About Me
Since 2020, I have been shooting on film (starting with 35mm and using mainly old 1970s equipment) creating several curated projects along with casual work. Most of my work centers around documentary photography, focused on capturing and preserving environments of "character" that I encounter including local shops, night scenes, street scenes and architecture.
I have spent most of my time documenting scenes in the Czech Republic while in college, along with some work in Ireland. I started off documenting the relics and aftermath of the socialist era in Czech Republic along with its lasting impacts on the country (Rozvoj X), moving into extensively documenting small Czech local stores, often tied to the vietnamese community (Neon Wind) all the way to shooting at night and documenting Brno city as part of my short film project N98 - Sodium Rider.
Apart from these projects, I have several new "candidates" for future creative and documentary projetcs which I am still developing. These include documenting Limerick City in Ireland, documenting the former Soviet military area VVP Ralsko and it's unique culture of "explorers", and a yet untitled series of photographs documenting humanity's industrial past.
I have also been at hand to take photos for different projects as part of my work for Blowout Records, taking artist portraits and promo photography among other things. In general I am just usually available with my camera which has also led me to take photos of nature while out and about.
My style revolves around capturing colour and texture, a sort of gritty melancholic "luxury", often packed tightly into the frame using wide lenses. I have grown a strong personal disdain against all things minimalist, especially the kind of minimalism that has proliferated the world in the 2010s. I have often subconsciously felt like I've been robbed of authentic beauty by ever growing bland design with sterile interiors and exteriors. Perhaps this is why my eye edges towards coordinated chaos and a very oldschool kind of grit - enhanced by my choice of medium. Of course there are photographers that I admire like Greg Girard, Jack Delano or Viktor Kolář, but I could not specify any that I would consider central influence to my style. It has evolved out of an inner necessity even before I knew any of such photographers, driven by loss of cultural and other visual character that I direly wish would stay.
How I Shoot
As mentioned, the vast majority of my work is currently shot on 35mm or 120 photographic film. I shoot both colour and black and white, negative and slides. I currently don't even own a digital camera other than my phone, because they are expensive and "good" models can be rented if need be. I am a believer in having vision rather than obsessing with tools. Saying that though, film prices have gone up drastically in recent years making it much harder to shoot on film, but I still continue to do so as I know how to work it and love the slower, intentional porcess.
I currently use three film cameras, my 1977 Zenit-E, my Canon EOS 1N and Pentacon Six TL along with a selection of mainly 1970s manual lenses. My choice of lenses was really just out of financial practicality as old M42 mount glass is very cheap. I often shoot with a tripod now since film is generally slow and requires a lot of light.
Contrary to some documentarists, I do allow a certain dramatic character "shine through" and try and not only capture the environments "as they are" but also how I felt about them - something almost unavoidable in any case but especially so when shooting on film, which in iteslf leans into a certain exaggerated character. My philosophy behind my approach is that firstly; there are plenty of digital shooters documenting the precise nature of the world around us already (often overdoing it), and secondly; character is what allows stories to be told and shared, whats adds emotions that people inherently need to understand context. I could have just taken these images on my phone and been more "accurate", without the colour casts, halation, and softness of old lenses, but the images would also have no soul to them.
If you are interested in how I achieve any photographs or any practical effects, feel free to contact me and I will be happy to share my knowledge. I consider film a wonderful medium that deserves to be kept alive.