Photographer, journalist, author of several books on photographic art Georgy Rozov shared his story.

Maria Grebneva, first course, Bachelor’s program “Mediacommunications”: Did you do a child a photo, drawing or other creative work?

Georgy Rozov: There have been attempts to paint watercolors in 14 years, but I ran into something that no one in the family could not understand why buy such expensive paint. Saving for breakfast, I had saved some money, bought honey watercolors. Not knowing what you need to breed and watercolor on wet paint, I painted as paint gouache. And it somehow died down quickly. There were bad brush and paint, I did not like it, the paper was poor and a loose, often warped.

At school I was fond of literature, and even wrote essays in verse.

MG .: Who influenced your decision to take a photo?

GR .: My father was an avid amateur photographer, he liked to repeat the scenes of “Spark”. Images were obtained clearly ogonkovskogo level, but for him it was fine, if everything drastically, if the black dot on the spot, if all the juicy, then he walked pleased with himself. He was a technician, engineer, test cars in the profession. Technique photos he did with great pleasure. He liked the way this piece of paper is shown. He showed me, and I remember how the manifestation process. By itself, the process of the soul of the fuse, but the artistic side of photography passed.

At school, she taught Russian language and literature, Nina Sviridova (editor’s note:. A well-known photographer of the second half of the XX century.). It was our homeroom teacher, it has led to all sorts of tours and filmed there. Photos even partially preserved. In terms of sensationalism it was even some student work. I even now I look and wonder that such a talented person such nonsense shot. And then she left the school, but thanks to her, I became interested in literature and writing poetry.

MG .: When you first realized took the camera in his hands?

GR .: When I returned from the army, he saw a new “Zenit E” father of the camera table. Pretty primitive contraption, but then it was better not. On it she was put on a telephoto lens “Tair-11”, at the time a striking, because it was very small depth of field. I took this thing, looked at her flowers on the window and realized that it was very interesting. I ran out into the street and began to shoot the sun reflected in the different subjects. In the very first day, I made 10 pieces of photos, where the sun through a leaf in the hole lurks, as the sun is reflected in a puddle through the leaves. And then a friend of mine, who was older than me, took my pictures and said that will carry them to the photo contest at his institute, and there were people with experience of 10-15 years. He took and anonymously put this series, it was called: “I see the sun.” I grabbed the first place. And from that moment I did not part with cameras.

MG:. When and how did you write your first text ?

GR:. I began to write once he came out of the army: he went and collected the announcements, one of these tasks was to write a preview for the transmission of Lenin. I was assigned to go to Karanovic (editor’s note:. Russian actor, director and screenwriter) and make rasshifrovochku. It just thrown into the water, poplyvesh – availest not poplyvesh – do not need anyone. Then, because there was no Internet, and discover who is quickly Karanovic I could not, I have no one taught us how to prepare for an interview. He came up to him and got into some other medium of his farmhouse, then I saw Svetlov, I learned it from newspaper pictures, and then realized that he was in the Writers’ House.

I’m calling on the door Karanovic, an elderly man opens. He acknowledges that about him do not know anything, then he climbed up on the shelf and took out the encyclopaedia Bi-bi-si on the world cinema, was opened, and there is the letter “K” two pages on Karanovic, and 15 films that he created.

In between the films deal with nothing, and he wrote the script for the transmission of Lenin on the radio. I do not like to use direct speech of Lenin, so to create a script based on documents and letters, read these tests different actors. The result was an interesting documentary series, which gladly listened.

He told me everything, I listened, wrote something down. Came home, a tremendous promptly inserted text, and then cleaned and cut, brought to the editor, there read it and said: “Well, go, we have to cut it, go enjoy yourself!”. Two weeks later I received a 9 rubles, at that time it was a lot of money for me.

MG:. As you begin to work without education journalist, had come to the decision to go to university ?

GR:. I have never in life no diploma did not ask any photographic or journalistic. It is not a piece of paper, and in education really is. Can you do – you will be working. I come from a technical family, and I obviously did not have enough human knowledge. When I started writing, I felt it.

First he tried to enter the university at the History Faculty. But I did not have three points in English. I handed over to the English trio, and needed a very high pass rate, because there were 20 people in the place.

Shortly before the fourth year exams I had almost given up: just about the baby is born, and I obviously did not get without a university preparatory courses have at me, and there is no money. I went to the aunt from English and told her straight out that I have no money, and want so much, asked her to help prepare. She agreed: “All right, come to my house.” I went to her home they had a little girl who drummed on the piano. And I began to take off.

