te c hnic a l s t uff a t a l l . I n m y o p i n i o n a l l t h e fanc y g e a r jus t dis t ra c t s y o u f ro m f e e l i n g t h e su rrou nding s a nd c o n c e n t ra t i n g o n m a k i n g t h e i mag e s y o u wa nt . I j u s t u s e a C a n o n 5 D M KI I , a l most e xc lus iv e ly t h e 2 4 - 7 0 m m C a n o n l e n s , a g re y filt e r, a t r ipo d a n d a re m o t e re l e a s e . T h at ’s all. SIM: W ho a re y o ur i n f l u e n c e s , a n d h o w m u c h of you r s t y le c a n y o u a t t ri b u t e t o t h e m ? U L: My influe nc e s are m o s t l y p a i n t e rs l i k e M ark Ro thko , Ge r ha rd Ri c h t e r, Ka z i m i r M a l e v i c h , a nd A ndy Wa r ho l, an d s o m e p h o t o g ra p h e rs l i ke Hi roshi S ug im o t o a n d J e a n - B a p t i s t e H u y n h . At t he b eg i n ning M ic he a l Ke n n a a l s o w a s a b i g i n f l u ence o n the de c is io n t o s h o o t i n b l a c k a n d w h i t e a nd t o usi ng c o unt r y s ide la n d s c a p e s a s a b a c k d ro p . A f t er a wh i l e I s t a r t e d c rea t i n g m y o w n s t y l e . T h a t was a na tur a l pro c e s s , I t h i n k . SIM: W ha t is fine art p h o t o g ra p h y f o r y o u ? U L: Fi ne a r t pho t o gra p h y i s p h o t o g ra p h y m a de b y p eo p l e who wa nt t o e x p re s s s o m e t h i n g o f t h ei r o wn i n a wa y t he y c o u l d n ’t d o o t h e rw i s e .
SI M: Do you p ri nt your own i mages? What are your p ref erences i n t erms of p ri nt i ng you r photos? U L: N o, t here’s a p ri nt st ud i o t hat I t rust, so I d on’t need t o p ri nt t hem mysel f . I p ref er inkjet p ri nt ers wi t h p i gment i nk over Lamb d a pr ints b ecause my i mages t end t o have a rat her painter ly l ook whi ch can b e b et t er rep resent ed with the fine nuances f rom i nk j et p ri nt on good f i ne ar t paper s l i k e t hose b y H ahnemühl e. SI M: H ow d o you f i nd soci al med i a hel p ing you get your creat i ve work s out t here? U L: It ’s very good when you st art out and you are not so sure what i s good and what i sn’t . You get l ot s of f eed b ack very q ui ck (p osi t i ve and negative) t hat can mot i vat e you t o go on. But af t er a while, I t hi nk you shoul d k now f or yoursel f what is good and what i s not . It mi ght al so b e a good fir st step f or p ub l i shi ng your work or get t i ng i n t ou ch with gal l eri es, b ut you have t o t ak e t hi ngs out of the Int er net af t er a whi l e and b ri ng i t i nt o t he real worl d agai n.
STRONG70 COLLECTION 1
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