Photography is about noticing things
"Photography is about noticing things." An interview with Oskar Wangart author of the photography Progress? for this year's edition of SAY.
Why did you photograph an old, crumbling tenement with a modern skyscraper in the background, a photo we use in the project to talk about social inequality?
I saw this building on my way to work. I passed by this tenement regularly, watched its demolition, it interested me from such an aesthetic point of view, it seemed interesting - an old tenement symbolizing the past and a modern skyscraper - the future. But first I took a picture, and then I really understood what was in it. For me, photography is about noticing things - after all, I could have walked by there and not taken a picture. Often you just have to be in the right place at the right time. I was lucky to be there, to come across it. For me, the most important subject in photography is people, their stories. When I take pictures of buildings it is also a story about the people who lived there, worked there, built them. I am also attracted to something in the so-called ugliness. I say ‘so-called’, because every person's taste is different. But such buildings are often much more interesting than the polished ones.
What do you think photography is ?
For me, photography is more a craft than an art, I say more because it is also a spectrum of sorts. It's certainly also creative. It's capturing a moment, but it's also an interpretation of reality. Everyone has "his" reality, and when I take a photo in such a way, I already present it in my own way, it's up to me which frame I choose. And the choice of frame can completely change the tone and message of the photo. I also don't like such talk that AI will destroy photography. It can create a nice picture, aesthetically, but it will never be real. Because photography is not about taking a picture and making it look like something. Presence in a place cannot be created with AI, you can depict emotions, but it will not be real emotions. It will only be the imagination of a machine that has not been to that place, has not seen, has not experienced what it depicts.
Why did you become a photographer?
This is a mega difficult question. There wasn't one moment in my life, some romantic story. It was a process. What interests me most is social photography. I think to myself that, on the one hand, photography brings me closer to people. When someone sees me with a camera, they come up and ask if I can take a picture of them. Not everyone does. Some people move away when they see the camera. On the one hand it brings you closer, and on the other it separates you, a little bit is such a defensive shield behind which you can hide.
Is it possible to take a good photo with a cell phone?
You can. Like I said photography is about capturing emotion, capturing the moment. I invested in a good camera a year ago, so that I can have control over what comes out of the photo I take, so that it comes out exactly the way I want it to. But I also take pictures with an analog camera - a Zenit from my grandfather and a Kodak compact. It's a bit of a surprise, I take a picture and I don't know what's going to come out of it, and I also take into account that out of all the film only one picture will be suitable for something.
What would you advise budding photographers?
That they go and take pictures. You just have to photograph, there is no specific method, you have to try, notice, notice and try to capture it in the frame. For me, the crime in photography is not taking a picture when you should. I wouldn't criticize any way of taking pictures, approach to photography, or the tool with which it is taken. I don't think you have to have 20 lenses and equipment for 20 thousand zloty. I think the worst thing about photography is inaction.
Agnieszka Gwiazdowicz, program coordinator of the project in Poland, conducted the interview.
Warsaw, 29.10.2024.
Too see more Oskar’s photos, go https://www.instagram.com/_ow_photography/