Nov 14, 2020

Interview with a Photographer: Polly Rusyn

One of my module projects requires me "to identify and research an individual artist, practitioner or a representative of a company that has a connection to an area of lens-based practice.", which will eventually be delivered as a presentation online in a few weeks. I discovered the work of Polly Rusyn through Instagram, after hours of searching and scrolling, and headed straight over to her website to check out her work. Vibrancy is one of the main similarities that you quickly register when you're looking through her various projects and pieces of work, which also reflects her lively personality.

Polly Rusyn, who was born and raised in Wolverhampton, is an award-winning photographer and official Fujifilm ambassador based in London. At the start of her photography career, she was organising photography meet-ups on meetup.com (which she still continues to do) and doing various small jobs to secure an income after resigning from her previous job in the travel industry. Fast-forward 5 years, she has since developed two of her own businesses; offering weekend street photography workshops under ‘The Photo Weekender’ and more recently brand portraiture under ‘Brand Photo Co’. More recently, she has had work featured as part of the Women Street Photographers virtual exhibition for the Indian Photo Festival (click here).

This week, I got the opportunity to speak with her to discuss her background before her passion for photography really transpired, as well as discussing her work and the equipment that she chooses to use on both a personal and work basis. It's pretty long as I'm supposed to cover a few topics...so feel free to skim-read!

INTERVIEW IN SHORT:

- Studied Graphic Design at Manchester Metropolitan, before continuing to work in the sector for several years. She gave this up; packed her bags, and travelled the world for eight months, accompanied by her camera. She came across the work of fine art photographer Peter Lik in a photography gallery - she was overwhelmed by his work as "he was doing something he loved for a living". Polly also worked in the travel industry for several years, before giving this up to pursue a career in photography.

- Uses an X-T2 for client work, and an X100V for both client and personal use.

- Ended up with street photography "Mainly because it’s people centered. Street photography is more focused on single images, you create a series but you’re not necessarily story telling, whereas documentary is more story-telling and creating a series".

- Still developing her personal style of photography, but sticking with colour and vibrancy which is a reflection of her own happiness.

FULL INTERVIEW:

EQUIPMENT:

LN: LET'S TALK EQUIPMENT. I KNOW YOU USE AN X-T2 AS YOU ARE A FUJIFILM AMBASSADOR, WHAT DO YOU USE APART FROM THE X-T2 AND WHY DO YOU CHOOSE TO USE THEM?

PR: Well, I've got the X-T2 and I've also got the X100V. So the X-T2 is for client work and the X100V is for street photography and client work. Basically, what I love about Fujifilm is that they are so easy to use! One, they look good. Two, they are so well designed. So you haven't got to go right into a menu to change settings - it's all dials and buttons, so you can just change it really quickly and as a street photographer, I have to be able to just change settings as the light changes or if the conditions change, I have to be able to do it quickly. The flip screen is also super handy! When I wanted to go mirrorless, I was looking at Olympus, Sony, but then I settled on Fujifilm because I loved the aesthetics of how Fujifilm looks and it's from using the cameras I've realised how good they are! The quality is superb, and I'm all about the colour! I don't have to up the saturation on anything, it's like 'this is the colour it gives me', so I absolutely love them, I think they're brilliant!

LN: OK, SO…IF YOU COULD LIVE WITH ONE LENS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, EITHER ONE THAT YOU CURRENTLY HAVE OR DON’T HAVE, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

PR: It would be the 23mm that's attached to the X100V, because it's a fixed lens camera. The X-T2 is interchangeable - for that I have a 35mm and a 23mm. But basically, the 23mm on the cropped sensor of the Fujifilm which is equivalent to 35mm on a full frame. 35mm is a relatively wide vision, but it's nearest to what the eye sees. If it's 50mm full frame, it feels too tight and anything wider than 23mm, then you've really got to be very close to the subject. So I think the 35mm full frame, 23mm on a Fujifilm, is perfect. I did kick off on the 35mm, which is the 50mm equivalent, and then went to the 27mm, and then to the 23mm, so I kind of got gradually wider! But I don't think I'll go any wider than this.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

LN: HOW DID YOU BECOME A FUJIFILM AMBASSADOR, AND WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE ONE?

PR: Last year in Spring of 2019, I was invited to speak at the Snap Photography Festival, which is aimed at wedding photographers but they bring in speakers from different disciplines to give a different perspective and freshen up wedding photography. I gave a keynote, 90 minutes, on the signs of street photography and really enjoyed it..eventually! A Fujifilm ambassador; Marianne Chua - who is a wedding photographer - she was there, and straight after my talk she got in touch with the rep of Fujifilm! A few days later, they were in touch with me and then I met with the rep (who manages all of the professional photographers), we got on well and then they got me to give a talk and a workshop. It's great being one! Because essentially what it feels like, is getting a promotion. Like when you have a job, you can get promoted, it's kind of like a badge of honour almost. It feels really great, and I love the brand to bits, so it's kind of like a career highlight as I'm only five years into the career, because I had other careers. It's really cool, it's really cool.

