– We all have a starting point. What was your first experience with a camera?
– V. Makovskaya: I used to do a lot of photography with a little digital camera that my sister had. I started photographing nature, and I didn’t take photography seriously as an art. As a high school student, I started working on photo editing at school and realized that I really enjoyed it.
It was because of this that following leaving school I entered Coventry University in England, I graduated with a degree in photography, and that’s how my story began.
T. Juknevičius: My story is also very similar to Victoria’s. I started taking photos as a child: I liked capturing nature. In the 11th grade, I bought a drone, which was a rare thing at the time, not so popular, and I started filming and taking pictures with it. Later I saved up and bought a more serious camera with which I started photographing people.
– Photography is fashionable and simple these days. Do you think that makes it harder for an artist to stand out?
– T. Juknevičius: I think it’s the other way around. A true artist has greater opportunities to reveal himself and create something unique – ideas that would stand out from the crowd and attract people’s attention, create uniqueness, emphasize the photographer’s character.
Taking photos has become very easy, simple, phones often take better photos than old cameras: in a creative sense, your entire process is easier, but for a real creator it is important to look for unique solutions and this is a very serious task.
V. Makovskaya: There is a saying that applies everywhere: “Everyone can take a picture, but not everyone can take a good picture.”
There was and will be competition, we both want to do better.
– Everyone goes through a creative crisis sooner or later. What do you do when you no longer want to create, think of new ideas?
– T. Juknevičius: Every year there is a reluctance to create, and especially in the fall, when the autumn creative crisis occurs. It seems that you do not want to do anything at all, even simple everyday tasks. However, I have noticed that sports or other activities help a lot at such times. So it is necessary to “employ” yourself and stay active.
V. Makovskaya: It helps a lot to think regarding personal creative projects that you would like to do for yourself. We do this precisely in autumn or winter. We recently implemented Tautvydas’ “burning couch” idea, which he had been thinking regarding for regarding two years. Everything went well, the result was excellent. And feedback from people who see such works motivates us and brings us back to the rhythm.
– You mentioned motivation. How do you motivate each other?
– T. Juknevičius: There are definitely days when one of us doesn’t want to work: then we help each other with photo editing, other work, ideas, fulfilling visions. We both try to push each other to do better work.
If the photographer is not fully dedicated to his work, the photo will show whether he did the work for money or simply because it was necessary.
– You are a couple. It is normal that you help each other, but when doing this kind of work together, there must be room for competition. Share who your competition is.
– T. Juknevičius: In the beginning, it was very difficult to divide the work. It’s something that doesn’t work for one, it’s “you will do it, not me”. At the beginning, Victoria learned from me, but over time she discovered her creative side, began to look at various situations from a different angle, make her own creative decisions, her uniqueness appeared, and finally, even greater competition: who will do better or similar.
But we try to understand and support each other more than compete.
V. Makovskaya: It used to be that I used to just follow Tautvydas at events, because I just didn’t understand how everything works. For example, I was walking from the back and wanted to take a photo as good as Tautvydo’s. There was and will be competition, we both want to do better.
Victoria Makovskaya
– You mentioned uniqueness. What sets you apart in the world of photography?
– T. Juknevičius: My photography and Victoria’s are really similar, it’s very hard to say how we differ from each other.
V. Makovskaya: If we had to do a reportage, we might capture it very similarly, but if we do creative projects, I noticed that Tautvydas prefers photos with a narrower angle, and I prefer a wider one.
There is a prevailing stereotype in Lithuania that the most money can be earned from wedding photography, but even more money is hidden in events and commerce.
– How is the photographer’s dedication to his work reflected in his photo?
– V. Makovskaya: It feels great. For example, if one day I feel very bad and I go to work, I later see that I didn’t do something completely. I think that if the photographer is not fully dedicated to his work, the photo will show whether he did the work for money or simply because it was necessary.
– Many people in your profession photograph weddings. Why don’t you do it?
– T. Juknevičius: A large number of photographers work only for money, and wedding photography is very niche – often doing almost the same thing at the same time. Each time you as a photographer have to make decisions to avoid doing the same thing. If everything was done the same way, it would get boring very quickly.
I will add that there is a prevailing stereotype in Lithuania that the most money can be earned from wedding photography, but even more money is hidden in events and commerce. By the way, a wedding carries a great responsibility – you must be responsible for that day.
If you don’t capture certain moments at a commercial event, no one will get angry, or “get angry and pass it by”, and the wedding day will not be repeated.
T. Juknevičiaus and V. Makovskaja’s burning sofa project
V. Makovskaya: Most of the time, when you tell someone you shoot events and aren’t interested in weddings, they ask, “Why?” So here’s the wedding, here’s the biggest money.” In fact, it’s not really like that.
