Sexy photography by photographer and film maker Wolf189, he started photography at a very young age. However he studied Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Cinema and Finance and worked in various fields including International Trading, Stock Trading etc. before giving photography the full attention it deserved.
In the field of photography he has done War and Editorial Journalism, Documentary, Travel, Fine Art and Editorial Fashion works during last 18 years in many different countries. He also has been part of a few photography exhibitions in Asia, Europe and USA.
He is currently working on 4 different photography book projects and few upcoming shows and exhibitions in 2009 and 2010.
Shall Zou: Please tell us a little about yourself.
Wolf189: Majority of my family immigrated from different parts of Russia to various parts of the World and today I consider myself a photographer and film maker from the USA. I lived in and traveled to many different countries before finally coming to the USA settling down a few years ago as well, including Singapore, China, U.A.E, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Netherlands, Mexico and Canada to name a few.
Before focusing on photography I studied mathematics, mechanical engineering, cinema and finance but visual arts (such as drawing, photography and cinema) always have been my first passion from a very young age.
In the field of photography I started from landscape, street, portrait and abstract and quickly got interested in serious journalism (war/political) and documentary photography.
Eventually a return to portrait photography and an urge to create stories (perhaps because of my cinema back ground), pushed me towards fashion/editorial photography. These days I shoot everything for myself depending on my mood, however my main focus is fashion, subtle erotic and documentary photography.
Shall Zou: Why is Wolf189?
Some of my friends used to call me Wolf when I was in high school hence I started to use it once in a while as one of my pen names for my short stories and poetry work…later I added 189 (it has a personal significance) to it, to distinguish it from other Wolves out there. I have been using Wolf189 as my brand name during last 2-3 years for my photography work.
Shall Zou: What made you choose photography?
Wolf189: Fascination with visual arts for the most part pushed me towards cinema since I always have seen cinema as a medium which gives many strong tools to a director to create stories.
Shall Zou: Do you remember which photo shoot you enjoyed most?
Wolf189: Later my tendency to appreciate minimalism urged me to try to tell or appreciate stories around us with as little intrusion as possible. Stories of real life could be turned into documentary/journalistic photography and fictional stories could be told as editorial fashion essays for example. Of course this is rather simplifying the dynamics between these two mediums but I hope that the point comes across.
Shall Zou: Are there any special experiences?
I have learned something new from every single photo session that I have done in my life and I value them all very much.
Shall Zou: In your creative process, what are you the most concerned about? aesthetics, style, artistry, feeling or others? Why?
To stay committed and true to the moments (when possible), and using the aesthetics as a tool to tell or appreciate a story not the other way around. I still do film photography with little to no digital manipulations on the final images because that way I can plan and limit my aesthetics and then go after creating or finding stories not only as whole but also within each frame.
Shall Zou: Some people said that the most important thing in taking a good fashion photograph is to forget about shooting the model, how do you think of it?
Wolf189: That is probably a true statement in various segments of fashion photography…but certainly it can not be said about all good fashion photographs. A lot of time, it is casting the right model, that can make or break a fashion photograph. A right choice of model not only adds to visual impacts of the images but also can deepen the connection of viewers and observers with presented concepts.
In my case, personality of the models that I work with is a major part of images…they are real people who happen to be styled certain way and be in certain situations…to me that can create multiple interesting layers of dynamics in photographs.
Shall Zou: Which artist do you especially like and enjoy?
Wolf189: Krzysztof Kieslowski (film director) because I feel very close to his visions and style of story telling as well as his outlook towards life and human beings.
Johann Sebastian Bach (composer) because I truly enjoy the junction of emotional journey and mathematics and logic in his work.
Gabriel Garcia Márquez (novelist) because his work introduced me to an intriguing and haunting world in a very creative way.
And many many more of course.
Shall Zou: What’s your idea of a good photo?
Wolf189: I have a rather romantic and idealistic and perhaps unrealistic outlook in this regard…a good photograph is the one that can not be reproduced again…even if we get the technical parts right and all the other external elements correctly, because the spirit of each moment is different than the next and if we are able to capture that spirit, then it’s not going to be repeated again.That is when, the aesthetics, framing, compositions, textures, light and shadows all come together to serve their purpose which is telling a story (loud or very subtle) within a frame.
Shall Zou: Do you feel there is any kind of overriding “theme” behind your work? What is it?
Wolf189: Human connection. Sensuality. Honesty (I hope).
Shall Zou: What does photography mean to you? what’s important in photography and imaging today? do you think it’s important for the artists to tell something about the world with their works?
Wolf189: To me, photography is a way of discovering myself, world and my connection to the world and then by gaining that knowledge I can try to express and exhibit my surrounding, people and their stories in a light that I find honest and pure. It is a personal struggle. I think any artist and photographer should sit down and think about things which are important to him/her and then try to focus on that.
Shall Zou: What’s next for Wolf189?
Wolf189: Hopefully finalizing four book projects that I have been working on during past few years….from photographic point of view they are all almost ready, however I have been looking for the right publications who are willing to publish them in a suitable manner.
One of them is going to be Stories of a MUSE, which I have photographed the same model for it during last couple of years (1-2 times per month) and it’s going to be a cohesive wide arrays of photographs in styles of portrait, fashion, erotic and even documentary.
Aside the book projects, I will try to have an exhibition or two (if possible) in the coming year.
And of course hopefully working in the fashion field, finding new interesting clients which my visual language could help them achieve their goals.