WORK

LN: YOUR WORK HAS FEATURED IN MANY GROUP EXHIBITIONS, NOT JUST IN THE UK BUT IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD – MIAMI, SAN FRANCISCO, BELGIUM, RUSSIA, HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE RECOGNISED FOR YOUR WORK?

PR: When it comes to being selected for exhibitions, and winning competitions that puts you into an exhibition, then that's kind of like peer recognition. Because the photography world has groups, you'll find even within the street photography world there are different world's within the street photography world, and I know a lot of street photographers that I've met through Instagram Facebook, that I've then ended up meeting in person, so it's extremely great to connect with people. Going into it, I never imagined that would transpire, that you end up finding friends through common interests from other sides of the world, so that kind o peer recognition and getting my work into a magazine is just a massive buzz! Just seeing it printed is just the best thing!

LN: HOW DID YOU END UP WITH STREET AND DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY AND WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT IT THE MOST?

PR: I think it's mainly because it's people-centred, and I want to do more documentary for sure - it's on my list for next year. Street seems to be more single images - you create a series but you're not really storytelling. As well what I love, is how much of a problem solving exercise candid photography is. Street and documentary are both predominantly candid styles; street - 100%, documentary - 80% because the other bit is portraits and environmental portraits. But the candid photography is the hardest to do well, because you're not controlling anything. So, you're faced with an environment that you have no control over, and the only bit of control that you have is how you frame it and how you time it to hit the shutter. It's like a jigsaw, where most of the pieces are moving, sometimes all of them. So, if you can shoot street photography well, I think you can do any photography. It's all just happening in fleeting moments in front of you, and it trains your observation massively. You start to see, rather than look and it really excites me! There's a real excitement to it, as well as that problem-solving element because I love solving problems! So you know, I'm always trying to figure stuff out; how do things work, and trying to understand - I've got a very scientific brain even though I'm a very creative person. So problem-solving, and then just the thrill of the hunt, and then the capturing of the prey. 'I think what ultimately it does, is keep you in balance - you know, when you're so focused and so concentrated on what you're doing, you forget and everything falls away and you're just there but you're not. It's magical.

LN: OBVIOUSLY STREET PHOTOGRAPHY CAN SOMETIMES BE QUITE INTRUSIVE TO SOME PEOPLE. HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO PEOPLE WHO CHALLENGE YOU FOR TAKING A PHOTOGRAPH OF THEM?

PR: I've only ever had two people wag their fingers at me! I've never been challenged, and /I think that's because I've mastered my ninja skill! So I'm really making sure that I'm not caught, and I know that this is some photographer's that don't do street photography, they think that it's intrusive and that you should be asking permission. I mean if you do ask permission, then you've already lost the moment. The moment is gone! And you can't chase after every single person that you've already photographed in the street, and the whole point of it is that it's a candid, untouched and pure scene. I feel ok about doing it because I respect all of my subjects, and I have a policy of being kind to my subjects in that I'm not going to make them look funny. And if it's a funny photo, then I try and get a sense of would that person laugh with me?

I photographed somebody once, posted it on Instagram and somebody commented saying "OMG that's my hairdresser!" and I was like 'what?!'. It's the first and only time it's happened, and he tagged her in, and then I replied to her saying "I loved your style, you came into the frame, I couldn't have missed your blue hair!" and she was like "That's amazing, I didn't even see it happen, that's so cool!" - didn't have any problem with it at all and it was a great shot of her amazing blue hair! I always tell anybody who attends any of my workshops, that if somebody is upset, that you just diffuse the situation straight away. Because legally in this country, you can photograph anybody without their permission in a public place, I don't want anybody to be upset by what I'm doing; I do street photography for me because I enjoy it. I like the problem-solving, the thrill, the chase. I enjoy making pictures, I do it for enjoyment and as my creative outlet - I do not want to be hurting people or making somebody look stupid. So I always maintain being kind, and if anybody did ever ask me to delete a picture, I would 100% respect it.

LN: ONE OF THE FIRST GENRES OF PHOTOGRAPHY THAT YOU FOUND INTERESTING IS ARCHITECTURE, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT I PARTICULARLY ENJOY MYSELF. ARE THERE ANY SPECIFIC AREAS AROUND LONDON THAT YOU REALLY LIKE FOR ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY?

