Profiles

Q: How long have you been taking pictures?
A: It would be quite difficult to measure the seriousness by results. I guess that my creative pictures I can show now without being ashamed would be from 1994 or so. These would be my black & white pictures of sand dunes on the Curronian Spit, now a UNESCO protected site on the Lithuanian seaside. I learned how to observe the weather conditions, so that the material of sand becomes more versatile in texture and form. In good evening, or simply, autumnal light, unexpected worlds could emerge in my pictures. Even more strangely would they look in delicate prints that I was doing by myself, with strong sensibility of light, shadow and detail. When it comes to portraiture, it was when I worked as a photographer for the Kaunas State Drama theatre.


This picture was taken in the village of Kraziai, on a late August evening in 2002, when I by chance came to visit the Trakšelis family in their backyard. They had just slaughtered a pig and were about to cut it up. The family knew me quite well. While they were working, I was snapping the process, and perodically asking the family members to pose for a staged portrait. At one point I got the family gathered in the middle of the yard. The sun was setting and the light became beautifully smooth. I set up my tripod and asked them to stand in line behind the pig. With no depth of field, just sharpness on faces, it is easier to emphasise the people and not the environment! We were joking, the mood was good and they weren't stressed. The grandfather told me that they were preparing some sausages for a student, who was about to leave for the city after summer holidays. I liked the look of this student, a city guy from a rural family, dressed in pop-style. So I asked him to stand so he was framed by the doorway behind him. I did four shots with a rather slow shutter speed and I allowed an interval of half a minute between shots. Their smiles started fading, and on the fourth picture I felt like I had it. They all became very serious, almost as though worrying, or even mourning. It reminded me of a funeral picture.

Q: Do you remember your first photograph?
A: It was when I was 13 years old. I actually remember my first rolls of film, rather than single pictures. Most of my memories of my first trials in photography are about film development and working in the mysterious red light of the home lab. My father was a great hobbyist, so he had most of the necessary equipment and chemistry, which I simply took over one day...

Q: Your favourite camera and lens?
A: In the past year I have been mostly using a Nikon D700 as my main digital camera. In rare and privileged moments, I enjoy using a film camera, my Mamyia 645. But this is only for creative work in landscape and portrait photography.

Q: Which photographers do you particularly admire?
A: Aleksandras Macijauskas (Lithuania), Walker Evans (USA), Graham Miller, who's Australian, our contemporary from Fremantle, WA!

Q: Three photography books that have influenced you?
A: Un Paese by Paul Strand and Cesare Zavattini, Going East by Max Pam, Body by William Ewing (editor).

Q: The best piece of photographic advice you've received?
A: We have heard it millions of times, that a picture is worth a thousand words. A photograph has to have a story within the frame, since photography is already a language. A text can give something extra, but the picture has to be richer in impact and reflection, with stories that you can follow, maybe invent behind the scene. The quotation might not be exact, but this is what I learned from William Ewing, editor of many great books and director of Musee de l'Elysee in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Q: Photographic websites you recommend?
A:  Oh my goodness! As I said, besides being in photographer's shoes, I wear a photo curator's hat most of the time. In the latter role, I run across hundreds of websites, and here I need to be honest; it is photography upon which I make my judgements. So it is not the sexiness of design or clever animations, which lead me to liking or disliking the sites. I mostly like personal photographers' sites where they present personal creative projects. I less like presentations of commercial photography, which is a lot more standardised. However, some databases of photo organisations or galleries / museums are nice.
 www.photography.lt
www.marcoambrosi.it
www.photography.at

Q: Where will your work be exhibited during the Ballarat International Foto Biennale?
A: Ballarat Mining Exchange, 12 Lydiard Street North, Ballarat

Contact details
www.light.lt - my portfolio's coming up. info@light.lt, +370 650 77895 (when I am in Lithuania and Europe), Skype: Mi_Kas. I'm also on Facebook.


See Photo Review magazine Issue 41 for the print edition of this profile which includes additional images.

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