The next time you come with ready-made pictures – how to pay. Photos turned out well, very much. Her husband looked at them and said, “Look, you forgot this history department? You’re a born journalist, not only writing, but also shoot brilliant! “. He convinced me, I tried to apply for journalism and was the first time.

Georgy Rozov. Genre pictures

MG:. Have you had any difficult cases, when it was impossible to make good pictures?

GR:. the photographer has the concept of “resistance of the material.” “Material” – these are the people with whom you work, circumstances, location and lighting. There are a variety of circumstances that interfere with the photographer. Suppose the motion train schedule does not coincide with the event for which you are in a hurry, but must somehow be there on time, but the train is not coming. What do you want, then do it, but be on time, because the photographer has to be at the right time in the right place. Sometimes the weather is bad and you need to shoot it, too, “the resistance of the material.” But the photographer has to come out on top, it should not come empty. Blood from his nose, and the picture should be.

MG:. Have you had a difficult situation where only your own knowledge helped you make a good shot ?

GR:. With Zhirinovsky story was: you have to shoot him, and he at the meeting. I was taken to his office, I put the light. The guard asked if I two minutes is enough. I said that’s enough. He waited fifteen minutes, then flew Zhirinovsky, all sweaty, sits down and says, “Let’s shoot!”. He quickly combed his hair, straightened his shirt and did the right person. I once clicked, and he fled, and it was the band picture for the magazine. If I did not know how to shoot portraits if not immediately delivered light, if he did not have the right person, and I would not have time to hit, then I would have a photo with a crooked face.

MG:. Do you have any stories like that you’re proud ?

GR:. I was very pleased with himself, when he began to engage in advertising, because I went to a whole period of discoveries of all kinds. To discover things that before did not know about the pictures. We had to somehow be creative and invent something.

It was such a story: the Japanese arrived in Russia and announced a tender for the construction of a huge hotel complex, where it was necessary to create a large cooling system “climate control”, a common air conditioning to the entire building, which purifies the air and creates the desired temperature. They needed a company that will assemble it all. And one of our firms competing for the order, seriously fought for him. Order has been around for a million dollars, at that time a lot of money, it was 15-20 years ago. Competitors were much more than twenty. Then arranged the exhibition, where there were stands of these companies.

He came to me a young guy, who was hired as a PR-manager of this office, and offered to make a promotional photo. I went to the company and it became clear that they were going to shoot, and it looks like this thing. They said that there is a similar setup in another place, and we need to go there, shoot it. It was located on the first and second floor of an industrial building, the different parts of it were located in each room. How do I take off? Firstly, it is a small room, there is a dark and ugly!

I went home, scratched his head for two days, and then came to him and asked him to put me to the warehouse, where there were new components to the Japanese system. In stock had a lot of shiny tubes, all brand new polished squiggles, all this I took a deep car, drove home and started playing with it. I started to take pictures, and to highlight how they get some kind of snake. So it’s the name of this series – “zmeyuku”.

From what I have been made nasnimal Way photos for advertising booklet. At the same time, interestingly, at the same time with me in secret, they were given the order large advertising firm, and they have developed a concept of the advertising booklet, but the company chose my concept band with pictures. We did booklet and stands and got this huge order. Then I was offered three thousand dollars or a car «Toyota». I left them in the car, and then she told me his wife had saved lives, when we got into a serious car accident.

MG:. as the emergence of digital photography effect on your life ?

GR:. radically and enthusiastically, that is, with gusto! It was so hard at first because all the programs were in English, and to them I was not engaged, it seemed to me that it is absolutely empty pastime. And when I suddenly leaned english photoshop, I started poking around with a dictionary to translate every line, every word. It was painfully difficult, but intoxicatingly interesting!

I got suddenly such opportunities, which could not even dream of, because about 15 years old color photo had been torn away from the photographer. Photographer only pressed the button and getting ready photos. He had to accept the fact that issued a “black box.” You do not like it, you realize that there are little green men, trash, and even if you go to the lab, especially any that you can not influence. Then you were not the owner, an artist, you just had a “punchers on the button.” I was always terribly enraged.

Suddenly you become the owner of the image! You begin to be an artist in the present. You are the creator from the beginning to the end, affect the image when you shoot and when it is processed. I’m 16 hours did not get out of the computer.

Georgy Rozov. Portraits