It All Happened Accidentally

Featuring Evgeniy Kuznetsov Words by Nastasia Khmelnitski

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Evgeniy Kuznetsov is a Moscow-based photographer. Evgeniy started his path from studying Sound Engineering at the Institute of Modern Arts in Moscow, soon enough, by mere accident, falling in love with the visual world and changing his course to photography.

Visual as it happens with music is brought down to small grains while each becomes an important part of the main composition with the right accents and the chosen mood. Evgeniy constructs his photoshoots thinking of each separate detail, preparing the project to enable a free flow of inspiration on set that can enforce and intermingle with the planned ahead details. The mode of curiosity and discovery, the possibility to let the imagination untangle, and creativity to explode and compose a different reality are leading mechanisms to Evgeniy’s work. Women characters are carefully explored, allowing the mood, their aspirations, and innate stories to unfold on set. The cinematic perspective, the carefully chosen colors, the specifics of the composition, and the burst of emotions in the created poses are leitmotifs that captivate the mind.

We speak with Evgeniy about his current development and passion for shooting outdoors, which will be coming out soon from the latest photoshoots’ materials. Evgeniy shines a light on his inspiration, to the love of reading, his favorite authors, and the secret of building a dream shoot.

‘I found myself with a camera in my hands and felt that this language feels more “right” and relevant for me.’

Hey Evgeniy, great to have you on our mag! What are your plans for this autumn?

Hey guys! And thank you for having me here!

This autumn, I am dealing with the post-production of numerous editorials made in summer on locations and making new stories, of course.

Tell about yourself, and how did it all start for you? 

As the majority of the best things in life, it all happened accidentally.

I was a student specializing in Sound Engineering. I was totally immersed in all the music stuff and saw my future connected with the world of music. But one day, I found myself with a camera in my hands and felt that this language feels more “right” and relevant for me.

So later, I was shooting a lot and sending the results to everybody who could be somehow potentially interested in it. Skills, people, and ideas were coming, attracting clients, evolving into new fascinating projects and on and on... I am happy to be in this flow by now.

‘It may sound like a commonplace, but that improvisation is good which has been well planned in advance.’

What is the most memorable or important photoshoot, a milestone in your career?

I wouldn’t call this shoot a milestone in my career, but it's totally a milestone in my personal feeling of what kind of a photographer I wanted to be.

This is the photoshoot that has never been published anywhere – my very 1st shoot on film when everything wasn’t right from a technical point of view. I shot on the wrong camera, with the wrong format backdrop, and on Fuji film for which colors I wasn’t ready.

And yet the whole experience of film shooting just blew my mind – the fact that you don’t see the result right on the spot has totally changed my routine and perception of the shoot set-up period and on-set process of course.

Since then, I have started to pay much more attention to the preparation for the shoot by all means to have a ready scene and time to focus on emotions and cvreative process on set. It may sound like a commonplace, but that improvisation is good which has been well planned in advance.

Tell about the cover story for EYEREPUBLIC. Did you rent the old TV sets? 

Yes, TV sets were rented. Making this fantastic story, I have been working with a great team and a producer, who have found and rented all the necessary props. To carry all those stuff around one of the most popular Moscow nudist beaches was a special “pleasure” ☺. It seemed like the beach habitues were totally sure that they are meant to become the main heroes of the shoot.

In those series, poses of the models appear like a choreographic story carefully designed. How do you usually prefer to work with multiple models on set and were the poses planned ahead of the shoot?

Sure, the team and I have created a major very detailed mood-board prior to the shoot, which covered also the mood, emotions, and poses, of course. Thus, during the shoot, we had this mood-board let's say as a “map” and followed it to cover all the key points/shots and poses. Nevertheless, I always leave space for the out of the box improvisation with angles, poses, and composition, which is much more pleasant and productive after the planned shot is seen in reality and done. This is not rare that these precise unplanned shots appear to be just fantastic and result in getting their place in the story.

What genre of literature do you like? What was the last book you read?

My favorite writer is Hermann Hesse – his vision and the worlds he creates in his books gets huge response in my heart, soul, and imagination. Other “tops” are Chuck Palahniuk, John Fowles, Charles Bukowski, Anthony Burgess. The latest books I have read were “Magie des Buches” (The Magic of the Book) by Hermann Hesse and “The White Hotel” by Donald Michael Thomas. The shoot inspired by “The White Hotel” has been recently published. To tell the truth, I find my inspiration in books quite often, and this is probably both the reason and the result of the fact that I really enjoy reading.

You currently live in Moscow. Tell about the city, its streets, your experience in it. 

Although I was born in Moscow, I didn’t love or even appreciate Moscow for quite a long time. Saint Petersburg always felt “more like me.” But the truth is that I simply lived not close enough to the city center ☺ . As soon as I have fixed this, I have fallen in love with my city, its dynamics, people, and their stories, its diversity, and opportunities.

How do you think your stylistic approach to shooting editorials has changed and developed with time? What are you most interested in today?

My vision and approach mostly changed because I turned to film shooting. And I am not speaking about special film colors of some kind of “film magic” ☺ . The change was in the perception of the dramatic importance of the shooting preparation stage – now I see more responsibility and at the very same time, more freedom and opportunities – here I have a chance to act more as a director of the whole shoot. Emotions, aesthetics, and harmonization of these two is my key focus – I believe that the creation of this balance is what makes the story interesting, attractive, and unique.

Most of your editorials are shot in the studio environment, although at times you have a location outdoors. What are the pros and cons for you in deciding on a location to shoot? 

Yes, most of my editorials are shot in the studio. The reason for that is that I like to keep pictures quite minimalistic and let’s say clean to focus on the model, her emotions, and the story projection. Nevertheless, lately, I have been shooting on locations a lot and I find it quite fascinating and inspirational as it gives additional opportunities for the story fulfillment with the mood, additional meanings, and details. It is also a great challenge and opportunity from a composition perspective. Looking back at the very 1st questions as I already mentioned, in summer, I shot mostly on locations. I see location as another tool to fine-tune the story. It can happen differently – sometimes the idea comes first and determines the location, and sometimes the opposite happens – you see the space, and it detonates the process of story creation.

Do you have a team you work with on most of the shoots or do you compose a new one for each project? 

Sure I have people who I love to work with and love as personalities, and therefore can call my dream team. And still, I am too greedy for new experiences, emotions, and inspiration to work only with them (I am sure this is also the truth for them), so I am constantly approaching new people whose work, vision, and approach I am interested in and appreciate, to work together.

‘I would say that my dream shoot is the one when each team member feels at ease and comfortable, knows their role, and the ultimate goal within the shoot, and simply enjoys the process.’

What would be your dream shoot in terms of the character, the story, the client? 

I’ve got quite a lot of dream stories and characters as ideas come easier than the clear plan for their implementation ☺

So I would say that my dream shoot is the one when each team member feels at ease and comfortable, knows their role, and the ultimate goal within the shoot, and simply enjoys the process. I am sure that this kind of shoot creates a result which further easily finds its magazine or a client. And I am very happy to know that the number of such shoots in my reality is close to 100%.

What’s next?

As always – new shoots and search… a constant search for “just right” colors, fascinating stories, out of the box compositions, inspiring heroes, new solutions, books, songs, movies… and ideas.