PR: I still always look for interesting architecture when I'm shooting, but now I like to include people, just for that human element and people give a sense of scale as well. But, any kind of geometry does it for me. Tate Modern as well, inside.

LN: I LIKE THE BARBICAN, WITH ITS BRUTALIST ARCHITECTURE?

PR: Ooh yes! Can't beat a bit of brutalist concrete|! I love a bit of grim brutalism!

LN: THE SIMILARITY BETWEEN YOUR WORK IS THAT THEY’RE PRETTY VIBRANT, WHICH I GUESS IS YOUR STYLE. HOW DO YOU FIND YOUR UNIQUE STYLE, WHICH REPRESENTS YOU?

PR: Interestingly, when I first started, I was into Black and White, as well as solitary figures. I think that was responding to some of the life events that were happening around the time, so I turned to colour when I started feeling happier. I kind of think that I'm trying to photograph joy in some way; very few photos that I have are not on sunny days. I seek out sunshine, and blue skies, and colour because all of those things are joyful. Colours have different psychological effects on people anyway, and so I think it does mirror my own happiness I guess and 'freedom'...I'm still developing my style I think, it's definitely vibrancy and colour for sure. But, I don't ever want to not be developing, I'm fairly bored with a lot of my work now, so I'm keen to shoot more and travel more, and find more sunshine. But it's all a process. I think whenever somebody starts, you're kind of looking at what you like and trying to imitate in some way. I think the stages of creativity are: imitation, and then you move onto emulation, and then you head into creation. It's the same in creative studies as well, we learn by imitation and then we sort of gradually move through stages before you get to a point where you're making something which you feel is more your own. I try and make pictures that can't necessarily be replicated too easily, because if you know if you look at simple architectural and solitary human photographs, if somebody figures out where you've been standing they could pretty much impersonate that shot. So I try and avoid things like that, I try and look for moments, connections, something fleeting that's happening that would be hard to replicate, but that's not always the case.

LN: WELL, I REALLY LIKE YOUR ‘SHAPED BY LIGHT’ PROJECT – I TOOK A PHOTOGRAPH RECENTLY THAT ACTUALLY HAS A SIMILAR STYLE TO THIS COLLECTION. SO, I GUESS YOU WERE PROBABLY SHOOTING AT A CERTAIN TIME OF DAY TO REALLY ENHANCE AND ELONGATE THESE SHADOWS AND DARKER AREAS?

PR: Yep. I shoot in Manual, because I kind of know on a sunny day what settings are going to work for me, and then I just make very minor adjustments. Our eyes don't see shadow but we can manipulate the light in cameras. So I want the shadows to be really dark, and I can get that with a very small aperture and a fast shutter. I prefer to compromise on ISO than on speed or size, and that style of photography with the dark shadows and light pockets has been quite fashionable in street photography for probably a few years now but it's such a striking look. And sometimes if interesting moments aren't happening, then you can always create interesting pictures working with interesting light. So it's like a different approach depending on what you're faced with - you can still make something interesting.

LN: SO, I KNOW YOU TWEETED ABOUT VIVIAN MAIER RECENTLY, WHO I ADMIRE A LOT AS WELL! DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE PHOTOGRAPHERS THAT YOU PARTICULARLY LIKE AND ARE THERE ANY THAT YOU WOULD RECOMMEND HAVING A LOOK AT?

PR: She's amazing! Definitely Vivian, studied her inside out. She's just the purest of photographers, you know, somebody without outside inspiration, without anybody telling her "Oh, I like that" and "That's great" - she's just so curious! Aside from her; Jeff Mermelstein - not so much his recent but from his book 'Side Walk'. I actually met him last year at the London Street Photography Festival! Also, a huge influence for me is Alex Webb. I also really identify with Constantine Manos. Similarly bold shadows, bright colours, obsessed with composition. He's probably the photographer that I have the most in common with? Even though Alex Webb has been the first and biggest influence, his frames are way more complex than mine. This year I was planning to create more complex frames, and then social distancing! Constantine Manos - since I discovered him, I feel like we have something in common in that sense. Our pictures look different obviously, but the fact that how he loves light and colour, but also very clean composition, so I think that's the key thing: clean composition. A documentary photographer whose work that I absolutely love is Stuart Freedman. I've got a copy of his book called 'The Palaces of Memory' and honestly, the photos are just divine! It's all about Indian coffee shops, just lush! Absolutely adore that book, it's one of my favourites for documentary. I think those are the main big players, and there are lot's of contemporary photographers like peers in this street world that I live in. Tony Ray Jones is underrated! He only shot for a decade and he died of leukaemia, but he shot in the 70's and he's the biggest inspiration for Martin Parr. If you see his work, you will see how and why. Martin Parr basically picked up the baton from Tony Ray Jones when he passed, without a doubt. But he's brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

LN: RIGHT, YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESSES – HOW DID THEY COME ABOUT?

