I want to become professional photographer, but I am aware that it is long way run and I need to be sure that I am doing it right. For this workshop I set up a goal to learn to understand how to make story. My biggest lesson was to be focused in order to be effective and to be aware of composing the picture and later to edit them.
My name is Jiri Langpaul. Last fifteen years I’ve spent working in advertising agencies as artdirector and creative director. In photography I am interested in making portraits of people. I do not have the ambition to become a reportage or documentary photographer and the reason I have atended the workshop is that I want to understand the craft from all sides.
Portfolio from the Documentaire workshop with Patrick Zachmann, October 2012.
Written review by
ERIK VROONS,
Editor-at-large for GUP Magazine
The student, Jiri Langpaul, obviously has had training in the technical aspects of portrait photography (use of studiolight, positioning of sitters, background control etc) and indeed, has a longstanding career in advertising/art directing/creative directing.
Jiri states that he has no particular interest in becoming a reportage or documentary photographer – although portrait photography can be a useful genre in the latter.
When it comes to creating a series, a conceptual approach is essential. Although several parameters have been set – also due to the technical skills already mastered by Jiri – there are still a wide variety of ‘styles’ recognizable within the range of pictures produced for this workshop. This makes it difficult to recognize the work arriving from one and the same photographer/artist.