Pavel Medvedev: a Pro in Fashion Photography Interviewed and Showcased

A: First of all, hi Giulia and thanks for the offer to be interviewed by pxleyes.com. It is very pleasant when your work is noticed in different countries. My name is Pavel Medvedev. I live in Minsk, Belarus with my wife, designer Barbara Medvedeva. For the first time, more or less seriously I looked into photography in 2005. Starting in 2006, I began working in the photo-studio. It was then that the photography hobby has grown into something more. In 2009, after three years of work in the studio, my wife and I joined our creativity, ideas and imagination in the project “medvedev.photo”. Now we organize all photosessions together. We’re shooting fashion & beauty, model portfolio, being also engaged in creative wedding photography. Ww works as a team, with a makeup artist and a master of hairstyles. Also we are happy to collaborate with fashion designers. We’re always trying to bring something new and extraordinary to our photos. Each of our new photo-sessions must be a step forward in the development, both technically and intellectually.

A: I never finished any special courses on photography or computer image processing. I developed all these skills by myself. Of course, like most beginners, I’ve trained at first with flowers, butterflies and cats. Later I took more and more photographs of people and realized it’s exactly what I like. My photographic education – it’s been dozens of photography books, hundreds of revised magazines and constant practice. To succeed in any business you must fully devote yourself to it. And most importantly – don’t stop learning and improving. I can’t say that I have inherited talent. My parents are not involved in visual art, and generally speaking, they have no real connection to it. But one has to start, even if that one is me:)

A: Studio and outdoors photos are both good in their own way. I shoot both in studio and outdoors. But I gravitate more around natural light. A huge plus of working in a studio – the ability to control the light. I don’t depend on any external factors, weather conditions and etc. in studio. I set the light according to the idea, so that the possibility of experimenting is almost limitless. Almost everything depends on the the photographer’s skill to control the light. It is believed that some photographers don’t like to shoot in the studio because of the limited space, and hence – a limited number of subjects, opportunities and in general everything very artificial. I strongly disagree with this point of view, everything is in the hands of the photographer: if a person has limited imagination then the number of plots will be limited. Another thing is natural light in outdoor photo-sessions. Yes, often much depends on the weather, because on a sunny and cloudy day pictures are quite different both in mood and content. In a studio, the photographer controls the light himself, while outdoors the photographer should be able to see the light, should be able to use its advantages for the benefit of the picture. But this is the most interesting thing. Often when it’s warm outside I’m shooting outdoors and in winter I move to the studio, where it is warm, comfortable and convenient not only for me but also for the models.

A: Now there are many ideas for interesting projects, we will try to implement them. There is also the thought of opening the second solo exhibition. We don’t have a standing alone project. We are interested in embodying different ideas, rather than working on one for a long time. In 2011 we realized a number of interesting projects – photo-session at Kreva castle with the participation of talented Belarusian fashion designer Catherine Burak, a project in Gothic-Victorian style «Sleeping With Ghosts», a number of shootings in Vilnius (Lithuania) in different styles. Also in the first half of 2011 we participated in the XX International Festival-Competition of Fashion and Photo “Mill of Fashion – 2011″ where we became winners in the photography nomination. I participated in the contest «Best Wedding Photo Awards-2011” where reached the final and became one of the best wedding photographers in Belarus.

A: Karl Lagerfeld, Tim Walker, Annie Leibovitz, Steven Meisel, David Hamilton – persons whose works influenced my style in photography. These are the photographers whose style is recognized immediately and unmistakably, the masters of their craft. In our works we try not to copy the acknowledged masters but to develop our own style, to make it recognizable.

A: The main thing: don’t stop learning, always seek to learn something new. Any theory must be supported by constant practice. I advise you to travel frequently, it helps to receive fresh visual experience, together with which new ideas.