Interview with Indonesian photography magazine The Light

Just like being a doctor, photography can often be a hereditary profession. Many people are interested in doing photography by the influence of their parents who are a lot further in the process. But of the many people who know photography from the parents, not a lot of them is as successful or even more successful than them.
That said, we would like to use this opportunity to bring to you Mareen Fischinger, a professional photographer who became acquainted with photography through her parents and has even had the taste of the profession of being an art director at an advertising agency. Here are excerpts of our conversation with her.

THE LIGHT: How did you get to know photography from the beginning? Please explain.
MAREEN FISCHINGER: From the very beginning of my life, I have always known my father being the one to take photos with his single lens reflex camera. On weekends, we would lock ourselves in the bathroom and screw in a red bulb, then the magic of photo development began. Our family album looks so much different from my friends’ because of exactly those self-made black and white photos it contains.
It took a couple of years until I actually operated a camera myself. I never even knew snapshot cameras when I was little, and was only used to having that old mechanical one around me. Of course, I was very respectful of my father’s equipment and would not fool around with it.

What interests you in photography?
I am very interested in the way I can shape things to look, the way light completely builds up an image and feeling, together with composition — my main and favorite variables.

You have a communication design education background. Does it helps you on any way to doing photography? Please explain.
It sure does. Looking back to working in an ad agency, I saw how important it was that the art direction or client knew how to communicate. Anything from the conceptional to the technical parts are important to be understood by the photographer, directions must be taken and given between all of those people. I can design, produce and finish an ad etc. from scratch and am flexible to skip parts of the way it usually works from product to ad, if something is missing in the process.
Being more than »just a photographer«, but a photo designer is exactly what I needed. I never experienced regular training on how to be a standard photographer and learned by doing, thus my working process is stripped of conventions, most being from the analog age. Instead, I can just go the most logic way, which often appears surprisingly easy and quick to those used to the old-fashioned way. And it sure does not make it less complete and thoughtful.

Why did you decide to do photography although a communication design graduate usually gets to be a graphic designer/art director for advertising/communication industry. What is more interesting to you, compared to the advertising/communication industry?
To me photography has always been the most interesting part of anything in advertising etc. Even when I was just 17 and interned at an ad agency for a summer, my interests was being as close to the photo-related stuff as possible. But that is just me, luckily.

You shoot anything from fashion to commercial, from conceptual to anything. What do you like doing most? And please explain the fun you have doing each of these?
I often hear that my commercial/lifestyle photography is the strongest, and it is indeed fun – but I like to build up on fashion. Free projects allow me to experimentally set up the light, to play with poses and other unusual things. When a possible client looks at my portfolio, he or she sees what I am capable of and there may be shifts from the fashion/conceptual photography techniques to an assignment.

One word that describes your photos.
Clean.

What kind of picture deserves to be labeled as »the great one« for you?
It needs to be executed perfectly, but with a little surprising edge.  Something that the viewer did not expect and that makes him or her think twice.

It seems that you usually work with a nice and simple concept but execute it well. Meanwhile so many beginners on photography are interested in the more complex concepts. What’s the thought behind the decision on doing a very nice but simple concept compared to only trying it with something more complex?
You probably know the saying: Less is more. When somebody tries to stuff everything in there, it might look cluttered and the original thought can get lost.

Not all photography amateurs are good at concepting a photo. Share us some tips to learn about concepting a photo & executing it well.
First, you need an idea, maybe coming from something that has inspired you to do something else or better. Then, you need to start thinking of what you need for it. Location? Model? Props? Clothing? Light? and of course the make-up, which is very important. When everyone is into your idea and you have organized dates and locations, take it slow, set up the light with someone while the model gets their make-up. Then don’t be too much of a perfectionist and get through with the poses before everyone gets tired. Post-production is also very important, but it should never replace good light-setting.

We are interested in your blurry time square photo series. Please explain the concept & the thought behind it.
The photographs were a byproduct of a project I was working on in New York in 2006.
An architect, a furniture designer were designing and building a bar in Brooklyn, and I was called into the circle when it came to creating something permanent for the walls in that interior. At the time, I was new to New York and had just moved there weeks ago. We talked about making the bar a place where people who loved the city wanted to go, but at pace and with distance to the actual business. I had taken photos that consisted of a bokeh only the winter before and developed that idea into taking photos of the busiest place in all of NYC: Time Square. To stay away from the actual loudness and neon lights, I went and took many photographs of Times Square. Looking at those, I feel like I am behind a safe and soft layer, taking in the soul of the place without actually being there.
Oh, and the bar got photos of trees and leaves which were out of focus instead.

The number of those interested in doing photography is growing rapidly in quantity. Unfortunately so many beginners are trapped into the same style with their idols. Can you share a thought about what a person who is interested in doing photography should do to become a unique (in a good way) photographer?
I can only speak from my own point. I didn’t care about the big photographers and did what I wanted. I took my camera everywhere I went and annoyed the hell out of my friends and family. I learned about different light situations, about faces and locations and played with compositions a lot before I even began using strobes. This is how I slowly found and am still finding my style.

To jump into professional area, a photographer should have some series of kicking portfolio. How did you create your portfolio that meets the industry standard? Did it cost you a lot of money?
For me, it was not pure jumping in the cold water. I was playing around with photography since my youth and had learned how to work with people, even if they were my friends and family at first, how to do compositions right, how to operate cameras and to edit photos. I did what was necessary for my university, made some websites and brochures for money, but all I did in my free time was photography: For years, I ran a daily photoblog with over 2,000 views a day.
Back then, photoblogs were not yet common and I believe I was seriously one of the first of three people who had one. Of course, it was very popular and google searches put me atop. It was a pleasant but inevitable surprise that people who had found and followed my blog started asking me to do professional photography for them. My first clients were interested in portraits and lifestyle photography, some wanted product photos. All were impressed by the way my photoblog looked. With time, I became less and less proud of it, as I realized how much better I got while I was actually working on jobs, due to the pressure of it being paid assignments.
I started collecting material from said jobs and decided I needed a real website with a more professional look which I programmed myself. Over one or two years years it got improved with the help of a real programmer and finally turned into my current online portfolio, which combines everything I would want from a photographer’s website. The content you can find is the cream of the crop, all of which I got to realize because of what I had done and shown off before. I would call my portfolio a process and development much rather that something a photographer should try to create in a restricted amount of time. And of course I am not done!

(You can download 24/2009, there are some other interesting people in there.)