It seems to me that weddings are a lot of work, because photographers must think regarding what they will do, how they will do it. They spend a lot of time traveling, for example, there is preparation, church, another location, greetings, etc
– Do you often exceed your own expectations when taking pictures?
– T. Juknevičius: I look at every new project as an opportunity to do better than yesterday. From all the mistakes I make, I bring more or less experiences and I try to exceed my own expectations every time. There is always a sense of joy when this is accomplished.
V. Makovskaya: Sometimes circumstances come together and everything turns out “brutally” well. For example, we photographed the concert of Justin Jarutis in Vingis Park: there was a bright moon, I took a shot, I don’t know how it turned out, but J. Jarutis himself was very well lit, and there was smoke coming from the crowd. A great shot came out by accident.
From all the mistakes I make, I bring more or less experiences and I try to exceed my own expectations every time. There is always a sense of joy when this is accomplished.
– What do you do if things don’t turn out the way you want them to? For example, it’s raining heavily and your photo session has to take place outside.
– V. Makovskaya: Here are the best conditions. One day I dream of doing a very wet photo shoot: taking portraits where, for example, a girl gets wet, her hair is wet, and her makeup is run off. I think it would look very good.
T. Juknevičius: It depends which way you look at it. One developer can postpone, another can try to exploit the situation in his own way. Victoria’s dream photoshoot is in the rain, so it’s different for everyone. We usually take advantage of such conditions.
– How do you raise the bar for your photography?
– V. Makovskaya: After the photo session with the burning sofa, we realized that in order to shock once more, to surprise people who follow our work, we have to raise the bar. You need to think a lot, because if you just take simple photos, you won’t surprise anyone. We need to be forced to think regarding how we did a certain project.
Victoria Makovskaya’s photo for the cover of Sisters On Wire’s new song
T. Juknevičius: I agree with Victoria. Customers or viewers also think that we will do better next time. So there’s a bar to raise – you can’t do something worse than it was before.
– Like every field of work, photography has its community of representatives. Do you get help, advice, suggestions from people in it?
– T. Juknevičius: Photographers have such a stereotype that they often look at each other not as colleagues, but as competitors. Most people don’t tend to share ideas, but my point of view is that it’s important to keep in touch and connect with people in the same field. We are of those who accept others and want to be accepted.
V. Makovskaya: Viewing each other as competitors doesn’t sound like fun to me. For example, when I studied in England, a whole community was created there – all kinds of events for photographers to communicate, consult, get advice. Most of our friends are videographers or photographers – it’s great to have someone to share your ideas with or hear from others.
Beginners often think that they need to buy all the latest equipment. But if you don’t learn how to use it, there will be no purpose in having it.
– Why is it important to be cheeky in the world of photography?
– V. Makovskaya: If you sit and wait to be invited everywhere, you will get nothing. You have to sell yourself, put your finger on it, start writing, if you don’t answer, write somewhere else. If you strive for it, sooner or later you will be noticed.
– You often present your photos in a frame-in-frame style. What makes such photos special to you?
– V. Makovskaya: I’ve noticed that I do this a lot lately. People used to say that a photo looks much better when you shoot through something like bushes. I really like it at the moment, and Tautvydas says that “frame within a frame” adds depth to the photo and simply makes photography look more interesting, more complex.
Photo of T. Juknevičius in “Rêmas rême” style from the behind-the-scenes filming of the music video of the band “Antikvariniai Kašpirovskis Dantys”
– What is the significance of good technique for a photographer?
– T. Juknevičius: Beginners often think that they need to buy all the latest equipment. But if you don’t learn how to use it, there will be no purpose in having it. And you can create something unique by using all the possibilities of the already available equipment.
V. Makovskaya: I think that a good result often depends not on the equipment, but on the idea. Of course, at some point the old technique will be outgrown and something more will be wanted.
– Why are you not particular regarding nude photography, sexy content?
– V. Makovskaya: Nowadays it is very popular, but there is a very thin line between nudity, where it is still aesthetic, sexy, and where it is pornographic. Such pictures should be regarding an art object, not regarding a naked person.
T. Juknevičius: I really liked the quote I heard in one competition: “A photographer shows his thinking and worldview through his work.” For example, if a person is not open to various ideas related to nudity, then he will not show it in his works either. Every photographer shows his world as he sees it.
– What is the most important lesson you have learned through your experience?
– T. Juknevičius: I learned to take my time. When you’re running everywhere, you don’t manage to “stay” in the right moment, and then you burn out because of it.
– V. Makovskaya: I realized that you must not be afraid to share your work. I didn’t share my photos for a long time, because I thought “it’s nonsense, nobody will like it, there’s no point”. When I finally started uploading photos to Instagram, Facebook, I realized that people like even the ones that I might not have liked myself. So, the lesson is to share jobs, even if you don’t like them that much.
#Photographers #T.Juknevičius #V.Makovskaja #commercial #photography #money #weddings
2024-07-08 12:54:16
