“What people determine as unattractive forasmuch different it can be interesting and beautiful as well. The measure of success is the truth hidden in everyone. If you want to be good at shooting,  you should search it in people and hence in your photos. It’s said that photos lie. It’s not true. “ – Joanna Kupniewska, the photographer.

Photo by Joanna Kupniewska, the photographer

Best in woman…

Each woman chosen by me needs to have something unusual in her face, some kind of mystery, something that hadn’t been discovered before. For instance, when I look at the girl’s portfolio and see that all her sessions were arranged in one scheme. She is either dark character or fatalistic woman so I need to show her in another way. Maybe she doesn’t feel good in the role that she plays. That’s why I search a denial of her lasts creations.

Photo by Joanna Kupniewska, the photographer

I’ve chosen the woman as a main theme of my works because I am every woman. I go through different things in my life and know each woman may go through the same.  I try to show it in my pictures and I search for pieces of me that are in the women being photographed. Then I try to integrate our personalities and illustrate it in the final effect. For me the photography men are not interesting (laugh). I can’t get along with them during photo shoots.  I don’t claim that women are easier to work with.  Sometimes the girl I’ve chosen is not exactly as I thought to be. She’s not easygoing at all.

Model- the actress…

What’s important for me is that the model should be more like an actress not just only a beautiful body. Even during my agency sessions made with professional models I want them to play a role. I don’t want to have empty, artificial pictures without any expression. I try to get some emotions from my model, even just twitch of the lips. I’m kind of the director of those sessions and the girl is an actress that plays a role I’ve written to her. That’s why I do care about the atmosphere during the session. It’s an important part of the photo shoot because thanks to this arrangement it’s easier to fall into the role and give a variety of emotions. I want my pictures to be full of meanings, not shallow. Somebody who’s looking at them needs to feel something. Everyone should have his own interpretation so that they are able to see something just for them, the smallest detail which burns into the memory. I don’t want people to regard my works schematically.

Photo by Joanna Kupniewska, the photographer

I’ve got a plan…

I’ve always got the scenario for my sessions. I wonder about what my session is going to touch on. What will be the theme? What part of spirit and body I’ll describe in my works?  With help of my trusted stylists and make-up artists the model is wonders how is she going to be photographed and hence what specific feature is going to be shown. Making people’s portraits I have a need to elicit something more of them. The beginnings were not the easiest but I hadn’t stopped searching different types of inspiration. The very first model of mine was my school friend. I like her face. She’s got an unusual facial features drawing attention. I daresay people might like it too. I’ve invited her on first session and introduced my ideas. According to my concept she was to be an elf: so delicate and ethereal.  I don’t share those pictures.

Photo by Joanna Kupniewska, the photographer

Able to change the world…

I’ve never thought that thanks to my work I could make those girls more self-confident, restored to value, or without complexes. I know for sure I would like to help those girls to free themselves from boundaries that restrict them in day to day life. I would like them to break away and show how they really are. We hide our true faces and insecurities. My main goal is to make those girls free, to feel alive, to give a chance to scream out, to reveal, because that should be a part of our life.

Joanna Kupniewska, the photographer

The end of the art…

The moment when the art ends is when retouching girls’ pictures occurs. I would never do that. Sometimes but unwillingly I agree to remove some imperfections although I would never change her true shape, for instance make her slimmer nor give her plastic mask onto her face. I’m aware there is great requisition for such pictures.  I’m very bothered by killing the naturalness for any price. Everything is perfectly plastic and hence artificial. If I were given money for it I wouldn’t do it. The same happens to when women acts as a model. There are photographers who invite a girl for a session just to try and sleep with her. There is a studio and fan inside. Pictures usually reach the bottom with their artistry. The girl is not nude. It’s hideous bareness. Doing an act is slightly different from the usual photo session. It’s not easy to find a woman who is willing to get nude for me. There are women preferring to pose in front of a man. Maybe it has something to do with flirting and tempting. In my case it’s unreal. For me woman’s body is like artistic material detached from its strictly sexual connection. I don’t want people to look at my pictures with erotic context. Unfortunately everyone has right to have his or her own interpretation and I can’t control it.

Photo by Joanna Kupniewska, the photographer

The true life…

It’s hard to say if art could be a profitable occupation. It depends who you work for. There are people demanding something strictly commercial, something you can’t call an art. If you do the commercial, you can earn a lot and you can live from it.

Sometimes it’s not easy to be a photographer. Frankly speaking there are plenty of difficulties combined with our profession. Beginning at the most prosaic problem like the stylist who does not listen to you, does not meet you vision doing something after his own. It brings stress and delays. The other problem might be the people’s relationships. Sometime it the model I’ve chosen is not like as I thought to be. She is closed in herself and doesn’t want to cooperate. It’s not a nice moment for me and her as well. Even though we are both tired of this situation I try to get at least one picture out of this session. Another problem is at times people don’t like what we’re doing during the photo shooting. They call the police because we’re taking pictures on private property.

But the greatest thing in my job is when I come back home and view the pictures I’ve taken that I can tell to myself I like it! This is it! This is what I saw in my vision! I do enjoy seeing that the girl is happy with the final effect she sees. Thanks to this I get my satisfaction.

Joanna Kupniewska, the photographer via Ewa Paśnik