Edited by Odeta Catana, photography editor
Photos of Felix Pacholleck
Where do you live?
Currently I live in Leipzig, Germany. I just came back some months ago from a longer trip along the the Balkans and through India. I really enjoy living here, it is a vital city, a lot of creative people came here and there is a good and positive atmosphere. You can feel free here. At the same time it is often kind of dull, it is still a poor city.
How did you start taking pictures? Usually there is always the old story of the boy who finds his grandfather’s camera, did that happen to you as well or not?
No, I didn’t find my grandfather’s camera in a storage room or in the attic… I am photographing since I am 15 or something like that. At that time it was nothing special but there it started, that I always had a camera with me and experimented with it. I started with a digital compact-camera, some years ago my father gave me his old camera. This one is not working any longer but I still use the same model, I really like this heavy one from the seventies.
Where does your inspiration comes from?
I have always a camera within reach, so many of my pictures evolve in my daily life. I’ll try to be personal in my photos and maybe because of this I photograph black and white, so there is still a distance to me. As I mentioned before, I experiment a lot with various techniques and different films. And I have the great advantage, that I can always permute the ideas coming into mind with Laila, my girlfriend.
Often I start taking pictures without having a concept at the most a rough idea. Just try what I can make in this moment with the given circumstances
Most times when I have a kind of concept, the pictures I publish or use for something in the end, are those I didn’t plan to shoot.
In a portrait, what is important for you?
I think every photo tells us more about the photographer as about the subject, he or she determines the composition, the frame, the angle and so on, so subconsciously or not, the photographer project a view from himself into his work. And of course a portrait is just a snap shot, I can’t stand it, if someone says: “Oh, that is really himself, that is a character-portrait!” That is humbug, something like a character-portrait does not exist. When I shoot a portrait, I don’t have this entitlement. I think, then I can work much more freely, there are no borders given to your creativity.
What kind of relationship do you have with your subject when you shoot?
During a shooting I don’t like it to give any instructions. Before we maybe talk about the idea and how I imagine it but the rest I leave to the subject.
Do you think it’s important to follow a school to learn how to shoot?
I think it´s not necessary but helpful. Until now I didn’t follow a school but I want to apply next year. It is surely really helpful to learn the trade and getting in touch with new techniques and the possibility of exchanging with different people.
What’s the photo you want to take and you never did?
A character-portrait of anyone.
What’s your photo-mission?
I don´t want to show or tell a concrete thing or story directly in my photos. I want to transport or trigger moods. The important thing to me is that the pictures and the mood they visualize, triggers the viewer´s emotions, so that they create their own story. I have always the ambition to confuse the viewer that he or she needs time to gain access to the photo.