PR: Well initially, there was the meet-ups which was the first thing that I was doing, that's street club. And then, pollyrusyn.com is my street photography portfolio. The Photo Weekender started in Street-Club, but then I wanted to grow that side of things so I gave them a separate website, and then I created the brand so I could expand beyond the meet-up group. And the thing that I'm working on at the moment is the Brand Photo co.. That'll launch slowly because it's all face-to-face client work, so it's going to be difficult to do right now. But what I'm going to be offering as well and I'm doing the first one of it soon, is a virtual photoshoot, which will be interesting. So I'm going to be giving that a whirl, I've never done one before so I'm hoping that goes well! I'm literally going to be directing somebody through the phone, which could be quite interesting, and hopefully I'll expand not hat a little bit. I just need to plan the weekenders for next year, in hope that they will take place. So essentially to begin with, I just had one website and the meet up group, which is on the meet up website. But in order to grow things, they needed their own website because it just gets confusing for everybody. If someone's looking at my street photography, they're not going to be interested int he portraiture shoots and vice versa. So, it's better to keep them a little bit separate but sort of linked to one another, but not all piled onto the main website, ends up costing more!

LN: HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH DIFFICULT CLIENTS?

PR: I get on with most people, but I've had to be firm a few times. I do my best to put people at ease, I tell jokes, but I like to banter with people and just get them to feel comfortable, For some people, having a photoshoot is their idea of hell and they're doing it because they need to, not because they want to and for that kind of person I would have to do my best to distract them from what's happening. It doesn't always work, because some clients can't take it seriously. I don't want people to take it seriously, but I mean it's that they are so uncomfortable that they constantly try and laugh it off which gets in the way of the process because they won't be still long enough for me to get a shot! One occasion for example, I had a woman who was literally shaking, she was so scared! But she relaxed and let herself go with it, and by the end of the shoot, she was standing bare-foot in the street and striking a pose! It's very rare that you get the ones that hate it so much that they just don't want to be there and the ones that hate it so much that they are terrified, but it's also incredibly rare to get the ones that are comfortable. Aside from trying to find a common ground on a humorous side, I try and say to them "We are a team" because it's not just me and my camera, I need them to work with me so I try and make that clear at the start.

LN: HOW DO YOU DEVELOP YOUR CONFIDENCE IN PHOTOGRAPHING PEOPLE ON THE STREETS, ESPECIALLY IN BUSIER AREAS?

PR: I'm going to direct you to my blog! On The Photo Weekender, I've started blogging and I've written one which is on how to ninja.

LN: ARE THERE ANY TIPS OR WORDS OF ADVICE FROM OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS OR PEERS THAT YOU HAVE INCORPORATED INTO YOUR OWN WORK AT ALL?

PR: Into the practice or the content?

LN: Both I guess?

PR: I did a course with him online, four assignments, and he sort of commented on them. One thing that stuck out from what he said was "Get your knees dirty!"!Basically, and I do repeat this to people now when they come and shoot with me, and it basically means don't stick to eye-level. you know, get down and just mix it up, change the point of view - we all see the world through eye level. And that's what's Vivian Maier said, she says very little, but she says "I'm a sort of spy", She was very much the grey woman, she just blended in, no one paid any attention to her, just pottered around, just great as a spy.

LN: WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

PR: Definitely the documentary work for an NGO, I'd really love to do that. I want to continue a personal project of shooting the Feria in Andalusia. I think really just to get the online stuff going and documentary work, and definitely to expand on The Photo Weekender. I want to do more of those and be able to travel more, my needs are very simple!

LN: WHAT TIPS AND ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE LIKE MYSELF AT THE START OF THEIR PHOTOGRAPHY JOURNEY/CAREER?

PR: I would say try everything! Even if you think that you're not necessarily drawn to it, try everything because you may find that something sort of just clicks for you. Definitely do street photography, if you can create composition and story out of an environment you have no control over, shooting in a deep depth of field, you've got no excuse! That's for the backgrounds to be messy or to not be a part of the entire frame, then you can apply those physical skills of doing its but also the skills of creating imagery and composition. The other bit of advice; don't make pictures that look like everybody else's! Genres all have the typical shots. There's always the classics - I call them the postcards. All genres have postcards, whether it's the baby postcards, the wedding postcards, the landscape postcards...I would say shoot the postcard but then ask yourself "What else can I do? How else can I make this not the postcard". Study the masters as well, no doubt. But also study the others that are edgy.