

—Ce este special la genul de fotografie în care sunteți specializat?

—Oh, everything about it is special. I must admit I suffer when someone refers to it as a banality, thinking that ”real artists” don't do wedding photos. Special is meeting new people, seeing new places or facing new challenges. Besides war photography, I find it the most challenging type, you get to meet all kinds of situations during one day: different light every minute, you get to shoot outdoors and indoors, in plain sun or in the shadow of a tree/building, inside a cave or on a mountain top etc. etc. Need I say more?

—Cum răspundeți criticilor?

—I'm all in for constructive criticism, don't like destructive one. That's why we're here on My Wed, right? To constantly learn from other photographers and document ourselves about where we are as wedding photographers. I, for one, would like to hear more criticism about my work and where to improve. Here's an idea: you could implement a section where each photographer could post one photo/week for critique :D

—Există tendințe în fotografia?

—Of course there are, but these come and go, the important thing is to never let go of who you are and follow your own way. If you have your style, there will probably come a moment when it will be trending, but when it's gone it doesn't mean you have to go with the flow. Out there, there will always be people who will appreciate you, your work, your style and your way of being.

—Care ar trebui să fie criteriile după care un client să aleagă un fotograf?

—First of all, it's important that the bride and groom identify themselves with the photographer and his work, the choice should be made by whether they consider he is the one who's worth recording their lifetime memories. Then, they should absolutely watch an entire wedding shot by the one they chose. I like being approached by future weds who know a thing or two about photography and who got their mind set on what they really want.

—Ce lucruri sunt complet nepermise când fotografiați?

—Getting in front of the photographer.

—Ce detalii de obicei neobservate de alții pot fi observate de un fotograf?

—The wedding photographer sees the extraordinary where other people see normality. It's not about things, it's about the ”vision” he/she has and the ability to transfer this vision into reality.

—Ce influențează valoarea fotografiei? Care sunt elementele ei?

—Composition, light, placement of subject, vision, editing. Generally speaking, a photographer must be three things: a good shooter (if you don't do it right straight out of the camera, it will be hell afterwards), a good selector (choosing the photos that remain it's not an easy task) and a good editor (I know some of us prefer the ”raw” images – I consider that editing can be a form of art, the same as creating the image with the camera).

—Ce persoană poate fi simbolul secolului XXI după părerea dvs?

—I have no idea, you should ask me the same in 2115 :))

—Pe cine doriți să fotografiați?

—Led Zeppelin and U2 in concert.

—Aveți tabuuri profesionale?

—No, not really.

—Cu cine ați vrea să faceți fotografii?

—Sebastiao Salgado, then David LaChapelle or Erwin Olaf. And I'd like to see Marius Bărbulerscu or Adina Dumitrescu at work :D

—Ce vă îngrijorează și de ce?

—Not being able to deliver photos on time, I'm always busy shooting.

—Care este cel mai impresionant moment din viața dvs?

—I think that moment is still to come.

—Dacă ați fi fost un personaj de desen animat, de carte sau de film, cine v-ar fi plăcut să fiți?

—Dorian Grey, I like the idea of being able to stay forever young. But keeping my personality :P

—Cine vă inspiră în viață și de ce?

—The people in general and the places I visit. The diversity of people and the situations we meet in a lifetime are infinite and life is too short to be able to register them all.

—Cum definiți succesul? Cum îl măsurați?

—Success is when you feel accomplished, when you're happy with your work and with your family. Success is measured inside one's mind, not on the outside. Can we measure happiness?

—V-ar plăcea să fiți mai degrabă plăcut sau respectat?

—Respected, since Facebook arrived likes can be deceiving.

—Care este cea mai mare greșeală pe care ați făcut-o în profesia dvs?

—Going to shoot someone's portrait and leaving all my cards at home.

—Când plecați în călătorie, ce luați cu dvs. și de ce?

—The normal luggage and my photo bag, along with some filters and my tripod. Struggling hard to make it easier to carry. Why? Because I like to be prepared for any situation I meet.

—Există vreun lucru pe care vă doriți să nu-l fi cumpărat dintre aparatele pe care le aveți? De ce?

—No, not a single thing, I still use everything I own, depending on the situation.

—Cum vă pregătiți pentru a face fotografii mai bune?

—By practicing all the time, either shooting, choosing pictures or editing. That's how you discover new angles, that's how you start to ”see” things in a certain order. One day I was surprised to discover that, while marching on the street, I was involuntarily framing everything I saw, even though my mind was completely elsewhere. Probably that's when you may consider yourself a photographer :))

—Activitatea cărei persoane v-a influențat cel mai mult în calitate de fotograf?

