Aleksandra Dymchishina - An Interview

Aleksandra Dymchishina's photography is simply stunning. I am blown away by the gorgeous colour and if you are too please do go and see more of her work here: @WONDERALEKS.

One of the main reasons I love Aleksandra Dymchishina's photography is her use of vivid colour and her ability to put her own style on all kinds of photography. Usually I like to post the interview first and then show the photos towards the bottom, but I just had to post these gorgeous photos at the top.

Aleksandra Dymchishina is 20 years old from Russia and studying journalism in Moscow. Just look at how she captures these stunning colours.

THE STORY:

"I bought my first camera in the 10th form (when I broke up with my 1st boyfriend) I just woke up and thought: "Well, I have to do something". It was an ancient Zenit-TTL camera for 20 euros with Helios 44-2 lens (which I still use and love - even after using a Carl Zeiss lens I think Helios is the best)."

WHY FILM?:

"I started to shoot film because I did not have money for a Digital camera. And film 5 years ago was really cheap in Russia. Two years later I bought a Canon - and... did not like it at all. This might sound banal, but film has an atmosphere, a soul, it reminds me of a childhood. It looks more natural - modern digital cameras make the shot too real - even more 3d than in reality. Moreover, I am not a fan of Photoshop and not ready to spend 1 hour per shot to make the colours more vibrant. (And yes - I love colours)

As for film - I use simple Kodak Color 200, Fujifilm Superia 200 and Fomapan/Ilford 200 for bnw."

THE INSTRUMENTS:

"I have 2 cameras right now - Contax RX and Minolta X-700. Minolta is my favourite, but it does not work properly in low temperatures. So, now I use Contax. It it enough for me, but I would probably like to try Olimpus+Zuiko set."

THE PASSION:

"I am not a professional. It just happens. I do not have any concept or preferences - I love everything - portraits, nature, bnw, street, minimal ect. My photos depend on my mood mostly - recently I visited a really pretty district in Helsinki - a lot of colourful wooden houses, snow, trees - like from a fairytale. So, in that case it had to be something gentle and definitely in colour."

THE DRIVE:

"The recent best experience was in Stockholm and Saint-Petersburg. Not because of a mood or atmosphere - because I admitted that I started to progress- I payed attention to details, my eyes were in search all the time and I managed to find something unusual in simple things. 3 years ago, for example, I would just press a button without thinking and would have boring landscapes as a result."

INSPIRATION:

"I currently study in EU, so have a opportunity travel a lot - everything is inspiring when it is new. Recently I visited a large exposition of Henri Cartier-Bresson photos and after that started to use bnw more often."

LESSONS LEARNT:

"That real photography is not the object you shoot - it it the way you do that. I don't always manage to take such photos - but I do my best.

STYLE:

"I just make myself to go out and shoot-shoot every time I see something potentially interesting."

#film #35mm #photography #canon #russian #travel #colour