Interview #3

This interview we are looking at George Miskovski. I first dicovered George at the Overclockers AU Photography forums. We then spoke a few times on PhotoPhlow and I have been following his Flickr stream ever since. He did a fantastic series of black and white shots of People Sleeping on Sydney’s Trains that I for one thought was something very different and on top of that, a great set of photos. In mid 2008, George started a project that caught my attention. I will take a few words from his own web site to explain it….

In early Spring of 2008 I went out to shoot some street. There was nothing of interest to me. I don’t mind this as I enjoy walking around and observing. A few minutes in I attempted something I don’t usually do. I approached a person and asked them for their portrait. Then another and another until I filled my roll with street portraits. Every single person said yes.

A few days later I wanted to do the same thing but on a bigger scale. I wanted to use a medium format camera and spend a bit of time with the person to get better portraits. Some of the subjects have wonderful stories to tell and it’s always interesting talking to strangers. It amazes me how we all go about our business with blinkers on in a busy city like Sydney but when you stop a person and have a chat with them you can spend up to half an hour sometimes.

In order to maximise the amount of people that would agree to have their portrait taken I came up with a small incentive; a dollar. Originally I thought that giving the subject a dollar would do the trick. I would get more portraits and I’d walk around with a pocket full of coin like a cows bell. Ok, maybe not the best idea. What if I pledged to donate a dollar in their name? What if I took all the money I donate to charities throughout the year and used it to fund a project where I can mix my hobby with raising a bit of awareness for charity work? It just made sense.

Giving a dollar to a stranger means little. A dollar donated in their name is worth much more. It gives them a chance to do something good for very little outlay and sometimes, just sometimes, it jump-starts the charitable nature in someone.

…and so, Dollar Portraits came to be.

http://dollarportraits.com/ for more info.

George seemed like the perfect candidate for an interview, so I sent him a set of probing and wide ranging questions. Here is the interview.

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Thanks George for giving us your time. Firstly, can you tell us a bit about yourself. Things like age, job, where you live etc.

So I was 20 ten years ago. Good times I tell you. My family came to Australia in 1987 and we made this place our home. I feel more of an Australian than anything after all these years. I’ve lived in the South Sydney area for the last 21 years. I grew up in colourful Newtown and slowly made my way further South with each decade. I lead an exciting life of a recently promoted admin manager at a bookstore in the city. Most of my shooting is done after work in the CBD.

What started you out in photography and how long have you been into photography seriously?

Cars. I grew up around them and you could say they shaped my life. In March 2007 I wanted to invest in a DSLR to take the most magnificent car porn ever. I went on one night shoot and loved the long exposure. Got over it pretty quickly. Since I had the camera I took it in to work one day and went shooting street. I didn’t know what the genre was called or anything for that matter. I was just taking pictures for the sake of it with no real end result in mind. I had fun but I lost the desire to shoot after a couple of those sessions. It was really hard. Especially the post processing. The permutations seemed endless. How do you choose what pp to go with?

At that stage I gave up on photography. The camera sat in a bag collecting dust for a few months. It was only in January of 2008 that I took it up again when I had an urge to do some street. This time however the bug really bit hard and I’ve been rather consumed by the whole thing. I started shooting film which was more pleasing to me and eliminated the pp problem I had starting out. It seems I now use my DSLR to take pics of the film cameras I buy. Although I am getting rather tired of street I have started to explore portraiture.

I have mentioned in the preamble to this interview, you have set up a charity project called Dollar Portraits. Can you tell us more about it, what it means to you, and what sort of support you have gotten of people?

I was out shooting a bit of street one day and I was all out of mojo so I thought I’d try something different. I began to ask people for their portrait. It was surprisingly fun. I loved talking to all the people. Some for a few seconds and others for up to half an hour. I have an addictive nature so I wanted to do it again and again. Many asked me why I wanted to take their picture. I had no reason and some of them were baffled by the whole thing but agreed anyway.

The more I did it the more people said no. As an incentive I thought I’d give them a dollar for their portraits. After a little more thought it occurred to me that most of the sitters don’t need the money. I still needed some incentive and it was only a matter of time before I came up with the idea to donate the dollar to a charity of my choosing in their name. If they give me the 30 seconds to explain my project it’s hard for them to say no, even if they do have reservations about having their portrait taken. I sometimes feel guilty for having ‘cornered’ the subject but I’m certain that most of them feel like they have donated something and it gets them thinking about their charitable self. It’s definitely worth it.

When you approach people in the street to take their photos, do you have many people who don’t want to participate? My previous blog entry talked about me not being comfortable in front of the camera. Have you thought about approaching some of your fellow photographers to pose for you?