—As I am 95% self thought, I cannot say there's one particular wedding photographer that influenced me. When time allows me I take a look at the work of other photographers, but mostly I try and work with things I find in the places I go and see them with my ”creative” eye. A big change for me came when I started working with fixed and wide aperture lenses.

—Care este lucrul pe care vă doriți să-l fi știut când ați început să faceți fotografii?

—That it's not wise to make loans when you want to buy photo gear. But I know I couldn't have done it otherwise.

—Ce doriți să exprimați prin fotografiile dvs?

—I try to tell the story of that special day, the story of that beautiful couple and the people surrounding them in order that, when you look at the pictures, you may re-live the feelings and emotions that you felt on place. Or, if you weren't there, to make you feel as if... I try to build memories that last, I consider that the value of the wedding pictures increases with time.

—Ce vă motivează să continuați să faceți fotografii?

—The fact that I know I can reinvent myself for each wedding, meeting new people every week and giving myself new challenges all the time.

—Părinții dvs. ar fi trebuit să mai mai stricți sau mai puțin stricți?

—They've tried to be more strict, but I didn't let them. If I would have, I wouldn't be a photographer nowadays. My special thanks go to my mom, who stood beside me when all others didn't.

—Dacă v-ați putea întoarce în timp, ce ați face diferit?

—I would try to be more organized and kill the laziness in me.

—Ce credeți despre viața pe alte planete?

—Since we can't even imagine how big the Universe is, there's not one single chance that we're alone... there's life out there, we'll probably be allowed to go find it when we'll stop killing each other.

—Cine sunt eroii dvs?

—The people that do good anonymously.

—Pentru cine nu aveți respect?

—Cheaters.

—Ce faceți în timpul liber?

—There's not much time to spare, but when I have it I do some biking, trekking and traveling. Occasionally fishing.

—Care este latura dvs. pe care publicul nu o vede niciodată?

—The tons of pictures on my hard drives and the huge amount of time spent in front of my computer, editing.

—Când sunteți complet mulțumit de munca dvs?

—Never. Comfort and self appreciation are our biggest enemy.

—Credeți în rolurile tradiționale ale femeii și bărbatului?

—If you're asking about the man providing the goods and the woman raising children and cooking, definitely no. We're not living those times anymore.

—Vă faceți prieteni ușor?

—Yes.

—Unde v-ar plăcea să trăiți?

—On the road, traveling most of the time. Eight months/year would be perfect.

—Care este cel mai stupid lucru pe care ați fost de acord să-l faceți?

—Moving in with the wrong person.

—Există viață după căsătorie?

—Of course there is, if three vectors are met: respect, admiration and dialogue. Real love comes with time and is nurtured by the vectors mentioned before.

—Aveți o glumă preferată? Spuneți-o.

—I have many favorite jokes, let's stick on one about photography:A mathematician enters a photo lab and says:
- I'd like to print a few photographs from my holiday.
- 9x13? – asks the man in charge.
- 117, why do you ask?

—Vă plac câinii sau pisicile?

—I like both.

—Pe cine sau ce urâți?

—Hate is a strong word, let's use dislike. People that disappoint. I know that sometimes I disappoint, too, so there are moments when I dislike myself.

—Cel mai bun lucru în viață este:

—Freedom.

—Cel mai neplăcut lucru în viață este:

—Not having the time to do all things you'd like to.

—Este ceva în jur ce v-ar plăcea să schimbați?

—Yes, the political class in my country.

—Ce v-ar plăcea să schimbați la dvs?

—Eliminate procrastinating.

—Ce v-ar plăcea să schimbați în lume?

—Eliminate inequity and inequalities worldwide. There are plenty of resources for all of us to be able to live decent lives, without war or starvation. All human being should have access to education and a chance to a better life.

—Ne puteți da câteva sugestii pentru fotografii începători?

—Take each step one at a time and grow steadily. I know the impulse is to go big right away, but you'll discover, as we all did, that experience and vision come with time. Try and discover things your own way, go ask only about the things you feel are keeping you down or cannot explain on your own. Practice every day, shoot as much as possible and edit a lot. Don't let anything get in your way, believe in yourself even when others don't.

—Dacă extratereștrii ar veni pe Pământ și ați fi prima persoana care s-ar întâlni cu ei, ce le-ați spune?

—”Welcome! I knew you were real... when do you get married?”

—Dacă ați fi solicitat să faceți un film, ce gen ar fi?

—Fantasy.

—Mâine mă voi duce să fac...

—... a corporate event in Sinaia.