bostok one
What made you get together and form Bostok?
We wanted to and we needed to. Traditionally photographers have worked alone. They go to take photos by themselves, reveal them by themselves, go to see the editor by themselves, etc. Working in groups very seldom happens. We think that working as a group will help us to reinforce our photographs. Sometimes you’ve got good stuff but, without anybody’s help, you feel weak. BOSTOK has been put together to solve that, to be stronger as a group, to create better work and more work. Nowadays, without the platform which working as a group offers us, it is very hard to make a living as a photographer, and even more so if your work is about social issues. And it’s also a good feeling to take responsibility for your own work.
With the changes which have taken place in photography and in the media, what are the challenges for photo agencies in the 21st Century?
I think photography (in general) and photo journalism have to be treated separately because they have been affected in different ways. To answer your question, the first thing is to realise what photography is valid for. It keeps our memories, both individual and collective memories, in static images. Using images and (good) photos, it is easier to create emotions and excitement in readers. It’s painted people since the very start. In the 21st Century it’s like that too. More pictures than ever are being taken, and viewed too. On the other hand, photography’s never been so undervalued. Large agencies and media publish photographer’s first works. The fact that they publish them means that they know how powerful pictures are. Compare that with the edition of Liberation they brought out with no pictures in it.
So, more than the challenges changing, its the formats which have. People need stories to be able to understand the world, stories about people close to them. If your stories are good and in-depth people will always be interested. So the challenge is there rather than in the finance of it all, there’s ialways somebody ready to pay for your work if it’s a good story. People need stories to be part of society.
Nowadays we all have a camera in our pockets: what is the role for photographers?
Many of us also have cars, but that doesn’t make us taxi drivers or rally drivers. What matters is how you use that device. We use our cameras to describe what’s going on around us or what’s going on far away. As you say, we call have cameras on our mobile phones, but we aren’t all photographers. Anyone can have a pen in their pocket or a computer at home and know how to write (letters, shopping lists, blogs too), but that doesn’t make you a writer. We use some photos to tell stories and others as pictures of the latest news. Our work isn’t just making the camera go click, we have to give sense and proportion to that click too. That’s what differentiates a photographer from a person who has a camera. There are more professional photographers than there were in the analogical age, but the need for good photographers has increased too and there will always be professional photographers.
We wanted to and we needed to. Traditionally photographers have worked alone. They go to take photos by themselves, reveal them by themselves, go to see the editor by themselves, etc. Working in groups very seldom happens. We think that working as a group will help us to reinforce our photographs. Sometimes you’ve got good stuff but, without anybody’s help, you feel weak. BOSTOK has been put together to solve that, to be stronger as a group, to create better work and more work. Nowadays, without the platform which working as a group offers us, it is very hard to make a living as a photographer, and even more so if your work is about social issues. And it’s also a good feeling to take responsibility for your own work.
With the changes which have taken place in photography and in the media, what are the challenges for photo agencies in the 21st Century?
I think photography (in general) and photo journalism have to be treated separately because they have been affected in different ways. To answer your question, the first thing is to realise what photography is valid for. It keeps our memories, both individual and collective memories, in static images. Using images and (good) photos, it is easier to create emotions and excitement in readers. It’s painted people since the very start. In the 21st Century it’s like that too. More pictures than ever are being taken, and viewed too. On the other hand, photography’s never been so undervalued. Large agencies and media publish photographer’s first works. The fact that they publish them means that they know how powerful pictures are. Compare that with the edition of Liberation they brought out with no pictures in it.
So, more than the challenges changing, its the formats which have. People need stories to be able to understand the world, stories about people close to them. If your stories are good and in-depth people will always be interested. So the challenge is there rather than in the finance of it all, there’s ialways somebody ready to pay for your work if it’s a good story. People need stories to be part of society.
Nowadays we all have a camera in our pockets: what is the role for photographers?
Many of us also have cars, but that doesn’t make us taxi drivers or rally drivers. What matters is how you use that device. We use our cameras to describe what’s going on around us or what’s going on far away. As you say, we call have cameras on our mobile phones, but we aren’t all photographers. Anyone can have a pen in their pocket or a computer at home and know how to write (letters, shopping lists, blogs too), but that doesn’t make you a writer. We use some photos to tell stories and others as pictures of the latest news. Our work isn’t just making the camera go click, we have to give sense and proportion to that click too. That’s what differentiates a photographer from a person who has a camera. There are more professional photographers than there were in the analogical age, but the need for good photographers has increased too and there will always be professional photographers.
