PM Subscriber Spotlight: A Photo A Day @ 100photo.com by Sergei Kovalenko
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Photographer: Sergei Kovalenko • Web Site: http://100photo.com • Location: Massachusetts, USA • Member Since: 03/22/06 • Equipment: Canon Digital SLR and a range of Canon only attachments
PM: How did you get involved in photography?
SK: I got interested in photography a long time ago, when I was still a teenager. Those days I spent all of my summer vacations at my grandparents' in a remote Russian village. It was one of the thousands of sad little villages that were doomed to disappear, like many others around it. There were only five houses left in the village and they all were occupied by older people whose children moved out to live in the cities. A line of electricity, one phone line shared by the whole village, and two TV channels were about the only signs of civilization. There were not even a store or a paved road and the village was surrounded by wild marshes and forests.
I absolutely loved spending my summers there. There was a sense of unique tranquility and simplicity of life that could not be found anywhere else. But there was also a sad sense of close extinction that was awaiting such lifestyle. I think it was then I first realized that photography is something that could preserve that lifestyle in memories of people.
PM: How would you describe your photographic style?
SK: Hmm... I would describe my style as casual contemporary. I do not adhere to any classic techniques of lighting and I compose my scenes as I see fit without thinking about the rule of thirds or any other composition recommendations, although my photos often end up being in line with those rules. Overall I admire the shots which are clean and simple, yet full of content. I also like to play with scale - often what is perceived as big and important is really not that large and I like photographs which show that.
PM: Why do you photoblog?
SK: I love photography, but most of my photographic experiences was limited by travel photography, or simply the photos I make on my family vacation trips. I felt the need, however, to take my photography to the next level, where I could experiment with various techniques and subjects for the purely for the sake of producing aesthetically pleasing results. The photoblog is my opportunity to do exactly that.
PM: What are your strengths and weakness as a photographer?
SK: My biggest strength is my devotion. I spend a lot of time with my camera and truly enjoy every step in the photographic process. I think this is what makes my photographs sincere. My weakness, however, is lack of technical discipline and somewhat lack of creative courage. Stepping outside of traditional vision requires such courage and is the way to transition photography from the category of casual hobby to the category of fine art.
PM: If there was one thing in your life that you could change, what would it be?
SK: I would pursue a more creative career. Maybe I would become a photographer, maybe an interior designer, maybe just a tourist guide, but something that would allow me to do my job on my own terms.
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PM: What is your background, and what are you doing when you are not photoblogging?
SK: I was born and raised in Soviet Union. I had a great trouble free childhood. I got interested in computers when they were still it, and now I've made a career out of it. When I was 17 I decided that America is the country where I wanted to live. My impression of the country was based mostly on the books of Theodore Dreiser, an American writer favored by the Communist Government in Soviet Union due to his harsh way of depicting early years of industrial capitalism with all its hard realities. Reading those books, however, I was able to see something else - a country where one could really see what one's worth relying on one's own abilities and hard work. I liked that idea and now I am in Massachusetts working as a software engineer and dreaming of something else.