I’d say my hit rate is 9/10 simply because I’m doing this for a charity. If there was no reason behind it I’d get more rejections. It’s funny but a lot of people say yes before I even explain why I want their portrait.

I have my reservations about asking photographers for their portrait. I’m guessing most of them will say no. It’s strange that. I expect everyone to say yes but I’m not sure what I would say if some stranger approached me in the street.

What do you find challenging in photography? And what comes easily?

Finding subjects. I don’t mean just people. Interesting things to shoot whether it’s a building, a landscape or an old worn out bike on the side of a shed. I walk around and mentally take pictures of every day things. I can go a hundred meters and take just as many shots. With the camera in hand though it’s different. I’ll walk the same hundred meters and have just as many reservations of the same mentally composed photos. I think this might be a result of shooting film. You try to make all the shots count and end up missing lots of opportunities.

As for what comes easily… Buying gear. Way too easy. You know you’re addicted when you own 20 cameras and haven’t even used half of them yet. I did recently sell some of them without having used them. Shame really.

Is there a style of photography you don’t enjoy?

I can’t say. So far everything I’ve tried I’ve enjoyed. There’s a lot I want to do so maybe one day I’ll find something I don’t like. If you asked me what I don’t enjoy about photography though I’d have to say post processing. I’m always scared of choosing the wrong pp for a digital shot and ruining a perfectly good photo.

When taking a photo, what do you concentrate on mostly? Composition, lighting, focus?

Background. Seems like a strange one but it’s hard to think about background when your focus is all on the subject. We’re conditioned to concentrate on the thing we’re shooting and never think that the background is also in the shot. It often gets overlooked and ruins many photos. I can’t begin to tell you how many portraits I’ve seen and taken with say a pole sticking out of the persons head. It’s all the way in the back in real life but on a 2d plain it’s… well, plain to see.

Film is a bit part of your photography. Can you explain why you like film?

The feel of it. Hahaha. That’s the cheapest answer if I ever heard one. I always have a chuckle when I hear that reply.

Initially I shot film to quench a curiosity. I found I enjoyed the process. The main reason why I keep shooting film is the fact that it makes me slow down and shoot more deliberately. I still own a DSLR for those convenience sessions but I now associate digital with something I must do. For example a family picnic where I get nominated to shoot the family. If I’m shooting for fun it’s definitely film.

Apart from photography, what do you enjoy doing? It seems from your blog, you are a film buff, and have just bought a new bike.

Yeah I bought a road bike and matching tights. You should see me. It’s a sight only a mother could love and even she has a hard time not laughing. I try to keep fit as I’m in a chair for work all day. Photography helps with that as I get to walk around lots but it doesn’t get the heart pumping like we all need on a regular basis.

I certainly am a film buff and one of my 2009 resolutions is to watch the IMDb Top 250 movies. I’ll be reviewing them briefly on my blog. It’s a way to force myself to watch all those movies that I’ll never find the time for. So many new movies get released that it’s often hard to go back in time for the classics.

I’m also a car fanatic as I’ve mentioned earlier. I grew up dreaming the day I would be able to drive and it’s a passion that has stuck with me. I prefer the older classic cars and currently spend too much money on a 1973 Datsun 240Z.

What is the best photography advice you have been given, and what best life advice?

Watch your background. As for life advice, listen to Nike and just do it.

Who are 3 other Flickr members who you admire, and why?

Paul Bence – http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulbence/ – Excellent portraits. Does a lot of street portraits which is something I’m really into right now.

Jun Nagata – http://www.flickr.com/photos/3views/ – Has a real photographers eye. Check out his Graphisme set.

Horst – http://www.flickr.com/photos/h19/ – Just a father with a P&S. He has a cult following and deservedly so. His Woody & Chip stuff is fantastic. Pure innocent photographic fun.

When you grow up, what do you want to be? Or who would you like to be? The next Joel Meyerowitz?

Haha. Certainly not Joel. I don’t want to be anyone famous and I’m sadly past the stage of ‘when you grow up’. I suppose I did want to be a sports car designer but I hear you had to study for those things.

And lastly, a quick fire 5 questions. Just tell us what springs into your head when you hear these words.

B&W.
Shadows and old movies.

Bokeh.
Why Wednesday of course.

Composition.
Breaking rules.

f/1.2
My lack of funds. One day.

Medium Format.
The endless hours I spent reading up on it 4 months ago.

Thanks George for an interesting interview.

Thank you Todd. I’ve always enjoyed your photography and your dedication to improve so this was a real honour.